13 Facts About Aaron Teitelbaum

Aaron Teitelbaum was born on 20 October 1947 and is one of the two Grand Rebbes of Satmar, and the chief rabbi of the Satmar community in Kiryas Joel, New York.

Aaron Teitelbaum married Sasha, the daughter of Grand Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, the previous Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Bnei Brak, Israel.

In 1985, Aaron Teitelbaum was appointed as the chief rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Satmar congregation in Kiryas Joel, which gave him authority over all the community's affairs.

In May 1999, Moshe Aaron Teitelbaum appointed his second son, Zalman Aaron Teitelbaum, as the local leader of the Williamsburg congregation.

Aaron Teitelbaum was his father's representative in communal affairs, and assumed his father's responsibilities when his father traveled.

Aaron Teitelbaum supporters claimed that Moshe was "swayed by his advisers" to appoint Zalman because the advisers were concerned they would lose influence under Aaron Teitelbaum's regime.

Aaron Teitelbaum supporters initiated legal proceedings to take control of the Williamsburg holdings from the Zalman supporters, including control of the sacred cemetery of the Brooklyn congregation.

Aaron Teitelbaum's followers constructed, and began worshiping in, their own synagogue on Hooper Street, Brooklyn.

In May 2012, Aaron Teitelbaum forbade his followers from possessing computers in their homes, unless the computers are strictly necessary for a business and have a content-control software program.

In keeping with the traditional beliefs of Satmar, Aaron Teitelbaum is firmly opposed to Zionism.

Aaron Teitelbaum is affiliated with the Jerusalem-based anti-Zionist Edah HaChareidis, particularly with the organization's vice president, Moishe Sternbuch.

In June 2014, contemporaneous to the 2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers, Aaron Teitelbaum blamed the parents of the dead teenagers for their murder, proclaiming:.

Aaron Teitelbaum was criticized for making such remarks about parents while they were mourning their children.