Central Rabbinical Congress
The Central Rabbinical Congress (in full: Central Rabbinical Congress of the US and Canada, commonly abbreviated to CRC; ) is a rabbinical organization that is a consortium of various Haredi Jewish groups, with offices in Brooklyn, New York. History In the aftermath of World War II, when thousands of Jewish survivors arrived in the United States and began the process of rebuilding the dozens of communities which were decimated in the Holocaust, this organization was founded in 1953, with the stated goal of serving as an umbrella rabbinical body to unite the newly transplanted Haredi communities, and to provide said communities with all of their religious needs. The organization was founded by the rebbe of Satmar, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, alongside Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Greenwald of Tzehlim, Rabbi Yosef Greenwald of Pupa, Rabbi Shimon Yisroel Posen of Shopron, Rabbi Yonasan Steif of Vien, and Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum of Siget, who later assumed the title of rebbe of Satmar. These Rabbis formed the executive board of the organization. The organization established a special panel to maintain and enforce traditional Jewish law, called Vaad L'Chizuk Hadas (in Hebrew: ועד לחיזוק הדת), led by Rabbi Rafael Blum of Kashau (Hasidic dynasty), Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein