Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar was born in 5648 (1888) to Rabbi Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa, the Rebbe of Sighet. He was known as "the prodigy of Sighet" after his hometown, and studied in his father's yeshivah there. His father passed away on the 29th of Shevat 5664 (1904). Just a few days before that, Rabbi Yoel married Chavah, daughter of Rabbi Avraham Chaim of Plantsch. The couple had three daughters, all of whom passed away during their father's lifetime without descendants. After the Rebbetzin's passing, Rabbi Yoel married Alta Feiga, daughter of Rabbi Avigdor of Częstochowa, and then moved to Satmar and began serving there as Rebbe.
When thousands of refugees fled to Hungary from the terror of the Nazis, may their name be erased, the Rebbe absorbed many refugees into his community and helped them obtain documents and funds. With the increasing flow of refugees at the beginning of 5703 (1943), he established an organized rescue committee to assist war refugees. After the Nazi army invaded Hungary, Rabbi Yelish, as he was known in Yiddish, tried to escape to Romania but was caught and sent to the ghetto in Klausenberg. From there, he was taken on the Kastner Train and arrived in Switzerland. After the Holocaust, he immigrated to the United States and re-established the Satmar Hasidic dynasty, now one of the largest and most important communities in America.
Rabbi Yelish was known as an uncompromising zealot, and demanded distancing from secularism, enlightenment, and Zionism in every way. But when a Jew in need turned to him for help, he assisted generously without distinction between chasidim, Zionists, or secular Jews. He passed away on the 26th of Av 5739 (1979), and after his passing, his nephew Rabbi Moshe served in his place.
Rabbi Shmuel Broch, the Av Beit Din of Congregation Afsei Aretz (who was an attendant of the holy Rabbi of Satmar, of blessed memory) related:
In the year 5704 (1944), the holy Rebbe of Satmar was in the city of Pest. My father, of blessed memory, who lived in Halas, very much wanted to come to the holy Rabbi, but he didn't have a discharge paper from the army. My mother, may she rest in peace, who was also in Pest, went to the holy Rabbi and told him that her husband wanted to come but did not have a discharge paper. The holy Rebbe said to her: “Well, he shouldn't come.” My mother said that he really wanted to come, and the holy Rabbi said: "Then he should come." My father did so, and came with another person who had a discharge paper. My father was with the holy Rabbi on weekdays, but for the holy Shabbat, the Rabbi traveled to Újpest. My father was afraid to travel to Újpest, so before Shabbat he went to the holy Rabbi with a kvittel (note). The holy Rebbe asked him why he came now with a kvittel (since he didn't want to return yet). He said that he wanted to travel to Újpest and he was afraid. The holy Rabbi took the kvittel in his hand and looked at it, and said to my father: “Maybe you shouldn't travel?” He immediately gave him his holy hand and said to him: "Travel in peace!" My father did as the holy Rabbi said, and went with his friend to the railroad to travel to Újpest.
As they waited there with his friend, an officer approached them and asked for their papers. His friend, who had a discharge paper, immediately gave it to him, and my father also showed him his papers. But of course, the officer was not satisfied with my father’s papers. He returned the papers to him and told him to go with him to the police station. My father went with him, and as they were walking, a man on a motorcycle passed by and brushed against the officer. The officer called for him to come to him, but the man ignored his words and continued on his way. The officer's anger flared and he ran after him, but the man escaped from him. When my father saw this, he slipped away and returned to the train, which arrived at exactly that moment. My father traveled to Újpest as if nothing had happened, and then he understood what the holy Rabbi had first said to him: “Maybe you shouldn't travel,” and then said to him, “Travel in peace.”
This story, and similar ones, show that the essence is will, as the sages said, “Whatever path a person wishes to follow, there he is lead.” If a person has a true and strong desire for something, even though there might be reasonable grounds to negate it, the tzaddik has the power to bless the person that his will be fulfilled. Will is the strongest power in the soul (as reflected in the popular expressions “Nothing is as strong as will” and “Nothing stands in the way of will”), and it is also what connects our conscious powers with what is above them—the unconscious layer of the soul.
Giving weight to will over intellect might sound surprising, after all, we are accustomed to intellect being the final arbiter (at least ideally, when free from our base desires and emotions). But all this is true when it comes to the revealed powers of the soul. Within the realm of consciousness, intellect appears as a balanced, logical, and objective judge and is therefore also regarded as right. But the human soul also has, as mentioned, parts
