The Holy Journey of the Satmar Rebbe shlit"a to Eretz Yisroel - Shabbos Kodesh in the Holy Place of Meron

Thursday, Parshas Toldos - Yerushalayim, the holy city

In the morning the Rebbe went to the private mikvah at the guest residence in Yerushalayim.

At about 10:05 the Rebbe arrived at the Beis Medrash HaGadol for Shacharis together with the talmidim of the Yeshiva Ketana of Yerushalayim.
Upon arriving, the Rebbe looked in on the learning with great nachas for a while.

At about 10:25 the Rebbe entered the main hall of the beis medrash for Shacharis.
- Baal tefillah: the bochur Moshe son of R' Chaim Tzvi Davidovitch.
- Baal korei: the bochur Yoshe, son of Nosson Binyamin Eckstein.
- Pesicha: R' Zalman Yuda Kahana shlit"a (Beit Shemesh).
- Kohen: R' Shmuel HaKohen Friedman, a member of the Rebbe's entourage.
- Levi: R' Mordechai Zisskind Landau (London).
- Shlishi: the Rebbe shlit"a, and the Rebbe recited the blessing of Gomel and Motzi for all the guests.
- Hagbah: R' Yoel Landau, son of R' Shloime (Kiryas Joel).
- Gelilah: a grandson of the Rebbe, Rabbi Yisroel Dushinsky shlit"a (Boro Park).

After davening, at about 12:05, the Rebbe entered the lechayim in the main hall of the beis medrash together with the talmidim of the Yeshiva Ketana. Several niggunim were sung, the Rebbe drank a lechayim, delivered words of Torah and guidance, and concluded with his holy blessing. It ended at about 12:50.

After Shacharis the Rebbe went to visit the Mishkenos HaRoim Rebbe shlit"a. A pleasant conversation took place; the Mishkenos HaRoim Rebbe shlit"a honored the Satmar Rebbe shlit"a with a lechayim, and the Rebbe bestowed his holy blessing on him, and he escorted the Rebbe out. The Rebbe then returned to the guest residence at the home of the distinguished philanthropist R' Berel Karniol.

At about 3:00 the Gur Rebbe shlit"a came to the guest residence for a return visit to the Rebbe. A pleasant conversation took place; the Rebbe honored him with a lechayim and bestowed his holy blessing, after which the Rebbe spoke privately with the Gur Rebbe shlit"a for a while, and the Rebbe escorted him out.

A group of young men from Zionim, members of the "Veshinantam" chaburah, also came in to the Rebbe and presented themselves to be tested on all of Shas by heart. The Rebbe tested the young men for a while and bestowed his holy blessing. It ended at about 3:40.

At about 4:00 the Rebbe shlit"a arrived at the halls of Vayomer Yitzchak on Rechov Shimon HaTzaddik, for an appreciation event for the dozens of donors and supporters of the great Tel Talpiyot building of our kehilla and mosdos in Yerushalayim, the holy city, which is currently being built.
HaGaon HaTzaddik Av Beis Din of Williamsburg shlit"a spoke with a derasha, explaining the verses in Parshas Vayakhel as they allude to the journey to Meron to the tanna Rabbi Shimon, and the spiritual influences one can feel from a lighting in honor of the tanna. He spoke about the daily mesirus nefesh of the residents of Eretz Yisroel and the mesirus nefesh demanded of those who come to Yerushalayim to contribute large sums even when it is not yet finished and the results are not yet visible. He spoke at length in praise of the donors, especially the distinguished philanthropist R' Avrohom Brach, who ensures that Yerushalayim not be left out, and with him R' Akiva Hersh Klein and R' Yechezkel Dovid Berkowitz, who stand at the head of the project and help with all of the Rebbe's projects throughout the years. He pointed out that two years ago, when they were in Yerushalayim with the askanim, headed by R' Avrohom Yehoshua Glantz, no one dreamed that two years later they would be standing here, already this far along. He said that the Rebbe z"l accompanies us and is present throughout this entire holy journey, and that all the tzaddikim will bring down holy influences from Above. The Rav continued that we are going to Meron, and the entire congregation will pray that the Rebbe shlit"a be able to continue leading the entire kehilla until the arrival of the Redeemer.
Afterward R' Yissocher Jacob, director of our mosdos, spoke and welcomed the donors and the heads of the building fund committee.

The Rebbe drank a lechayim and wished the entire gathering well, and delivered a holy blessing on the verse "And may G-d give you of the dew of heaven," explaining that, in its plain meaning, Jews will have great abundance and much money. He pointed out that, based on how the work is progressing, we see that great progress is being made, and with the help of the donors the building will be able to be completed soon, and he concluded with many blessings.

