There's a somewhat interesting book called American Shtetl, about half of which is to do with the legal troubles Satmar had in building Kiryas Yoel because of the Establishment Clause. While the book tried to dress it up, what you see is that Satmar figured out that the real law is that if you keep paying lawyers long enough the other side gives up, and you win. It's not necessary to have good arguments unless you are trying to impress people, and the only people outside the community they need to impress are politicians for whom a different form of currency is better. Following this, the legal fight between Satmar and the renegade Zalmoni faction (I'm half kidding) wasn't really a legal fight; both sides were basically paying to make the sure the other one couldn't defeat them. It's like how big firms buy up loads of lapsed patents as a preventative measure, or maybe nukes in the Cold War.
More specifically, the very first paragraph from the opinion is just wrong. Not only was R. Moshe not accepted by all of Satmar, the engine of the Zalmoni faction was people who had previously been in rebellion against him ('B'nei Yoel') who then realized that they could take advantage of his senility to appoint Zalman as a figurehead who would let them do what they wanted.
"There's a somewhat interesting book called American Shtetl,"
I actually was thinking of that book when I wrote this! It's really an amazing tale.
"Satmar figured out that the real law is that if you keep paying lawyers long enough the other side gives up, and you win. It's not necessary to have good arguments unless you are trying to impress people, and the only people outside the community they need to impress are politicians for whom a different form of currency is better. Following this, the legal fight between Satmar and the renegade Zalmoni faction (I'm half kidding) wasn't really a legal fight"
To put it somewhat differently, the book notes that Satmar became so good at working the legal system against outsiders that when they finally turned on each other it was like 2 undefeated heavyweights going at it. 🤣
"Not only was R. Moshe not accepted by all of Satmar, the engine of the Zalmoni faction was people who had previously been in rebellion against him ('B'nei Yoel') who then realized that they could take advantage of his senility to appoint Zalman as a figurehead who would let them do what they wanted."
My understanding is that by time the Beirach Moshe was niftar, the bnei yoel had largely ceased to exist as a group. They were really only in the picture to begin with because of Rebbetzin Feiga's backing. Once she was nifteres, they pretty much unraveled.
Also, I think the bnei yoel were centered in KJ, while R Zalman Leib's base is Williamsburg.
BY folded into the Zalmoni faction, so therefore they ceased to exist because they got what they wanted (not having a real Rebbe who can actually make decisions or control anything).
It's true BY was centered in Kiryas Yoel, but there are lots of Zalmonis in Kiryas Yoel, and there were even more back then.
I've no specific dog in the Satmar fight (despite having a Yoely brother), but would just note that its by no means just Satmar that games the judicial system - in fact, the Jewish left was the first to utilize it on a grand scale, to get their program of "civil rights" going. Nowadays everyone plays the game. Not to go all Luigi here, but every big business just flouts the law at will, all but daring the little Davids out there to fight them in court.
There's a somewhat interesting book called American Shtetl, about half of which is to do with the legal troubles Satmar had in building Kiryas Yoel because of the Establishment Clause. While the book tried to dress it up, what you see is that Satmar figured out that the real law is that if you keep paying lawyers long enough the other side gives up, and you win. It's not necessary to have good arguments unless you are trying to impress people, and the only people outside the community they need to impress are politicians for whom a different form of currency is better. Following this, the legal fight between Satmar and the renegade Zalmoni faction (I'm half kidding) wasn't really a legal fight; both sides were basically paying to make the sure the other one couldn't defeat them. It's like how big firms buy up loads of lapsed patents as a preventative measure, or maybe nukes in the Cold War.
More specifically, the very first paragraph from the opinion is just wrong. Not only was R. Moshe not accepted by all of Satmar, the engine of the Zalmoni faction was people who had previously been in rebellion against him ('B'nei Yoel') who then realized that they could take advantage of his senility to appoint Zalman as a figurehead who would let them do what they wanted.
"There's a somewhat interesting book called American Shtetl,"
I actually was thinking of that book when I wrote this! It's really an amazing tale.
"Satmar figured out that the real law is that if you keep paying lawyers long enough the other side gives up, and you win. It's not necessary to have good arguments unless you are trying to impress people, and the only people outside the community they need to impress are politicians for whom a different form of currency is better. Following this, the legal fight between Satmar and the renegade Zalmoni faction (I'm half kidding) wasn't really a legal fight"
To put it somewhat differently, the book notes that Satmar became so good at working the legal system against outsiders that when they finally turned on each other it was like 2 undefeated heavyweights going at it. 🤣
"Not only was R. Moshe not accepted by all of Satmar, the engine of the Zalmoni faction was people who had previously been in rebellion against him ('B'nei Yoel') who then realized that they could take advantage of his senility to appoint Zalman as a figurehead who would let them do what they wanted."
My understanding is that by time the Beirach Moshe was niftar, the bnei yoel had largely ceased to exist as a group. They were really only in the picture to begin with because of Rebbetzin Feiga's backing. Once she was nifteres, they pretty much unraveled.
Also, I think the bnei yoel were centered in KJ, while R Zalman Leib's base is Williamsburg.
BY folded into the Zalmoni faction, so therefore they ceased to exist because they got what they wanted (not having a real Rebbe who can actually make decisions or control anything).
It's true BY was centered in Kiryas Yoel, but there are lots of Zalmonis in Kiryas Yoel, and there were even more back then.
That's a great one too.
There's also these 2 utterly hilarious (although dated) ones. https://www.amazon.com/Boychiks-Hood-Travels-Hasidic-Underground/dp/0062512234
https://www.amazon.com/Teacha-Stories-Yeshiva-Gerry-Albarelli/dp/1930180047
I've no specific dog in the Satmar fight (despite having a Yoely brother), but would just note that its by no means just Satmar that games the judicial system - in fact, the Jewish left was the first to utilize it on a grand scale, to get their program of "civil rights" going. Nowadays everyone plays the game. Not to go all Luigi here, but every big business just flouts the law at will, all but daring the little Davids out there to fight them in court.