Rabbi is the term in Judaism for a religious teacher. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ‘great’ in many senses, including "revered." The word comes from the Semitic root R-B-B, and is cognate to Arabic ربّ rabb, meaning "lord" Rabbi ' onMouseout='HidePop("5404")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Joel_Teitelbaum">Joel Teitelbaum
Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, known as Reb Yoelish or the Satmar Rav , was a prominent...
, the
rebbeRebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
of Satmar and driving spirit behind the project. Teitelbaum himself helped select the location a few years before his death in 1979. Rabbi Teitelbaum was the founding
rebbe of the Satmar Hasidic dynasty, originally from
HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
. The Satmars who established Kiryas Joel came from Szatmarnemeti, Hungary (now Satu Mare, Romania), Teitelbaum's hometown.
In 1946, Teitelbaum originally settled with his followers in
Williamsburg, BrooklynWilliamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Bushwick. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th Precinct....
. By the 1970s, however, he decided to move the growing community to a location that was not far from the commercial center of
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
but was also more secluded from what he saw as the harmful influences and immorality of the outside world. Teitelbuam's choice was
MonroeMonroe is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 31,407 at the 2000 census. The town is named after President James Monroe....
. The land for Kiryas Joel was purchased in 1977, and fourteen Satmar families settled there. By 2006, there were over 3,000. When he died in 1979, Rabbi Teitelbaum was the first person to be buried in the town's cemetery. His funeral reportedly brought over 100,000 mourners to Kiryas Joel at that time.
It is widely believed that no candidates run for the village's board or the school board unless first approved by the grand rebbe Rabbi Aron Teitelbaum. In 2001, Kiryas Joel held a competitive election in which all candidates supported by the grand rebbe were re-elected by a 60-40% margin.
Friction with surrounding jurisdictions
The village has become a contentious issue in Orange County for several reasons, mainly related to its rapid growth. Unlike most other small communities, it lacks a real downtown and much of it is given over to residential property, which has mostly taken the form of
contemporaryContemporary architecture is generally speaking the architecture being made at the present time.The term contemporary architecture is also applied to a range of styles of recently built structures and spaces which are optimized for current use.-Topics in contemporary...
townhouseHistorically in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries, a townhouse was a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...
-style
condominiumA condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
. New construction is ongoing throughout the community.
Population growth is strong. In 1990, there were 7,400 people in Kiryas Joel; in 2000, 13,100, nearly doubling the population. In 2005, the population had risen to 18,300, a rate of growth suggesting it will double again in the ten years between 2000 and 2010. In 2006, village administrator Gedalye Szegedin stated:
Local impact of growth
MonroeMonroe is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 31,407 at the 2000 census. The town is named after President James Monroe....
also contains two other villages,
MonroeMonroe is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,780 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical...
and
HarrimanHarriman is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 2,252 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined...
. Kiryas Joel's boundaries also come close to the neighboring towns of
Blooming GroveBlooming Grove is a town in Orange County, New York, USA. The population was 17,351 at the 2000 census.The Town of Blooming Grove is in the central part of the county, located southwest of Newburgh.- History :...
and
WoodburyWoodbury is the name of a town and an almost coterminous village in Orange County, New York, United States. The town population was 9,460 at the 2000 census. The village incorporated in 2006 and comprises all of the town that is not part of the village of Harriman. The origin of the town name is no...
.
Residents of these communities and local
Orange CountyOrange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located at the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area. The county sits in the state's scenic Mid-Hudson Region of the...
politicians view the village as encroaching on them. Due to the rapid population growth occurring in Kiryas Joel, resulting almost entirely from the high birth rates of its Hasidic population, the village government has undertaken various
annexationAnnexation is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities...
efforts to expand its area, to the dismay of the majority of the residents of the surrounding communities. Many of these area residents see the expansion of the high-density residential, commercial village as a threat to the
quality of lifeThe term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and political science. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of...
in the surrounding suburban communities. They view it as a prime source of suburban sprawl (most land surrounding it is largely undeveloped). This designation is questionable, because the high density townhouses and condominiums of Kiryas Joel take up much less space per person than the typical suburban community. Only 5.4% of housing units in Kiryas Joel are single, detached houses,, a lower percentage than the Bronx (where 5.8% of housing units are single detached houses). (Detached single housing is a component of sprawl, but not the only component.) Other concerns of the surrounding communities are the impact on local aquifers and the projected increased volume of sewage reaching the county’s sewerage treatment plants, already near capacity by 2005.
On August 11, 2006, residents of Woodbury voted by a 3-to-1 margin to incorporate much of the town as a village to constrain further annexation. Kiryas Joel has vigorously opposed such moves in court, and even some Woodbury residents are concerned about adding another layer of taxation without any improved defense against annexations.
In March 2007, the village sued the county to stop it from selling off a million gallons (3,780 m³) of excess capacity at its
sewage plantWastewater treatment plant also called wastewater treatment works can mean one of the following:*Sewage treatment – treatment and disposal of human waste....
in Harriman. Two years before, the county had sued the village to stop it from tapping into New York City's
Catskill AqueductThe Catskill Aqueduct, part of the New York City water supply system, brings water from the Catskill Mountains to Yonkers where it connects to other parts of the system. It begins at the Ashokan Reservoir in Olivebridge, New York, in Ulster County. It then heads south, flowing toward Orange County,...
, arguing that the village's environmental review for the project had inadequately addressed concerns about the additional wastewater it would generate. The village is appealing an early ruling siding with the county.