"Vesavnehu Meheira" was sung, and the Rebbe honored the distinguished philanthropist R' Avrohom Brach to speak. R' Avrohom gave a report on the construction work and on the funds being sent from America for the building costs, and said that over $14 million has already been sent for the building expenses! Forty million will be needed until completion. He said that if there will be a million dollars each month, within 25 months the building will be able to be completed, IY"H, and he thanked all the donors on behalf of the building fund committee.
The distinguished philanthropist R' Shmuel Chaim Brach was honored with Birkas HaMazon.
The Rebbe then davened Mincha in the hall. Baal tefillah: R' Moshe Eliezer Landau (Williamsburg).

At about 4:50 the Rebbe shlit"a arrived at the construction site of the great and splendid Tel Talpiyot building of our holy kehilla and mosdos, with the participation of the esteemed donors of the building, together with many askanim, builders and many members of the kehilla.
The Rebbe shlit"a went up on a special platform and looked over the construction work at the site, and heard a report from R' Avrohom Brach, chairman of the building fund committee in America, together with R' Yoel Shimon HaKohen Rubin, one of the active askanim of the building fund, and R' Gershon Felberbaum, chairman of the building fund committee in Eretz Yisroel, who showed the Rebbe the building plans and sketches of the site. It ended at about 5:10.

From there the Rebbe went to visit the Toldos Aharon Rebbe shlit"a. A pleasant conversation took place; he honored the Rebbe with a lechayim and the Rebbe bestowed his holy blessing on him, and he escorted the Rebbe shlit"a out.
On the way out the Rebbe shlit"a entered the main beis medrash of Toldos Aharon and looked in on the learning in the kollel together with the Toldos Aharon Rebbe shlit"a, and then at about 5:40 went to the guest residence at the home of the philanthropist R' Yuda Dovid Rubinstein.

"And he was king in Yeshurun, when the heads of the people gathered, the tribes of Israel together"

At about 6:20 the Rebbe shlit"a arrived at the historic gathering "Yerushalayim Shel Maalah" in a gigantic tent on Rechov Malchei Yisroel, in the presence of thousands upon thousands of Jews, headed by the great luminaries of the generation, and at their head the Posek HaDor, Mara D'Atra of the Holy Land, shlit"a.

The Rebbe greeted the rabbonim at the dais, and the crowd of thousands received the Rebbe with song and music.

Among those seen at the gathering, among other geonim, admorim and roshei yeshiva of the holy city of Yerushalayim:
- Their king, at their head, the Posek HaDor, Mara D'Atra of the Holy Land, shlit"a.
Members of the Beis Din, the geonim and tzaddikim, the leaders of Torah:
- HaGaon HaGadol R' Avrohom Yitzchak Ullman shlit"a.
- HaGaon HaGadol R' Chaim Uri Freund shlit"a.
- HaGaon HaGadol R' Yehuda Fischer shlit"a.
- HaGaon HaGadol R' Yaakov Mendel Yurovitch shlit"a.
- HaGaon HaGadol R' Shmuel Bransdorfer shlit"a.
- HaGaon HaGadol R' Aharon Brandsdorfer shlit"a.
- The Chassidic Rebbe HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Yaakov Meir Schechter shlit"a.
- The Rebbes of Mishkenos HaRoim, Toldos Aharon, Strikov, Kalshin, Chakova, Zidichov, Trisk, Skolen Yerushalayim, Seklehid, Spinka of Boro Park; the mashgiach HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Gamliel Rabinowitz shlit"a; HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Moshe Kramer shlit"a, one of the Breslov rabbonim and president of the Shaar HaShamayim institutions; HaRav Rabbi Nissan Dovid Kivak shlit"a; HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Tzvi Meir Zilberberg shlit"a, president of the Nachalas Yaakov institutions; HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Moshe Bransdorfer shlit"a, Gavad of Heichal Horaah; HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Yosef Kadish Bransdorfer shlit"a of Tiberias, moreh tzedek of the Eida; HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger, Gavad of Geneff and rav of Beis Medrash Betzel HaChochma; HaGaon HaGadol Rabbi Naftali Nussbaum shlit"a, rosh yeshiva of Chaim Moshe; HaGaon HaTzaddik, the rosh yeshiva of Toldos Aharon shlit"a; HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Aharon Shmuel Dushinsky shlit"a, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Beis Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, on behalf of his father the Dushinsky Rebbe shlit"a; HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Taub shlit"a, Av Beis Din of Sassov Yerushalayim, son of the Sassov Rebbe shlit"a.

