Kiryas Joel is ‘a holistic cradle-to-grave Jewish society’
Questions for David N. Myers
David N. Myers, chair of the History Department at UCLA, has written a forthcoming book, American Shtetl: The Case of Kiryas Joel, New York
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March 18, 2013
As a scholar fascinated with the functioning and survival of unique Jewish communities, David Myers spent 10 years studying the municipality of Kiryas Joel in upstate New York. About 99 percent of the village’s 22,000 inhabitants are Satmar hasidic Jews.
Myers, chair of the History Department at UCLA, has written up his findings in a forthcoming book, American Shtetl: The Case of Kiryas Joel, New York. He spoke with NJ Jewish News from Los Angeles a few days before he was to speak on the topic at Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston. That talk has been postponed owing to inclement weather.
NJJN: What makes Kiryas Joel unique?
David Myers: It is a completely holistic, cradle-to-grave Jewish society that operates in the Yiddish language according to the norms of the Satmar hasidic movement, walking in the path of ancient Israel. It operates with a regime of strict ritual observance, and deviations from that are grounds for banishment or exclusion. It imagines itself as a shtetl.
NJJN: How do you define “shtetl”?
“Shtetl” means “little town” in Yiddish, and the most common image that comes to mind is the world in Fiddler on the Roof. A shtetl was a town in eastern Europe with a large Jewish population. But never outside Kiryas Joel have we seen anything this homogenous, this uniform, this hasidic, in the history of Diaspora Jews.
NJJN: How has Kiryas Joel managed to thrive for 20 years?
Myers: Chiefly by delivering a block vote. The founding rabbi of the Satmars, Joel Teitelbaum, was willing to engage local political authorities to advance the interests of his community. It has intensified considerably as Satmar hasidim have learned American interest-group politics very well. Their first community was in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Then the leadership said to themselves, “It would be good to create a place of refuge from the seductions and lures of the city in order to live the life we want to lead.”
They purchased land in Monroe, NY. But conflicts with local authorities over zoning regulations and limits on the size of private homes for their large families led to the creation of their own municipality in 1977.
NJJN: Wasn't there a conflict over public schools in Kiryas Joel?
Myers: Yes. In the early 1980s, a problem arose about where and how to educate special-needs kids. One idea was to send them to the Monroe-Woodbury School District, but the exposure to the values of that school district was deemed too detrimental to the children in question. After a good deal of controversy within the community and without, the Kiryas Joel Public School District was authorized in 1989…. It is secular education in Yiddish and English. They are not teaching the Talmud. All of the teachers are Orthodox, and there is a distinctive feel to the place that would not be hospitable to a non-Orthodox Jew.
NJJN: The Satmar hasidim are such an insular community; was it difficult for you to gain access to them?
Myers: It wasn’t difficult. The Satmar community was quite open to me. I was told: “We are interested in having someone come in and hold up a mirror to us so we can look at ourselves.”
NJJN: Can you address the power struggle going on now for control of the Satmars?
Myers: The grand-nephews of the founding Rabbi Teitelbaum — Rabbi Zalman Leib in Williamsburg and Rabbi Aron in Kiryas Joel — are engaged in a quite bitter dispute that has made its way to many non-Jewish legal jurisdictions, breaking the taboo against appealing to gentile courts.
There is a lot of dirty laundry from the two competing sides being aired in the Yiddish press…. The two sides are split 50-50 in Kiryas Joel and that leads to a lot of tensions.
NJJN: How does Kiryas Joel deal with public safety issues?
Myers: They contract out for their police force. None of the Satmars are cops. They tried to have their own fire department but men's beards could not fit in the required oxygen masks and they had some newly purchased fire trucks they could not put to use.
NJJN: Is it a low-crime area?
Myers: Very low-crime. The crimes would be domestic violence or intimidation by one faction against another. The rates are not higher than in other communities, though the crimes are reported at a much lower rate. It is the poorest community in the United States. According to the 2010 census, 62 percent live below the poverty line. But there is a very extensive network of both private and public social services. That is where their political engagement pays off, with tens of millions of dollars in federal aid and a very substantial number of people on welfare. There is no homelessness in the community. There is no hunger in the community.
