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Tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews flood tiny Hungarian town for ‘miracle rabbi’ pilgrimage
(JTA) — As many as 50,000 Jews traveled to a Hungarian town for the anniversary of a noted rabbi’s death this week, marking significant growth for the annual pilgrimage and generating what the town’s mayor called “culture shock” for non-Jewish locals.
Since the fall of communism in 1989, Jewish pilgrims have been visiting Bodrogkeresztur, known as Kerestir in Yiddish, in April, timed to the death of Rabbi Yeshaya Steiner, a Hasidic rabbi known as Reb Shayele whom some believe had special powers. The number of pilgrims has swelled in recent years, thanks in part to efforts by the rabbi’s descendants to elevate his profile.
The estimated 50,000 visitors this year — other estimates placed the number lower, but still in the tens of thousands — would be over 60 times the number of the town’s year-round population. It also would likely set a new record for a Jewish pilgrimage in Europe, outpacing even the famed gatherings in Uman, Ukraine, at the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.
“It’s all a bit surreal,” Istvan Rozgonyi, mayor of the town in northeast Hungary, told Agence France-Presse this week. “Christians and Jews co-existed peacefully here for centuries, but the sudden influx in the last decade of so many foreign Jews has been a culture shock for some locals.”
(Barnabas Horvath)
In fact, Kerestir has not had a significant Jewish population since 1944, when the town’s Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. Some of Reb Shayale’s family members were among them, though the rabbi himself died in 1925 and others in his family, including a brother and some of his children, had previously made their way to the United States, where his brother’s Staten Island grave is a pilgrimage site of its own.
Reb Shayele is considered in some Hasidic circles to be a “miracle rabbi” who had supernatural powers of healing. He also famously advised a follower about how to rid his granary of mice, leading to the practice of affixing a picture of the “Mouser Rabbi” in one’s home to keep mice away.
“People call me every day to ask if I have the power from my grandfather,” Israel Grosz, the rabbi’s grandson and oldest living relative, told AFP.
Grosz lives in the United States. He believes, as many of the pilgrims do, that access to Reb Shayele’s powers is strongest at his grave. Many of the Jewish pilgrims to Kerestir, mostly but not exclusively men who gather in the town a few days before the anniversary of his death, go to the grave to ask for help with personal issues or for blessings. They visit his former house and the local Jewish cemetery where he is buried.
In recent decades, family members have worked to build up a Jewish infrastructure in Kerestir. They purchased the family’s home and erected a permanent tent over Reb Shayele’s grave, then bought the building next door to serve as a guesthouse. During the pilgrimage season, they add more tents to accommodate visitors to the grave and run shuttles to and from the airport in Budapest. Dozens of buildings in the town of about 1,100 have been purchased by people affiliated with the pilgrimage.
United Hatzalah, a Jewish emergency service based in Israel, sent a delegation to Kerestir. It treated well over 100 people this week, mostly for minor injuries and illnesses, it said in a press release.
The influx briefly changes the town — police had to close it off for three days so fleets of buses full of Jewish pilgrims from across the globe could proceed through its narrow streets — and has induced tensions among locals who are divided on whether the pilgrimage is good for Bodrogkeresztur.
“They should go back to where they came from. I do not care that they used to live here,” one woman told the Christian Science Monitor in early 2020, arguing that Jews were driving up housing costs by buying buildings to serve as guesthouses. Another villager disagreed, telling the outlet, “They have the right to be here as their ancestors were unjustly taken away and killed in 1944.”
Orthodox Jews make other yearly pilgrimages to the burial sites of prominent rabbis across Europe, including in Turkey and elsewhere in Hungary. The most prominent of the pilgrimage sites is Uman, where the Rosh Hashanah event is known as a raucous affair. It took place last year despite the dangers of the Russia-Ukraine war and against the wishes of authorities, with a lower-than-usual number of visitors.
The highest estimate for Uman attendance was 40,000, in 2018. This week’s Kerestir pilgrimage could have topped that, according to its organizers.
“We are proud that more people than ever came to Hungary this year to commemorate my grandfather’s memory and his influential teachings,” Menachem Mendel Rubin, who organized the event from his home in the United States, said in a press release. He thanked local police and the Hungarian government for their support.
