This week we set our sights on the facets of Asia. In Aki Ra’s Boys, a former child soldier makes amends by removing landmines in the killing fields of Cambodia. In Made in Taiwan, two Polynesian filmmakers set out to trace the path of their ancestry. Then, a psychic brings closure to mourning families in Psychic Vietnam. In A Year in Tibet, a monk, a rickshaw driver, a hotel owner, and a doctor face the perils of winter. Lastly, we meet a king without a kingdom and a goddess who must choose between a Moaist and the Monarch in the broadcast premiere of The Goddess and the King. So join us for these great docs on Link TV.
The Satmar Hasidim are one of the most conservative groups in all of Orthodox Judaism. Descending from the Hungarian village of Szatmár (now Satu Mare, Romania), their largest population today resides in Brooklyn, NY with settlements in the suburban towns of Monsey and Monroe, just north of New York City.
The extreme anti-Zionist views associated with the Satmar are based in the orthodox belief that God promised to return the Jewish people to the Land of Israel with the coming of the Messiah. One of the core principals for this belief comes from the Talmud teachings of the Three Oaths which state that the Jewish people "are bound by three strong oaths not to ascend to the Holy Land as a group using force, not to rebel against the governments of countries in which we live, and not by our sins, to prolong the coming of messiah."
Opposed to the state of Israel, the Satmar today operate in Iran and Yemen (and throughout South America) condemning the Zionist state while persuading Jewish refugees with promises of a better life (with housing and education for their families) in return for immigrating to the United States. Much like the Amish in America, the Satmar thrive in isolated, self-sufficient communities. Devoted to the study of the Torah they are bound by tradition in their manner of dress and the propagation of big families.
With firm opposition to the existence of the state of Israel, Satmar Jews are relentless in their efforts to prevent immigration to Israel by recruiting Jewish refugees to join their ultra orthodox communities in the United States. In Satmar Custody by director Nitzan Gilady, tells the gripping story of one Yemenite family’s (the Jaradi’s) long dark journey as refugees who emigrate to the USA under the influence and control of Satmar operatives working inside Yemen. In true film noir style, Gilady weaves a suspenseful tale that traces the tragic plight of the Jaradi’s who sacrifice their identity and more for the promise of a better life made to them by their recruiters. The film is an edge of the seat thriller that not only exposes the clash of cultures that fester within the Satmar community but also questions the overall motives of the Satmar sect.
