Menachem Mendel Taub

Menachem Mendel Taub
Kaliver Rebbe
The Kaliver Rebbe (left) with Rabbi Moishe Sternbuch
Full name Menachem Mendel Taub
Main work Kol Menachem
Born 1923 (95 years)
Transylvania
Father Rabbi Yehudah Yechiel Taub
Wife 1 Chana Sarah Shapiro
Wife 2 Sheindel Malnik

Menachem Mendel Taub (born 1923) is the Rebbe of the Kaliv Hasidic dynasty. Born in Transylvania in 1923, he is seventh in a direct paternal line to the founder of the dynasty, Rabbi Yitzchak Izak of Kaliv, a disciple of the Rebbe Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk.

His second cousin, Rabbi Moshe Taub, is the Kalover Rebbe of Williamsburg, New York.[1]

Biography

Menachem Mendel Taub is the son of Rabbi Yehuda Yechiel Taub, the Rozler Rov, and son-in-law of Grand Rabbi Pinchos Shapiro, the Kechneyer Rebbe, scion of the Nadvorna dynasty. He had six brothers and sisters.[2] He married his first wife, Chana Sara Shapiro, before the start of World War II.[2]

In 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp, arriving there three days before Shavuot. While in Auschwitz, he was experimented upon by Josef Mengele. Because of "chemical burning experiments", he is unable to grow facial hair;[2] he is also unable to have children. He was transferred from Auschwitz to the Warsaw Ghetto and the Breslau concentration camp, and later to Bergen-Belsen. Six months after the war ended, he reunited with his wife in Sweden. In 1947 they immigrated to the United States and settled in Cleveland, Ohio.[2][3]

He and his wife immigrated to Israel in 1962.[2] The following year he founded Kiryas Kaliv in Rishon LeZion.[4] The foundation stone was laid on 7 Adar 5723 (3 March 1963), the day of the yahrtzeit of the founder of the dynasty, Grand Rabbi Yitzchak Isak Taub. Several years later he moved his headquarters to Bnei Brak.[2] In 2004, the rebbe's court moved to Jerusalem.[2]

Activities

Since World War II, the Rebbe has actively spoken about the Holocaust and frequently invokes the memory of the Jewish martyrs. He has encouraged the recital of "Shema Yisrael" to memorialize Holocaust victims at the conclusion of religious events in Israel.[5] He has also traveled to interact with millions of Jews by telling his story and encouraging the saying of "Shema Yisrael". He is also active in Jewish outreach and conducts regular lectures for groups of professionals, including doctors and police officers. In addition, a network of kollels, an encyclopedia project, and several other divisions of Kaliv have been founded.

In March 2014 he participated in the annual conference of the Rabbinical Congress of Europe, which met in Budapest to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the destruction of Hungarian Jewry.[6] He delivered an emotion-laden speech in Hebrew, and switched to English to direct remarks to US President Barack Obama and Russian president Vladimir Putin.[7]

Personal life

Taub's first wife, Chana Sara, died in 2010.[2] On Lag BaOmer 2012, he remarried to 55-year-old Sheindel Malnik of Bnei Brak.[2]

Lineage

  • Grand Rabbi Yitzchak Izak Taub of Kaliv (1751–1821)
    • Grand Rabbi Moshe Chaim Taub of Kaliv-Zidichov (died 1831): son of Rabbi Yitzchak Izak, son-in-law of Rabbi Tzvi of Zidichov
      • Grand Rabbi Shlomo Taub of Kaliv-Rozlo (1820–1879): son of rabbi Moshe Chaim, son-law of his uncle, Rabbi Yehuda Tzvi Eichenstein of Rozlo
        • Grand Rabbi Yehuda Tzvi Taub of Kaliv-Rozlo (1849–1886)
          • Rabbi Pinchas Chaim Taub Chief Rabbi of Rozlo (d. 1936): son of Rabbi Yehuda Tzvi and author of Toras Chesed, Ohel Moed, and Alufei Yehudo; lived in Margareten during World War I
            • Rabbi Yehuda Yechiel Taub, Chief Rabbi of Rozlo (d. 1938): son of Rabbi Pinchos Chaim and author of Lev Someach heChodosh
              • Grand Rabbi Menachem Mendel Taub of Kaliv, present Kaliver Rebbe

Bibliography

  • Kol Menachem, a 13-volume work on the Torah and Jewish holidays
  • Shema Yisrael, a 2-volume encyclopedia on the Holocaust (Hebrew)[8]
  • Shema Yisrael: Testimonies of devotion, courage, and self-sacrifice, 1939–1945 (English)[9]

References

  1. ↑ Ehrlich, Aryeh. "Until the Last Yid". Mishpacha, September 2, 2013, p. 68.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sharon, Jeremy (10 May 2012). "Sparks of Love This Lag Ba'omer". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  3. ↑ Halachmi, Meir. תולדות החסידות בארץ ישראל [History of Hasidism in Israel]. 1. pp. 540–542.
  4. ↑ Friedman, Menachem (1991). החברה החרדית: מקורות, מגמות ותהליכים [Haredi Society: Sources, Trends, and Processes] (in Hebrew). Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. p. 152. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Ben Gedalyahu, Tzvi (18 October 2011). "Thousands of Jews Pray at Yosef's Tomb". Israel National News. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  6. ↑ Greenberg, Rena (25 March 2014). "European Jewry, Anti-Semitism, Addressed at Rabbinical Conference in Hungary". Lubavitch.com. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Eller, Sandy (25 March 2014). "Budapest - In Moving Speech At Holocaust Commemoration Kalever Rebbe Warns Obama And Putin Of Dangers Ahead". Vosizneias. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  8. ↑ Israfax. Canadian Institute for Jewish Research. 12-15: 247. 2000 https://books.google.com/books?id=3e8sAQAAIAAJ. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ↑ Shema Yisrael: Testimonies of devotion, courage, and self-sacrifice, 1939–1945. Kaliv World Center. 2002. ISBN 1568712715.
  • "Jerusalem Journal; More Than One Way to Remember the Holocaust". The New York Times. May 3, 2000.
  • "Rebbe Singing Holy Melody of Kaliv" (2010) on YouTube (video)
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