As large as this year’s pilgrimage was, it’s unlikely to be the largest: Organizers expect record crowds in two years, for the 100th anniversary of Reb Shayele’s death.
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Palestinian Authority Celebrates That Released Terrorist Has No Remorse for the Murder He Committed
Palestinian Hamas terrorists stand guard on the day of the handover of hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
The Palestinian Authority (PA) and its ruling party, Fatah, glorify terror daily. This example, however, was special — a rebroadcast from Israeli television of an unrepentant Palestinian terrorist.
An official Fatah Facebook page, Awdah, reposted an interview conducted by Israel’s Channel 13 with released terrorist murderer Mahmoud Abu Sorour, who was serving life in prison before being released for Israelis held hostage by Hamas in October 2025.
The Israeli interviewer challenged Abu Sorour on the morality of the killing. The PA’s repost did the opposite: it celebrated his refusal to express remorse.
Awdah’s caption read: “Watch how senior Fatah official prisoner Mahmoud Abu Sorour responded to the Israeli Channel 13 reporter.”
Posted text: “Watch how senior Fatah official prisoner Mahmoud Abu Sorour [i.e., terrorist, murdered an Israeli together with an accomplice] responded to the Israeli Channel 13 reporter.”
Israeli Channel 13 reporter: “Do you regret what you did?”
Terrorist Mahmoud Abu Sorour: “Am I sorry for what?”
Reporter: “For the murder you committed.”
Mahmoud Abu Sorour: “After 33 years?”
Reporter: “Yes.”
Mahmoud Abu Sorour: “You are asking me to be sorry?”
Reporter: “Yes, you are a murderer… I asked you if you are sorry, you are not sorry.”
Mahmoud Abu Srour: “Sorry for what? You come to me after 33 years and [expect] I will be sorry?”
[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, Oct. 19, 2025]
Abu Sorour’s refusal to feel regret is treated as entertainment and a point of pride.
By reposting this interview with admiration, Fatah once again signals to its public that terrorists are role models — not in spite of murder, but because of it. And it must not be forgotten that Fatah is the party of Mahmoud Abbas. So how can Western leaders continue to promote Mahmoud Abbas as a “peace partner” while his own party proudly glorifies unrepentant murderers?
The author is the Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.
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Shared Hatred Drives Antisemitism Across the Political Spectrum
Mohammed el-Kurd. Photo: Twitter.
There has long been a concerted effort to cloak the hatred of Jews as a righteous movement. The belief that the world would be a better place if the Jewish people just blended in a little bit more, gave up key aspects of their identity, and essentially altogether stopped being Jewish, has roots dating back centuries.
This paradigm continues to exist today. The Jewish people worldwide are held to standards that no other people are held to. They are told that their identity and their connection to their land — if they are even granted the acknowledgement of their inherent connection to Israel in the first place — is the source of the world’s malignancy. If the Jewish people could only give this up, as the claim goes, society would be fixed.
Just as this prejudice has existed throughout time, it also knows no political boundaries. Both extreme left and right-wing activists and influencers online have indulged in this specific form of Jew hatred.
Jewish Supremacy and Political Conspiracies
The belief that Jews exercise some form of control over the West, and particularly American politics, existed long before the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023. After the attacks, however, blaming the Jewish people as the perpetrators of not only the war, but also other societal issues globally, became more visible.
On the right, this has become a persistent topic in podcasts. On The Joe Rogan Show, Ian Caroll, an anti-Israel conspiracy theorist — who has previously claimed the US is controlled by a “Zionist mafia” — was interviewed in March 2025. During the conversation, Rogan provided Caroll with a platform for unadulterated antisemitic rhetoric, including the claim that Israel was tied to a “Jewish mob.” Rogan at one point acknowledged, “What’s interesting is you can talk about this now, post-Oct. 7, post-Gaza.”
Similarly, on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Dan Bilzerian, yet another anti-Israel right-wing conspiracy theorist, claimed that “Jewish supremacy is the greatest threat to the world today.”
It is no surprise that Jewish supremacy comments are coming from extreme right-wing spaces. In 2024, 75% of white supremacist propaganda in the US had anti-Israel or anti-Zionist messaging on it. Of all incidents reported, Israel-related antisemitic incidents accounted for more than 50 percent. Still, the vast majority of American Jews describe themselves as connected to Israel.
