Williamsburg (Brooklyn) וויליאמסבורג

Overview

Williamsburg lies in northern Brooklyn, along the East River, between Greenpoint to the north and Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south ^[1]. Its southern section, known as "South Williamsburg," is today home mostly to Yiddish-speaking Chassidim, chiefly Satmar Chassidim ^[1].

The First Jews

The area's population was originally mostly German. After the Williamsburg Bridge was completed in 1903, many Jews moved here from Manhattan's Lower East Side in search of better living conditions ^[1]. Even before World War II, Hasidic Jews had settled here, alongside other religious and non-religious Jews ^[1].

After the War — A Hasidic City

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, a great number of Holocaust survivors arrived, many of them Chassidim from the towns and villages of Hungary and Romania ^[1]. They were led by several Rebbes, among them the Rebbes of Satmar, Klausenburg, Vien, Pupa, Tzehlim and Skver ^[1]. The Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, settled in Williamsburg with his Chassidim in 1947 ^[2], and over time he came to have the strongest influence on the neighborhood ^[1].

Today

According to English Wikipedia, thousands of Chassidim from various communities live in Williamsburg, and the number of Satmar Chassidim alone is estimated at around 57,000 ^[1]. Williamsburg is the capital of one wing of Satmar ^[1]; according to Yiddish Wikipedia, Satmar is today divided between two large factions, and the neighborhood is also home to communities of Pupa, Vizhnitz, Kraly, Spinka, Klausenburg, Vien, Nitra and others ^[3].

The community is growing quickly. In 2004, 3,839 children were born in Williamsburg; only Borough Park had more births in New York City that year ^[4]. In 1997, some 7,000 Hasidic families lived here ^[1]. In November 2009, a 50-seat kosher soup kitchen opened on Lee Avenue, run by Masbia together with the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty ^[1]. The core Hasidic area consists of nine census tracts where Yiddish is spoken ^[1].

In Literature

The tension between Chassidim and Modern Orthodox Jews in mid-20th-century Williamsburg was portrayed in Chaim Potok's novels, such as "The Chosen" (1967) ^[1].