Moshe Ber Beck

Rabbi Moshe Ber Beck
Moshe Ber Beck (center, in gray caftan)
Personal
Born	(1934-05-17)17 May 1934 Nyírbogát, Kingdom of Hungary
Died	15 April 2021(2021-04-15) (aged 86) Monsey, New York, U.S.
Religion	Judaism
Spouse	Marta Beck
Children	Elhanan Beck
Parent	Abraham Tzvi Beck (brother)
Position	Chief rabbi
Organisation	Neturei Karta USA
Residence	Monsey, New York, U.S.

Moshe Ber Beck, or Moshe Dov Beck (Yiddish: משה בער בעק; May 17, 1934 – April 15, 2021), was a Hungarian-born American rabbi and anti-Zionist campaigner. He was the leader of one of the Neturei Karta branches in the United States.

Biography

Moshe Ber Beck was born in Nyírbogát, Hungary. His early childhood was spent hiding with his brother from Nazi persecution until 1945, when Soviet troops took Budapest. In 1948, he migrated to Bnei Brak, Israel, where he began yeshiva studies. In 1959, he married the daughter of rabbi Shalom "Zeev" Wellwell Eisenbach, and at that time joined Neturei Karta, leaving the Vizhnitz Hasidic movement of which he had formerly been a part. and inspired for his strong opposition to Zionism. Subsequently lived in Monsey, New York, where he worked as a rabbi and anti-Zionist activist. Beck died from complications related to COVID-19 on 15 April 2021. He was 86 years old.

Anti-Zionist campaigning

Moshe Ber Beck, along with other rabbis such as Yisroel Dovid Weiss, was known as a Haredi opponent of Zionism, but, like all of Neturei Karta, to an extent which put him far beyond the mainstream Haredi viewpoint. He was one of the leaders of Neturei Karta in the U.S. Among other activities, he participated in a visit to Iran in 2006 during which he met with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to publicize Haredi opposition to Zionism. Beck denounced what he considered a political use of the Holocaust by what he called the Zionist establishment. In 2014, he appeared in a lengthy interview on the documentary Judaism in the Era of Zionism in which he laid out his anti-Zionist viewpoint.

Beck's opposition to Zionism was based, he claimed, upon the works of Satmar founder Joel Teitelbaum (especially Vayoel Moshe, a lengthy work which aims to demonstrate that Jews are commanded by the Torah to remain in exile until redeemed by the messiah and are therefore prohibited to establish an independent country).

Disputes with Satmar

A protest by the Satmar beth din against Beck and his actions

Pashkevil against Beck's actions, signed in the name of Neturei Karta in Israel

Although Berck's positions were based on Satmar's guiding ideas, this did not prevent a mutual distancing between him and the Hasidic group. Rabi Moshe Ber Beck distanced himself from Satmar due to a previous dispute with members of the leadership of said religious movement regarding the suitability of the kosher meat certificates that its rabbis issued. Subsequently, the differences deepened with Rabi Berck visit to Iran and his meeting with Ahmadinejad, Satmar accused Beck of allying with enemies of the Jewish people, and consequently Satmar Court condemned Neturei Karta's "fanaticism."

List of works

The jewish home (1977)

External links

Media related to Moshe Ber Beck at Wikimedia Commons

• Judaism in the Era of Zionism (A documentary interview with Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss and Rabbi Moshe Dov Beck.)
• Biographical speech by Senior Rabbi Moshe Dov Beck
• Argument of Rabbi Ber Beck about religious jewish opposition to Zionism