Yet, the comments about Jewish supremacy are not confined to the far right. Left-wing pro-Palestinian activists, such as Mohammad El-Kurd, express the same belief.
We need to have an honest conversation about Jewish Supremacy
— Mohammed El-Kurd (@m7mdkurd) November 13, 2025
El-Kurd claims that he doesn’t mean Jewish supremacy in a “weird Islamist way,” but rather he claims it to be the “belief that antisemitism is a unique form of evil that is more morally urgent than all other kinds of racism.”
But the undeniable rise in antisemitism is absolutely an urgent matter. It is not because Jews are morally superior to other minorities as El-Kurd implies, but because they do face a consistent and unique form of hatred.
Another activist, Dr. Rahmeh Aladwan, excitedly agreed with El-Kurd’s statement, saying that “Jewish exceptionalism can drive Jewish supremacy.” Interestingly, Aladwan has recently argued that the pro-Palestinian movement should never have been aligned with the left and is actually a “fundamentally right-wing” movement because its “motivations are rooted in nationalism, religious faith, and cultural preservation” — values historically rooted in conservative society.
El-Kurd argued that this assertion was “both historically inaccurate and categorically wrong.” Yet it brings the pro-Palestinian activist space to an interesting crossroads of identity politics. This tension exposes a deeper ideological confusion within pro-Palestinian activism. While its rhetoric has long been packaged as progressive, many of its core motivations align more closely with right-wing frameworks.
What is certain is that both the far left and the far right share the underlying belief in a supposed “Jewish supremacy,” which casts Jews and the Jewish State as simultaneously in control of society and the source of society’s problems. It is a narrative that transcends political labels and ultimately unites these disparate factions.
The Jewish supremacy claim is often cloaked in the conspiracy theory that Zionists are in control of the US. Self-proclaimed “ex-Israeli, anti-Zionist,” Alon Mizrahi, has claimed that “Zionists rule your civilization,” which resulted in Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)’s resignation from Congress. He went on to suggest that Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes will be next. Greene’s stepping down from Congress has nothing to do with a Zionist or Israeli plot to control the US, but more to do with her own extreme messaging.
Nick Fuentes has similarly asserted that no matter whether someone identifies with the right or the left, they are unable to criticize Israel, as it is the one group “outside accountability” in cancel culture. Because of this supposed control over American politicians, Fuentes believes that anyone who disagrees with Israel or the Jewish people will lose their platform or career, due to the Jewish people’s supposed power in American society.
Tucker Carlson, beyond hosting Nick Fuentes on his podcast, has also defended Fuentes’ supposed analysis that Israel controls US politics, saying that anyone who disagrees with this control is called a Nazi and shut down.
Unsurprisingly, pro-Palestinian activist Guy Christensen — known as YourFavoriteGuy online — has made similar claims that the “Zionist machine” redefined antisemitism to include criticism of Israel, and fired anyone in the US Congress who disagreed with Israel. What Christensen ignores is that the IHRA definition of antisemitism — the most widely recognized definition worldwide — explicitly states that criticism of Israel comparable to that leveled at any country is not considered antisemitic.
This Jewish power trope that once belonged primarily to white supremacist discourse now circulates freely on the left, uniting two ideological opposites through a shared conspiratorial framework. As such, a narrative bridge is being forged that connects the far right and far left.
When these activists eventually face the consequences of their antisemitic beliefs, it won’t be because of supposed Jewish control over them, but rather the predictable outcome of this dangerous rhetoric.
Sanitization of Hitler and the Nazis
Beyond conspiracy theories, the sanitizing of Hitler and the Nazi regime has spread to infect both the far left and far right.
On a now-deleted episode of the Fresh & Fit podcast, guests discussed how the “Jews were up to something so the Germans wanted to take them out” and Hitler “was trying to save the world.”
“What if the Jews did something to the Germans”, “Hitler was trying to save the world”, “How do we take [the Jews] down?”, “Genocide.”
This isn’t 1940s Germany — it’s a 2025 podcast.
Suzette, a recent culinary high school grad from south Florida goes full Nazi and Pompano-based… pic.twitter.com/BU0jsB4dWF
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) July 24, 2025
Tucker Carlson, while claiming not to support Hitler, has similarly made revisionist statements about the Nazis, recently condemning the 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler and suggesting that killing him would have been an un-Christian act. By framing the assassination as morally questionable, Carlson obscures historical reality and lends moral equivocation to one of history’s greatest crimes.
