Rav Yitzchok Hutner, Ra”m of Chaim Berlin and author of Pachad Yitzchok, used to say that the Satmar Rav was able to see with a far-reaching vision, greater than many other Rebbes and Rabbonim, saying, "He sees further than all of us."
He once told the following story which demonstrated this far-reaching vision:
Once, two messengers arrived from Eretz Yisrael to visit the offices of Agudas Yisrael in America. They told how recently, many missionaries had been traveling from village to village and from city to city, attempting to turn Jews away from Yiddishkeit toward Christianity. The Rabbonim in Eretz Yisrael asked the Rabbonim of the Agudah to sign a letter of protest against these missionary activities, which would then be sent to the Israeli prime minister, protesting the missionaries’ nefarious activities.
Rav Moshe Feinstein and Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, as well as Rav Hutner and Rav Kalmanovitsh and others discussed the issue, wrote up such a letter and protested vehemently against what was going on. They decided to enlist the help and support of the Satmar Rav as well, thinking that perhaps he too would sign the letter.
Two important Rabbonim acted as messengers and visited the Satmar Rav in his home, asking him to sign the letter and pledge his support in protest against the missionary activities in Eretz Yisrael.
The Rav read the letter and answered them, "I cannot sign this letter." The Satmar Rav then offered the following explanation as to why he would not sign:
"I know that in the next few days the Israeli prime minister has a trip scheduled to Italy. Surely he will take the opportunity to visit the Vatican and meet with the Pope.
“Once he receives this letter, I believe that he will take it with him, show it to the Pope and use it as a tool to find favor in the pontiff's eyes. He will wave our letter of protest and say to the Pope, ‘See – they asked me to intercede against missionary activities, but no – even though Israel is a medina for Yidden, we believe in freedom of religion, and each religion has the right to practice unhindered and teach its ideas to anyone. See – even though the American Rabbonim protest against me, we – the Israeli government – pay them no heed and do not listen to them.’"
The Satmar Rav concluded and said, "I believe the Israeli prime minister will take this letter to the Pope and thereby cause a great Chillul Hashem (desecration of Hashem’s name) – and so I cannot sign a letter which will be used in such a way."
The messengers thought that the Satmar Rav was simply pushing them off with excuses. They did not believe that what he said was true, nor did they take it seriously at all. The letter was signed, sealed and delivered to the Israeli prime minister without the Satmar Rav's signature.
A few weeks later, they all saw just how prophetic the Satmar Rav's words were; they all came true – not one word was false. The prime minister of Israel took the letter with him to the Vatican, showed it to the Pope and the entire episode became public news. Then we all understood that a Divine spirit of intuition spoke through the Satmar Rav, and through his Torah and righteousness he had the power and foresight to see what would indeed happen.
Rav Yitzchok Hutner concluded, "Der Satmar Rav hot gezen far ois mit a pur chodoshim vus es vet zayn– the Satmar Rav saw a few months ahead what would be!" (Moshiyan Shel Yisrael II, page 20)
