The Bnei Yoel are a group of Satmar Hasidim, followers of Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, who after the death of Rebbe Joel refused to accept the leadership of the new Grand Rabbi of Satmar, Rebbe Moshe Teitelbaum a nephew of Rebbe Joel, as well as a leadership from any other Rebbe.
They are also known as:
- "The Rebbetzin's Hasidim," referring to Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum's surviving wife. (A "rebbetzin" is the title for an Orthodox rabbi's wife.)
- "kegeners," meaning those "who go against" something (in Yiddish.)
- "misnagdim," "opponents" in Yiddish, but not to be confused with the non-Hasidic movement of the misnagdim the ideological opponents of the original Hasidic movement in the 18th century.
Some members of the Bnei Yoel have taken the side of Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum in the dispute that erupted about the succession of Rebbe Moshe Teitelbaum, in which brothers Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum and Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum both claimed the right to become the new Rebbe.
Some of the Bnei Yoel who have taken the side of Rabbi Zalman Leib but did oppose Rebbe Zalman's father, Rebbe Moses, are often referred to the "Hasidim of Ahava Mesiteres" (Hasidim of "Hidden Love"), based on a discourse Rabbi Zalman Leib once gave.