en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satmar (Hasidic_dynasty) that the parties were informed was accessed by the court on 14th February 2008. 7. The Satmar movement refers to an extremely orthodox community of observant Jews connected with the rabbi of a synagogue in the town of Satmar in what was once Hungary but is now Romania. The language of this community was, as might be expected, Yiddish that is to say a mixture of ancient Hebrew and German. The first language of all the British based witnesses is Yiddish. The court was informed that Yiddish is primarily an oral rather than a written language. The theological persuasion of the Satmar community is strongly opposed to the secular state of Israel and the Zionist movement that gave rise to it, although many adherents live within its borders. So strong is this opposition that adherents of the movement resident in the state of Israel will not accept funds from the state; many adherents regard modern Hebrew as an aspect of that state and decline to speak it. 8. The founder of the movement is Rabbi Teitlebaum. He survived the holocaust in dramatic fashion, at first returned to Romania to rebuild the community there, and then relocated to the United States where the principal Satmar community is based in Brooklyn, New York. It seems that succession to Rabbi Teitlebaum’s synagogue is now vigorously disputed between his descendants and has resulted in litigation in the US courts by one faction and allegations of sacrilege in using civil rather than the rabbinical courts by the other. 9. The cultural background touches upon the issues in this case in the following ways by way of explanation of i. Why the principal parties spoke Yiddish whilst the document drawn up to reflect their understanding is in Hebrew. ii. The particular importance of charitable donation in the Satmar Hasidic community in the UK to promote the welfare of the poorer members of the community in Israel who decline all forms of state assistance for their material needs. iii. The background to the disputed role of the rabbinical court of the US and Canada in this case. iv. The heated emotions and divided loyalties this case appears to have aroused in the Hasidic community of Stamford Hill, with an under-current of accusation and counter accusation of unethical conduct referred to in the witness statements. The parties 10. The First Defendant is a US national born in the USA who has lived in the UK for many years. He is not himself a wealthy man and has since 1999 devoted himself to fundraising for YLJT to raise funds for its activities in the UK. These activities are principally concerned with the regular transmission of funds to a linked charity in Israel, but include assistance to UK organisations or people sympathetic to the aims of the YLJT. He was a founding trustee of the charity and today he and his wife remain the only trustees of the charity. The First Defendant was a committee member and