- The mashpia HaRav R' Yehuda Deutsch shlit"a; HaRav R' Akiva Wasner shlit"a, moreh tzedek in the Eida HaChareidis; HaRav R' Yoshe Asher Kahana, moreh tzedek in the Eida HaChareidis and rav of the Mishkenos HaRoim kehilla; HaRav R' Yaakov Shlomo Kahana shlit"a; HaGaon R' Yoshe Cohen shlit"a; HaRav R' Alexander Haberfeld shlit"a, moreh tzedek in the Eida HaChareidis; HaRav R' Yitzchak Eizik Kahana shlit"a, moreh tzedek in the Eida HaChareidis; HaRav R' Chaim Yosef Blau shlit"a, moreh tzedek in the Eida HaChareidis; HaRav R' Gavriel Neufeld shlit"a, moreh tzedek in the Eida HaChareidis and one of the rabbonim of the Vaad HaKashrus; HaRav R' Aharon Dovid Neustadt shlit"a, moreh tzedek in the Eida HaChareidis.

The chairman, R' Yitzchak Dovid Jacob shlit"a, chairman of the education committee of our holy mosdos, continued with his address, and called upon HaGaon HaTzaddik R' Shimi Lev shlit"a, dayan and rosh av beis din of our kehilla in London, to speak.

At about 6:35 the Posek HaDor, Mara D'Atra of the Holy Land, shlit"a was received. The Rebbe shlit"a stood up to his full height before the Rav shlit"a, and HaGaon HaTzaddik R' Shimi Lev shlit"a called upon the Rav to deliver the word of Hashem from Yerushalayim.
The Rav shlit"a welcomed the Rebbe shlit"a on behalf of the Eida HaChareidis, and expressed the tremendous joy, chizuk and kiddush Hashem that the Eida HaChareidis draws from the Rebbe's visit in Eretz Yisroel. He spoke of the new building being built entirely with pure funds, may Hashem protect us, without benefiting from any non-kosher funds of the impure state, and described the difficult situation in Eretz Yisroel regarding chinuch, where the apostate government is set on altering the curriculum of the Torah-observant schools. He repeated the words of the holy Rebbe zy"a, who warned from the very first moment that the only way to be able to survive is by separating entirely from the wicked and having no connection whatsoever with them, and who established the "Keren Hatzalah" to sustain all the mosdos, may Hashem protect them. He went on about the bitter decrees of the draft and proclaimed that the Torah-observant community will fight against it with mesirus nefesh, will shake the entire world, and is prepared to go to prison, but never to compromise, G-d forbid. In this regard the Posek HaDor shlit"a proclaimed with holy fire that "it is an absolute prohibition according to halacha to compromise even for a single bochur." He thanked the Rebbe shlit"a for having open eyes and foreseeing the bitter plans of the wicked, and for establishing the "Merkaz Ezra V'Yoetz" under the Eida HaChareidis, which is fully funded by the Vaad Mishmeres Chomosayich Yerushalayim of our holy kehilla and is working intensively on the front lines to rescue the bochurim from the bitter decree. "From Hashem are the steps of a man established." Hashem arranged it that precisely now, when there are those who, G-d forbid, wish to compromise on this harsh matter, the Rebbe came to Eretz Yisroel to cry out that one may not compromise and to strengthen the Torah-observant community. He called upon the Jews of the Diaspora to join the battle against the wicked, and noted how the residents of Eretz Yisroel look forward to the support of the Rebbe shlit"a for the mosdos, may Hashem protect them. He especially praised the enormous sums the Rebbe shlit"a sends to the more than one hundred rabbonim and moros horaah of the Eida HaChareidis before every Yom Tov through the "Vaad HaPeulah" of the Eida HaChareidis, strengthening the Eida and bolstering the power of its rabbonim. The Rav shlit"a then wished the Rebbe shlit"a that he have the strength to raise up the power of protest against the wicked and all breaches.

After the fiery words, "Tzaddik Katamar Yifrach" was sung, and the Rebbe encouraged the dancing with the verse "Od yenuvun beseivah, deshenim v'ra'ananim yihyu."

At about 7:00 the Rebbe shlit"a began his fiery words of Torah and call of the hour before thousands upon thousands of members of the kehilla.
The Rebbe greeted the great rabbonim, members of the Beis Din of the Eida HaChareidis, headed by the Rav shlit"a, and all the great rabbonim and roshei yeshiva, rabbonim and their students, and continued with brief words for the Jews of the Diaspora about the mighty building being built for our holy kehilla and mosdos in Yerushalayim. The verse "And may G-d give you of the dew of heaven" is a blessing that was said to Jews in exile that they will sustain themselves only through the holy Torah, Mikra, Mishna and Talmud. Through Yerushalayim, the holy city, the gate of heaven, we merit that by helping to build Torah in Yerushalayim, abundance will flow to the entire world. For this we gathered tonight: "veyiten," and again "veyiten" — we will give to Yerushalayim and thereby also to the entire world.
The Rebbe then continued with guidance for the members of the kehilla who live in Yerushalayim, and spoke about the tremendous harm of staying up and wasting hours late at night. He called upon the members of the kehilla to have a holy pride, and to know that we were taught the opposite: to go to sleep early and rise early to learn before davening. A day on which one learns before davening is an entirely different day. He spoke against davening on Shabbos in small shtiblach and minyan centers, and sharply called upon people to daven in a fixed beis medrash every week at the same time, like chassidic Jews. Davening in shtiblach on Shabbos morning is poison for oneself and for the children, and

