Kaliver Rebbe Falls in His Home

At the end of this past week, the Kaliver Rebbe of Eretz Yisroel, Rav Menachem Mendel Taub, fell in his home, but, unfortunately, no one was home at the time. The 93-year-old admor reportedly cried out for help, but it wasn’t until much later that R’ Binyomin Kirshenbaum, the rebbe’s gabbai, returned to the house and found that the rebbe had fallen. He tried to lift the rebbe but was unable to and injured himself.

After a period of time, a member of the family arrived and helped the rebbe and his gabbai to their feet.

Despite the terrible pain and weakness he was experiencing, the rebbe insisted that he not be brought to the hospital, wishing instead to convalesce at home.

The rebbe is the seventh in a direct paternal line to the founder of the Kaliver dynasty, Rav Yitzchok Eizik of Kaliv, a disciple of Rav Elimelech of Lizensk.

In 1944, the rebbe was put on a transport to Auschwitz by the Nazis and he arrived there three days before Shavuos. While in Auschwitz, he was experimented upon by Joseph Mengele ym”sh and, consequently, is unable to have children or grow facial hair. He was transferred from there to the Warsaw Ghetto and the Breslau concentration camp, and later to Bergen-Belsen. Six months after the war ended, he discovered that his wife had survived and they were reunited in Sweden. In 1947, they migrated to the United States, where he began his work in memorializing the Holocaust in Cleveland, Ohio.

The rebbe moved to Eretz Yisroel in 1962 and created Kiryas Kaliv in Rishon Letzion. Several years later, the rebbe moved his chassidus to Bnei Brak. In 2004, the rebbe‘s court moved to Yerushalayim.

During the last 60 years, since World War II, the rebbe has traveled to millions of Jews with his story and the saying of Shema Yisrael. He is active in kiruv rechokim and delivers regular shiurim and shmuessen to groups of professionals, including doctors and police officers. In addition, he has directed a network of kollelim, an encyclopedia project, and several other undertakings of chassidus Kaliv.

The rebbe has authored and published Kol Menachem, a 13-volume work on the Torah and Yomim Tovim, along with several other works.

May he have a full recovery.

David Steger – Matzav.com Israel