Sunday, June 06, 2004
Jewish Agency rescues Yemenite family from Satmar
Six out of 21 members of the Nahari family arrived in Israel after being rescued by the Jewish Agency from what was described as virtual siege in an ultraorthodox community in New York. The family, which had been coerced into moving to Monsey, New York from Yemen six years ago by representatives of the ultraorthodox Satmar sect, had apparently been held hostage by Satmar, who had brought them to the US under refugee status in an effort to discourage the family from moving to Israel. The Nahari family is among at least 60 to 70 Yemenite families who were brought to North America by the Satmar, according to the head of the Jewish Agency Aliyah Delegation in North America, Michael Landsberg. "The Satmar promised to take them to a 'golden land,' but when they got here they found themselves in more of a Yiddish-speaking shtetl," said Landsberg, who led the rescue operation. "They came to the US without legal papers as refugees and because they didn't know what to do or how to speak the language or how to handle the whole situation, they just stayed put." OK, now the important question is; are they Chassidim of R' Ahron or R' Zalmen Leib?
Six out of 21 members of the Nahari family arrived in Israel after being rescued by the Jewish Agency from what was described as virtual siege in an ultraorthodox community in New York. The family, which had been coerced into moving to Monsey, New York from Yemen six years ago by representatives of the ultraorthodox Satmar sect, had apparently been held hostage by Satmar, who had brought them to the US under refugee status in an effort to discourage the family from moving to Israel. The Nahari family is among at least 60 to 70 Yemenite families who were brought to North America by the Satmar, according to the head of the Jewish Agency Aliyah Delegation in North America, Michael Landsberg. "The Satmar promised to take them to a 'golden land,' but when they got here they found themselves in more of a Yiddish-speaking shtetl," said Landsberg, who led the rescue operation. "They came to the US without legal papers as refugees and because they didn't know what to do or how to speak the language or how to handle the whole situation, they just stayed put." OK, now the important question is; are they Chassidim of R' Ahron or R' Zalmen Leib?
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