4 Iyar · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Taub - the 3rd Modzhitzer Rebbe
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Taub was born on Wednesday in Adar of the year 1755 in Lublin, to Rabbi Shaul Yedidya Elazar of Modzhitz and Kaila Nechama - granddaughter of Rabbi Akiva Eiger.
Yahrzeit - 4 Iyar
Resting place -
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu spent his youth in the home of his grandfather, Rabbi Yisrael of Modzhitz. Later he related that at that time his practice was that every month of Elul, throughout the entire month, he studied continuously with his grandfather in the Beit Midrash, not leaving the Beit Midrash at all, not even to sleep, and when he was exhausted he would sleep on the benches of the Beit Midrash.
When his grandfather, Rabbi Yisrael, passed away in 1881, he moved into the home of his father, Rabbi Shaul Yedidya Elazar, who was then serving as rabbi in the town of Rakow. When his father was called to serve as rabbi in the town of Karczew, near Otwock, he moved there together with him.
In 1955 he married Rivka Zalta, daughter of the head of the Warsaw community, Rabbi Chaim Moshe Kahn, who was a descendant of some of the founding fathers of Chassidism, including Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apta, author of "Ohev Yisrael," and Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov.
Already in his youth, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu stood out for his remarkable sharpness of mind, talent, and perseverance, which brought him renown.
He received semicha in Warsaw from Rabbi Shlomo David Kahana, Rabbi Tzvi Yechezkel Michelson, Rabbi Yeshaya Gottshechter, and Rabbi Avraham Neuerman.
Immediately after his ordination, he was offered the position of rabbi in the important community of Sniatyn in Galicia, but he did not agree to go to a place so far from his father. Even after this, many communities in Israel offered Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu the position of head of the rabbinate. Offers also came from all over Poland, but he still did not agree. Only after arriving in Israel did he agree to become a rabbi in Tel Aviv.
When he was about 30 years old, in 1337, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu arrived in the Land of Israel together with his father, who was visiting it for the first time. They arrived in the Land on the evening of the 33rd of the Omer, and the next day they traveled to Meron for the Hillula of Rashbi.
They went to the Western Wall accompanied by a large crowd. The visit to Israel made an enormous impression on Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu. When Rabbi Shaul Yedidya told his son that it was time to return and they needed to pack their things, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu said: "I love the Land of Israel, I will live here."
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu remained together with a delegation of outstanding elder Chassidim in the Land of Israel, who asked Rabbi Shaul Yedidya to stay as well, but he replied: "I will not stay here now, but I will return. For the time being, I am leaving with you a pledge, an important and precious treasure."
That same year, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu was chosen as rabbi in Tel Aviv.
He had three main locations in Tel Aviv: the Beit Midrash on Lilienblum Street - around which the religious community was centered, the Beit Midrash on Kfar Giladi Street, and the Great Beit Midrash, a tower of light for Chassidism and music on Dizengoff Street, which was located in the very heart of the city's pulse.
At that time, Tel Aviv was full of rabbis and tzadikim. After rabbis began leaving Tel Aviv and resettling in Bnei Brak, his followers asked Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu why he did not also move to Bnei Brak.
"That is not my place," he answered with a smile, "there are dozens like me in Bnei Brak already."
Immediately upon Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu's arrival in Tel Aviv, which was not then particularly distinguished in its spiritual life, he established the Beit Chassidim of Modzhitz Chassidim, and the Jews of Tel Aviv began to gather around him.
This was at the time when the remnants of European Jewry began arriving in the Land of Israel after the Holocaust. His attitude toward them was not merely that of a rabbi - he became part of their family, part of their material and spiritual existence, sharing in their joy and mourning their sorrow, giving advice and blessings.
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu was a man of truth who knew no compromise. He almost never left his mother's house and did not deviate from his daily schedule, filled with Torah study and prayer.
But when he did go beyond his own domain, his noble appearance evoked a sense of reverence, and crowds of people flocked to him for salvation.
His extraordinary beauty, his extraordinary nobility, his face always radiating kindness and love for humanity, made him a truly unique personality.
With the passing of his father, Rabbi Shaul Yedidya, in 1678, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu became the 3rd Rebbe of Modzhitz.
In recent years, the book "Imrei Aish" was published, containing words of Torah delivered on many occasions and recorded by his listeners.
In the last months of his life his health weakened, and on Sunday, the 4th of Iyar 5577, at midday, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu returned his soul to his Creator.
There was one Yom Kippur when, due to weakness, he was unable to continue with the additional prayer and went up to his home, but by the time of the closing prayer he came back down with great self-sacrifice, with doctors standing beside him. Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter, the Rebbe of Ger, once called Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu "the prayer-book" of the generation.
Hundreds, close to a thousand melodies, were composed by Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu. His first melody was composed in 1876. When his father, Rabbi Shaul Yedidya, visited the country in 1878, he honored Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu with the privilege of singing "Kol Mikdash." That is how he sang his first melody, and his father, with his quick perception, grasped it immediately. Upon returning to Otwock, he would often hum the tune and tell his followers: "I have brought you a song of the Land - from the fruits of the Land of Israel," referring to his son's first melody composed in the Land of Israel. During his escape in the years of the Holocaust, he often played this melody.
Every year he composed 12 new melodies for the prayers of the Days of Awe, and throughout the year he composed additional melodies for every festival and joyous occasion in his family, saying: "There are those who adorn themselves for the festivals with new clothing, while I sew new garments for the 'Mahkal Chaim.'"
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, for the first time in his career, would play his melodies before the Ark without letting his followers hear them beforehand, and he would repeat the melody until the listeners learned it and joined him in his verses. After his passing, the book "Mor U'Ktzia" was published, containing a collection of the musical notation of many of his works.
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
https://www.geni.com/people/Grand-Rabbi-Shmuel-Eliyahu-Taub-the-3rd-Modzhitzer-Rebbe/6000000031339033076