Satmar Grand Rabbi in Fiery Speech to 30,000 Condemns Those Who Bash President Obama, Says Central Rabbinical Organization

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Dec 19, 2011, 03:37 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, the Satmar Grand Rabbi, speaking Saturday night (Dec. 17) at a gathering of 30,000 of his followers held in the New York State Armory on Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, said that "True Torah Jews" is completely opposed to Jewish leaders who degrade President Obama. The gathering is held annually to celebrate the rescue of the founding Satmar Grand Rabbi, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, from the hands of the Nazis in 1944.

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(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111219/DC25071-b)

"We live in a country of kindness," Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum said. "We enjoy freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The prophet Jeremiah (29:7) says, 'Seek out the welfare of the city where I have exiled you, and pray on its behalf to G-d.' This country in particular lets us live as we wish, and gives us the right to vote, but recently, certain self-appointed Jewish leaders have gotten up and insulted the President in the worst way. Their words have been broadcast on the radio and television and all the media, why should Jews come out in public with statements like these? It's forbidden by the Torah to do so, it provokes the nations to hate us, and it brings danger upon Jews not only here but all over the globe. Who knows what the effects of this irresponsible behavior could be? Therefore it is our obligation to make known that religious Jewry is completely opposed to these self-appointed leaders. We pray every day for our country and we bless its leaders with success in all their efforts to bring peace to the world."

Rabbi Shmiel Wieder, a Satmar activist who attended the gathering, explained the context for the Grand Rabbi's remarks. "The rabbi was reacting to recent events such as the special election in New York's 9th district - a heavily Orthodox Jewish and Democratic-voting area - in which Republican Bob Turner won. Pro-Israel politicians wish to claim that the vote showed Jewish displeasure with President Obama's Mideast policies. And when GOP presidential candidates make increasingly strong pro-Israel statements, and some Orthodox Jewish activists applaud them, saying this is the only way they can win Orthodox votes, it gives the world the wrong impression of Orthodox Jews.

"Orthodox Jews are grateful and loyal to this country. And when election day comes, we will enter the voting booth with America's best interests at heart, such as the economy, healthcare, security and social issues - not a foreign agenda," Rabbi Wieder concluded.

To read more, go to www.truetorahjews.org.

SOURCE True Torah Jews