He urged strict adherence in all matters and raising the children in the path of the holy Rebbe zy"a in all areas, especially against the impurity of Zionism, and to remain separate from all the parties of all kinds that have joined with Zionism and become flesh of its flesh and bone of its bone. There is no difference between the chassidic, Litvish, Sephardic and Ashkenazic ones, for they are the "four principal damagers."

Then the Rebbe shlit"a proclaimed in a voice that hews flames of fire the true, pure outlook as explained in the holy sefer Vayoel Moshe, and proclaimed the Torah stance regarding the impurity of the klipah of Zionism, and the tremendous heresy that lies beneath this defiled idea. "Because of our sins we were exiled from our land": Hashem scattered Klal Yisroel into exile, unfortunately, not because we lacked enough weapons or enough capable soldiers. "Know that I gather them" — one must know that Hashem Himself, in His glory, will take us out of this bitter exile, and G-d forbid to think that one can take a redemption by the arm of flesh and blood and leave exile on one's own.

The Rebbe continued with flaming words regarding the bitter situation of the decree of drafting yeshiva students, for the army is a place "all who enter do not return," may Hashem protect us, a decree of transgressing the faith in the fullest sense of the word. In a voice that hews he made it clear that one must never compromise, G-d forbid. They want to make a deal, G-d forbid: "you give me and I'll give you; I'll concede this and you'll concede that," may Hashem protect us. They sit down at the table and negotiate: I'll give you this much and you'll give me that much, etc. With a cry of anguish he continued: I have no comprehension how a Jew who is an observer of Torah and mitzvos, a Jew who has a home and children, can negotiate over such things. Could such a thought, such a compromise, even enter the mind?! Whoever lends a hand to this is one who raises a hand against the Torah of Moshe.
The Rebbe continued and strengthened the residents of Eretz Yisroel to stand firm and resist the bitter decree with all their strength, and to fight with mesirus nefesh like a flint rock, and with the help of Hashem they will succeed. He concluded with many blessings for all the donors and askanim for the new building of our holy kehilla in Yerushalayim, the holy city, and ended with a holy blessing for the entire gathering.

After the words, the singers sang the well-known kiddush Hashem niggun "Hashem Hu Malkeinu" and "Utzu Eitza V'Tufar," and for several long minutes the thousands of participants danced and cried out the cry of "under the rule of the heretics, we believe."

After the fiery words, the Mishkenos HaRoim Rebbe shlit"a and the members of the Beis Din of the Eida HaChareidis thanked the Rebbe shlit"a for the tremendous chizuk and fiery words of Torah, and for standing up without fear, with complete sharpness, to strengthen the pure Judaism in Eretz Yisroel, and for standing up with full boldness against the party circles and their bitter compromises, which is a tremendous chizuk for the Torah-faithful Jewry in Eretz Yisroel.

Then the Chassidic Rebbe HaGaon HaTzaddik R' Yaakov Meir Schechter shlit"a arrived at the gathering. The Rebbe shlit"a received him with the utmost honor and honored him with a lechayim. The Toldos Aharon Rebbe shlit"a also arrived, and the Rebbe shlit"a received him with the utmost honor and honored him with a lechayim.
The Rebbe shlit"a then stood up and went out in a dance of tzaddikim together with the Rebbes and geonim shlit"a, and was then escorted out to the street.
It ended at about 8:00 and the Rebbe went back to the guest residence.

At the guest residence the Rebbe shlit"a davened Maariv. Baal tefillah: R' Yoel Friedman (Boro Park).

At about 9:25 the Rebbe shlit"a left Yerushalayim on the way to the holy place of Meron for the coming Shabbos, together with thousands upon thousands of members of the kehilla from all over the world. The Rebbe shlit"a arrived in the holy place of Meron at about 11:45 and traveled to the guest residence at the home of HaRav R' Menachem Mendel Pomerantz shlit"a, rosh mesivta of Oz VeHadar.

▫️ Satmara Niyes 🌴 ▫️