The following is an unedited press release submitted by Satmar Williamsburg to YWN:

Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum warns against branding the mayor an antisemite and urges observant Jews to follow the Torah’s guidance for life in exile:

NEW YORK — August 9, 2026 — Grand Rebbe of Satmar Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum strongly condemned the campaign of attacks against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during his major annual address marking the yahrzeit—the anniversary of a person’s passing as observed on the Jewish calendar—of Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, the founding Grand Rebbe of Satmar.

Addressing one of the largest and most significant annual gatherings of the Satmar community, the Grand Rebbe warned that the rhetoric being directed against Mayor Mamdani by members of the Jewish community violates the traditional Torah approach to relations with government and risks dangerously provoking hostility toward Jews.

“Recently, we have witnessed a terrible provocation against the nations by heimishe Yidden—through the incitement against the Mayor of New York City,” the Grand Rebbe declared.

Invoking the Prophet Jeremiah’s instruction to the Jewish people to seek the peace of the city in which they live and to pray on its behalf, the Grand Rebbe emphasized that observant Jews must conduct themselves according to the Torah’s guidance for Jewish life in exile.

“We must remember that we are in exile,” he said. “The Prophet Jeremiah instructed the Jewish people: ‘Seek the peace of the city to which I have exiled you, and pray to Hashem on its behalf.’ An observant Jew must follow the Torah’s path and accept the decree of exile.”

The Grand Rebbe specifically condemned efforts to denounce Mayor Mamdani and brand him an antisemite.
“To denounce the mayor and brand him an antisemite constitutes a true provocation against the nations,” he said. “As though the provocation against the nations taking place in Eretz Yisroel were not enough, they are now bringing it here to the United States as well.”

He concluded by urging Jewish families to guard their homes against publications and messages influenced by Zionist ideology.

The remarks were delivered on the 47th yahrzeit of Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, who reestablished the Satmar community in the United States following the Holocaust and became one of the most influential Orthodox Jewish leaders of the twentieth century. Opposition to Zionism and adherence to the traditional Torah principles governing Jewish life in exile were central foundations of his teachings.

The Grand Rebbe’s address represents one of the clearest and most forceful condemnations to date of the attacks directed at Mayor Mamdani from within segments of the Orthodox Jewish community.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)