Background
In 1984 Satmar Rebbe Moshe Teitelbaum placed his oldest son Aaron in charge of the Satmar community in Kiryas Joel, New York, but in 1999 he appointed his third son Zalman as his successor. Since then the two sons and their respective followers have been feuding over who is the rightful successor of Moshe, with the followers of Aaron attempting to gain control of approximately $372 million worth of Satmar buildings and land (including its synagogues) in Williamsburg and elsewhere.
Following his death in April 2006, Moshe's will supported Zalman, as did a Satmar rabbinical court, though supporters of Aaron dispute the validity of both. After a New York state court ruled in July that the dispute was outside of its jurisdiction, followers of Aaron, who, in previous years, had been excluded from main Satmar institutions and celebrated the High Holy Days in a large tent, started plans to build an alternative main synagogue.
Read more about this topic: Kehilas Yetev Lev D'Satmar
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