Keter HaRabbanut – certificate of the appointment of Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar, author of Divrei Yoel, as Rabbi of Satmar, signed by rabbis and notables of the community and its institutions. Satmar, second day of Chol HaMoed Sukkot 1928.
Large certificate in decorative calligraphic writing on high-quality parchment-like paper - flanked by dozens of signatures and stamps. The signatures are headed by the signature of R. Chaim Freund, head of community (famous personage and community leader, descendant of R. Moshe Aryeh Freund who was community head in Sighet during the lifetime of the Yitav Lev and the Kedushat Yom Tov). His signature is followed by dozens of signatures and stamps of the gaba'im of the city Batei Midrash and of rabbis and community dignitaries.
The top of the pages is adorned with enlarged and decorated words. The flowery text of the certificate is arranged according to the initials of the name and surname of the Rebbe. It contains the terms of the rabbinical position, its obligations and privileges, the monthly salary and payment for special occasions such as arranging kiddushin, sermons for Shabbat HaGadol and Shabbat Shuva, etc.
A historical document! The election of R. Yoel Teitelbaum to the Satmar rabbinate was a watershed in the impact of Charedi and Chassidic communities on Jewish public life in Maramureş and in the Transylvanian region. The rabbinate of the large city of Satmar was a significant position of power and Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum took advantage of his authority to establish a powerhouse of Torah and Chassidism, a yeshiva gedola with hundreds of students and a dynamic Chassidic community.
R. Yoel Teitelbaum (1877-1979), descendant of Sighet rabbis and rebbes, a holy man, venerable Torah scholar and fiery Chassid, posek and zealot. His election to the Satmar rabbinate was accompanied by a trenchant polemic which raged in certain circles who opposed the ultra-Orthodox dominance on the city's rabbinate and leadership. Similar polemics were rampant in other large Transylvanian communities as well, such as Klausenburg (Cluj-Napoca) and Berehove, between the Sefarad communities (Chassidim who pray Nusach Sefarad) and the more modern Orthodox circles (Mizrachi and Zionist Movements, even Agudat Yisrael and Machzikei Hadat, who were rejected by the Satmar Chassidim). The authority of the Charedi and Chassidic sectors in the Satmar community triumphed, primarily in the merit of the greatness and clever leadership of the Rabbi of the city, R. Yoel Teitelbaum.
[1] leaf. 39.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Tears in a few places, professionally repaired.