In its action, Kiryas Joel accuses the county of inconsistently claiming limited capacity in its suit when it is selling the million gallons to three communities outside its sewer district.
Local politics
Critics of the village cite its impact on local politics. Villagers are perceived as voting in a solid
blocA voting bloc is a group of voters that are so motivated by a specific concern or group of concerns that it helps determine how they vote in elections. The divisions between voting blocs are known as cleavage...
. While this is not always the case, the highly concentrated population often does skew strongly toward one candidate or the other in local elections, making Kiryas Joel a heavily-courted swing vote for whichever politician offers Kiryas Joel the most favorable environment for continued growth.
Kiryas Joel played a major role in the 2006 Congressional election. The village sits in the 19th Congressional District, represented at that time by Republican Sue Kelly. Village residents had been loyal to Kelly in the past, but in 2006, voters were upset over what they saw as lack of adequate representation from Kelly for the village. In a bloc, Kiryas Joel swung around 2,900 votes to Kelly's Democratic opponent, John Hall in that year's election. The vote in Kiryas Joel was a major reason Hall carried Orange County, as he defeated Kelly in the county by 93 votes.
Large families
Women in Kiryas Joel usually stop working outside the home after the birth of a second child. Most families have only one income and many children. The resulting
povertyPoverty is the condition of lacking basic human needs such as nutrition, clean water, health care, clothing, and shelter because of the inability to afford them. This is also referred to as absolute poverty or destitution...
rate makes a disproportionate number of families in Kiryas Joel eligible for welfare benefits when compared to the rest of the county; and cost of welfare benefits is subsidized by taxes paid county-wide.
The New York Times wrote,
Litigation
The unusual lifestyle and growth pattern of Kiryas Joel has led to litigation on a number of fronts. In 1994, the
Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
ruled in the case of
Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. GrumetBoard of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet, 512 U.S. 687 , was a case in the United States Supreme Court.-Opinion of the court:...
that the Kiryas Joel school district, which covered only the village, was designed in violation of the Establishment Clause of the
1st AmendmentThe First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the Congress from making laws "respecting an establishment of religion", prohibiting the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech and infringing on the freedom of the...
, because the design accommodated one group on the basis of religious affiliation. 512 U.S. 687 (1994). Subsequently, the New York State Legislature established a similar school district in the town that has passed legal muster. Further litigation has resulted over what entity should pay for the education of children with disabilities in Kiryas Joel, and over whether the community's boys must ride buses driven by women.
Geography
Kiryas Joel is located at .
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data. As part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about...
, the village has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8 km
2).2.8 km
2 (1.1 sq mi) of it is land and only a very small portion of the area (a small duck pond in center of the village) is covered with water.
Demographics
As of the
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
of 2000, there were 13,138 people, 2,229 households, and 2,137 families residing in the village. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
was 11,962.2 people per square mile (4,611.5/km
2). There were 2,233 housing units at an average density of 2,033.2/sq mi (783.8/km
2). The racial makeup of the village was 99.02% White, 0.21% African American, 0.02% Asian, 0.12% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.93% of the population.
Kiryas Joel has the highest percentage of people who reported Hungarian ancestry in the United States, as 18.9% of the population reported Hungarian ancestry in 2000.
The 2000 census also reports that only 6.2% of village residents spoke English at home, one of the lowest such percentages in the United States. Over 89% of residents spoke
YiddishYiddish is a non-territorial High German language of Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world...
at home, while 2.3% spoke
HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
. Of the Yiddish-speaking population in 2000, 46% spoke English "not well" or "not at all." Overall, including those who primarily spoke Hebrew and European languages as well as primary Yiddish speakers, 46% of Kiryas Joel residents speak English "not well" or "not at all."
There were 2,229 households out of which 79.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 93.2% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...
living together, 1.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 4.1% were non-families. 2.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 5.74 and the average family size was 5.84. In the village the population was spread out with 57.5% under the age of 18, 17.2% from 18 to 24, 16.5% from 25 to 44, 7.2% from 45 to 64, and 1.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 15 years. For every 100 females there were 116.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 118.0 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $15,138, and the median income for a family was $15,372. Males had a median income of $25,043 versus $16,364 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone. Per capita income is usually reported in units of currency per year...
for the village was $4,355. About 61.7% of families and 62.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 63.9% of those under age 18 and 50.5% of those age 65 or over.
According 2008 census figures, the village has the highest poverty rate in the nation, and the largest percentage of residents who receive food stamps. More than two-thirds of Kiryas Joel residents live below the federal poverty line and more than 40 percent receive food stamps, according to the American Community Survey, a U.S. Census Bureau study of every place in the country with 20,000 residents or more.
See also
- Hasidism
- Shtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in pre-Holocaust Central and Eastern Europe...
- Mea Shearim
Meah Shearim is one of the oldest neighborhoods in west Jerusalem, Israel, built by the original settlers of Yishuv haYashan. Today it is populated mainly by Haredi Jews.-Etymology:...
- Bnei Brak
Bnei Brak is a city located on Israel's central Mediterranean coastal plain, just east of Tel Aviv, in the Dan metropolitan region and Tel Aviv District....
- Yeshivish
Yeshivish refers to dialects spoken by those who have attended a Yeshiva. Yeshivish is the primary vehicle of spoken communication in many Yeshivas.-Definition:...
- New Square, New York
New Square is an all-Hasidic village in the Town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Hillcrest; east of Viola; south of New Hempstead and west of New City...
External links