NJJN: Do many people in Kiryas Joel leave the community?
Myers: It is not a massive stream but it is a rising tide. The ultimate exit factor is the Internet. It provides the exposure to the outside world that the community has sought to prevent. It has the potential to be the ultimate leveler.
Comments
Patrick Spear
April 07, 2013
Maybe they should look at the whole picture of Kiryas Joel. The whole thing with the special ed issue is, that if you look at it im sure Kiryas Joel has a higher per capita special ed problem. Thanks to inbreeding.
Another thing to look at is the fact the Hasidic marriages are not legal in NY, so all the Hasidic women are considered single mothers therefore they get public assistance. I think if you could get the data the Hacids are the biggest cons on the public assistance money of any group. I think you will also find a lot of Hacids who travel to the city and trade there goods for cash everyday (and make good money doing it) and then go home and pluck there welfare checks out of the mailbox that night.
The fact that they made there own village on the Town of Monroe in 1977 is because the town wanted to keep the building codes reasonable and safe and that stopped Kiryas Joel from building there huge ugly multi-family buildings. Which if you drive through there, you would probably agree are ugly and most look like slums.
The Hasids are now in lawsuit with the village of South Blooming Grove right now saying that south Blooming Grove incorporated to keep the Hacids out, WELLL DUHHH! Just look at Kiryas Joel and you would want to keep them out too!
I wish someone would do a full investigation on the Community and out them for what they are, CROOKS!
This whole article has Kiryas Joel as a quaint little upstate NY village. Its a village full of con artists living off the NY public assistance system.
Neil Coughlin
April 07, 2013
I have to agree with the above poster. I lived near Kiryas Joel for most of my life. I remember the Hasids preventing the Gentile fire departments from entering the community when there were massive fires. I remember seeing the 100,000+ dollar Mercedes Benz sedans driving in and out of the community. They are almost ALL on some sort of public assistance in one form or another, yet the vast majority of the men work in the diamond market in NYC. And that is almost entirely a cash business. I went to the same pediatrician growing up in Monroe, and saw the men and women wearing the Rolex watches that were diamond encrusted, driving the fancy cars and yet using Medicaid to pay for their overwhelmingly ill and handicapped children. They as a community are nothing more than a huge drain on New York state system, a crooked group of individuals who hide behind their block vote and their religion.
The community is a ghetto in the classic definition, and a slum from the outside at best. but if you ever get an opportunity to see the insides, they are nothing short of palatial. They are VERY wealthy people who work the system. I have delivered goods there myself, and have witnessed the thousands of dollars in 100’s pulled out of the buyers pockets to pay for the goods, yet see that same person on the welfare line the following week.
Low crime? That is a joke. Low crime because domestic abuse and child abuse is considered normal, and they don’t rat on their own kind. Never mind the blatant fraud and financial crime that occurs by the residents.
Robert Conway
April 07, 2013
I also agree with Patrick. I used to live in South Blooming Grove NY had worked in local Supermarket in Monroe NY right near Kiyras Joel. As a cashier there I would see many times them moving $100 bills out of way to get to their food stamps
ann-marie fitzpatrick
April 24, 2013
Very idealistically written fairy tale. This is a well oiled political CULT. They are poor on paper but wealthy in CASH. They refuse to indoctrinate themselves with the American way of life and claim religious freedom to live their lifestyle while draining the taxpayer to do so. It is illegal/immoral to continue funding this community in exchange for their vote. They control our politicians and in return are granted untold grants and funds enabling them to over populate. A complete investigation should be handled asap to further stop the encroachment of this society. if they chose to live in this manner let them do so on their own dime. They are very astute in manipulating our court system and DSS. We accommodate them on every level, yet I do not see them serving in our military or acting as American citizens in any way. Their high rate of children with disabilities, their high rate of child abuse, in-breeding and cloistered way of living should be questioned. No one is allowed IN to monitor these people who choose to live an “insular” way of life. This is AMERICA…we all pay taxes. Time to stop the bleeding.