Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, the influential Satmar Chassidic rebbe of Kiryas Joel in Upstate New York, announced on Monday that he endorsed former President Donald Trump for president.
A mock Satmar ballot, which offered guidance in Yiddish for whom to vote for, provided to JNS showed votes cast for Democrats in nine of the 11 federal, state and local races. However, Trump received Teitelbaum’s approval, reportedly following discussions among the leadership of the Chassidic group.
An Israeli media report that JNS was unable to verify indicates that Satmar leadership was concerned about the possible implications for Jews if Vice President Kamala Harris becomes president.
The news of the Trump endorsement is a marked departure from Teitelbaum’s harsh criticism of “Trumpism” after Election Day in 2022.
“Trumpism became entangled in the Jewish camp,” Teitelbaum said at the time. “This Trumpism twisted the minds of so many Yidden,” he said, using the Yiddish word for Jews. “It brainwashed people, and that’s so painful.”
Teitelbaum and his brother, Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, both identify as the grand rabbi of Satmar, which their father led and before him was led by their grand-uncle. Zalman Leib Teitelbaum runs the Satmar community in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Satmar Chassidim, who number some 100,000 worldwide, do not support the Israeli government or the modern Israeli state.
Aaron Teitelbaum’s critical assessment in 2022 came in response to heavy Orthodox Jewish support for Lee Zeldin, a Jewish former congressman, who nearly upended New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, in an unexpectedly tight race.
Teitelbaum’s group, which was one of only two New York Chassidic voting blocs that tied themselves to Hochul, generally favors Republicans in national elections. It mostly supports Democrats in state and local ballots, given the strengths of Democrats in the state.
Satmar schools are among the targets of ongoing state probes of private Jewish day schools, which critics say do not sufficiently teach English and secular subjects, and do not fulfill the requirement in state law to provide “substantially equivalent” education to public schools. (That phrase in state law is tied to late 19th-century anti-Catholic legislation.)
Aside from Trump, Teitelbaum announced his endorsement on Monday of Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) in the 18th Congressional District. Ryan is facing Alison Esposito, a Republican, in what analysts see as a key race for control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