This revisionism is not confined to online spaces. Copies of Mein Kampf have been found in Hamas bases in the Gaza Strip, underscoring how extremist narratives about Hitler continue to circulate globally and influence multiple ideological movements.
Never again is NOW.
IDF forces discovered a copy of Hitler’s infamous book “Mein Kampf”—translated into Arabic—in a child’s bedroom used as a Hamas terrorist base in Gaza.
The book was discovered among the personal belongings of one of the terrorists, featuring annotations and… pic.twitter.com/XMOE3jgKmm
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 12, 2023
Jew-hatred has become a morally righteous act for those who indulge in it. Whether on the right or the left of the political spectrum, antisemitism disguises itself as a just cause, pleading with the world to make changes to improve society. But the changes it asks the world to make are much more insidious. They seek to dismantle the legitimacy of Jewish identity, erase support for the Jewish State, and normalize the scapegoating of the Jewish people for societal problems. Under the guise of morality, this rhetoric spreads hate while masquerading as virtue, making it all the more dangerous and difficult to confront.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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US Rep. Randy Fine Unveils New Legislation Aimed at Cracking Down on Campus Antisemitism
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) leaves the US Capitol after the last votes of the week on Sept. 4, 2025. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
US Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) has introduced new legislation aimed at tackling what he termed an “explosion of antisemitism” on American university campuses.
The bill, titled the No Antisemitism in Education Act (HR 6186), seeks to mandate that educational institutions adopt a global standard for defining antisemitism and apply the same disciplinary standards to anti-Jewish discrimination as they do to racial or gender-based bigotry and discrimination.
The proposed federal law is explicitly modeled after a bipartisan measure previously championed and passed by Fine in the state of Florida. The legislation would formally adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
IHRA — an intergovernmental organization comprising dozens of countries including the US and Israel — adopted the “working definition” of antisemitism in 2016. Since then, the definition has been widely accepted by Jewish groups and lawmakers across the political spectrum, and it is now used by hundreds of governing institutions, including the US State Department, European Union, and United Nations.
According to the definition, antisemitism “is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” It provides 11 specific, contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere. Beyond classic antisemitic behavior associated with the likes of the medieval period and Nazi Germany, the examples include denial of the Holocaust and newer forms of antisemitism targeting Israel such as demonizing the Jewish state, denying its right to exist, and holding it to standards not expected of any other democratic state.
Fine’s legislation would also require public elementary schools, public secondary schools, and institutions of higher education to treat discrimination motivated by antisemitism identically to how they treat discrimination motivated by race, ethnicity, or gender.
In introducing the bill, Fine repudiated the current enforcement landscape on college campuses.
“Today, we are witnessing an explosion of antisemitism unlike anything in our lifetimes,” the lawmaker said in a statement. “Nowhere is it more visible, or more dangerous, than on our college campuses. Higher education institutions have a responsibility to protect every student. And right now, too many are failing Jewish students.”
He argued that a “double standard” exists, where universities immediately mobilize against other forms of bigotry but delay or diminish their response when the victim is Jewish.
“If you target a student because they are Jewish, it will be treated the same way as if you targeted them because they are Black, Hispanic, or Asian,” Fine declared, signaling a push to dismantle what he called university “bureaucracies to police every form of bigotry except the one Jews actually face.”
Citing the success of the Florida law, Fine concluded with a forceful call to action, urging his congressional colleagues to pass the measure to protect Jewish students nationwide.
“I passed this law in Florida because Jewish students were being targeted and no one was doing enough,” he said. “Today, Jewish students across America face the same threat. I have a bill that works. Florida proves it. Now it’s time to extend those protections nationwide.”
Fine has indicated his readiness to collaborate with members from both the Republican and Democratic parties to ensure the bill advances.
Since entering the US Congress, Fine has established himself as an outspoken advocate for Israel and critic of Islam. Last month, he posted online that “fear of Islam is rational. Islamophobia is a lie.” He also said that Islam is not “compatible with American values” and has argued that radical Islam poses an existential threat to the United States and Jewish Americans in particular.