Thursday February 22 12:12 PM ET

Satmar Rebbe calls his son "Rushe ben Rushe"

By GIMPEL the SHISTER, HasidicNews.com Writer

NEW YORK (HN) - The Satmar Rebbe called his son Aaron today "Rushe ben Rushe" (wicked person, son of the wicked) in an extremely harsh -and somewhat ironic- reaction to his very own son.

The incident occurred as Aaron came to the JFK International Airport to greet his father upon his return from Miami, Florida. According to witnesses to this bizarre event, the Rebbe responded to his son's kind act with "You 'sorrer umoreh' (biblical term referring to a son who rebels against his parents) 'rushe ben rushe'... you think I'm already 'kaleching' (mentally declining)? you think I don't know what's going on around?..."

This incident caps a long and tough public relations battle Aaron has had to fight to convince the masses that his dad, the Satmar Rebbe, who openly supports the nomination of his other son Zalmen as the inheritor of the Satmar throne, is really not aware of what is going on and is being manipulated by his advisors and inner circle.

The Satmar Rebbe, Moses Teitelbaum, had in the past (in the 80's and early 90's) fought a fierce battle against the "Bnei Yoel", the breakaway group from Satmar after he was nominated as Rebbe in 1981. These so-called "enemies" were living in the heart of Kiryat Joel where Aaron was appointed Rav and they -of course- opposed his leadership as well. The Satmar Rebbe would hold fierce speeches against this group, denounce them as opposing the old Satmar Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum and accusing them of destroying his "mosdos" (religious educational institutions).

In a most bizarre change of direction, the Satmar Rebbe is now fiercely opposed to his son's sovereignty. He believes strongly that Zalmen should take over his position as Grand Rabbi of Satmar and Aaron, the older and presumably more talented son, should be confined to his original Kiryat Joel position. Aaron's people routinely accuse the 90 year old Rabbi of amnesia and other mental old age ailments, thus invalidating his opinions and speeches. In some cases even Zalmen's people had to admit the Rebbe was just talking too much in public and his aids were forced to interrupt his public speeches so as not to embarrass him.