Weekly Chasidic Story#1460 (5786-11) 11 Kislev 5786 (Dec.1, 2025)

"The Chasidic Rebbe Who Used Communism"

Shortly before World War II, the Modzitzer Rebbe was one of the first Jewish leaders to encourage his followers to flee Europe.

Why This Week? This Shabbat is the yahrzeit of Rabbi Shaul-Yedidiah Taub, the second rebbe of Modzitz.

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The Chasidic Rebbe Who Used Communism

Over a period of twenty years Rabbi Shaul-Yedidiah Taub served as chief rabbi in a number of communities, and also as rosh yeshiva. In 1921, he became the second rebbe of Modzitz, succeeding his father, Rabbi Yisrael, and subsequently, also a leader of Agudat Yisrael.

Famous for his musical compositions, Rebbe Shaul-Yedidiah is said to have written in excess of 1,500 songs, some very simple and some complex and operatic. He never used musical notation as he felt that a song had to come from the heart, not from notes written on paper. He had a special love for Eretz Yisrael and made three trips there in the interwar years. On his first trip in 1925 he met with Sir Herbert Samuel, the British high commissioner for Palestine.

As the clouds of war began to gather, he was one of the first to encourage his chasidim to flee Europe. When the war broke out he joined many others fleeing to Vilna. His home there became a center for refugees seeking help and comfort. Someone asked him how he was able to appear so calm and focused with all the trials and tribulations he had undergone getting to Vilna. He answered:

"Do you think that if someone is worried that they are obligated to worry all day? I put all my worries in a suitcase that is closed and locked. Once a day I open the suitcase and worry about all my worries. Then I put them all back in the suitcase and lock it. That enables me to serve Hashem with joy and not be full of worry."

Many people came to his tish-his open table towards the end of Shabbat and Festive meals, especially for Melaveh Malka [the Saturday night "Meal of King David"], including Lithuanian yeshiva students who had no previous exposure to chasidic customs. Some of them expressed surprise at the chasidic custom of the Rebbe giving out shirayim-leftovers from his dishes to his followers. He explained to them:
"There is war all over the world, because there are a lot of selfish people. If you remember to save a portion of your food for someone else, that resists against the development of disagreements and wars. That's the idea of shirayim."

In February 1940, his family received a visa to travel to the United States. However, the Soviet government was refusing to allow refugees to leave. believing that everyone was better off in the Communist 'paradise'. Asking to leave was often a ticket to Siberia.

Rabbi Shaul Yedidiah told the officials he met with that the Torah was sympathetic to the Communist cause, as it enumerated many laws to protect workers. He assured them that if they would allow him to go, he would utilize the opportunity to spread Communist ideology to other countries. They permitted him to leave, whereupon he traveled to the United States via Russia and Japan.

His clever maneuver eventually brought about a change in Russian policy and paved the way for many yeshiva students and others to leave by the same route, leading to the establishment of the large wartime Jewish community in Shanghai, including much of the Mir Yeshiva. When he died in 1947, the Chazon Ish (the unofficial leader of the non-chasidic Ashkenazi Torah students and scholars of Israel) attended his funeral and explained that he had to honor the man who saved the yeshiva world.

He arrived in the United States right after Sukkos of 1940 and spoke positively about the Soviet government to the press, thereby fulfilling his obligation. He started a Modzitz community in the United States, but his heart was still in Eretz Yisrael.

In 1947 he was finally able to visit for the fourth time, fully intending to remain and settle. Shortly after he arrived, however, he became ill, and was hospitalized until he passed away that same year at age 61.

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Source: Excerpted and modified by Yerachmiel Tilles from an article in The Jewish Press by Rabbi Chayim Lando on Dec. 9, 2022.

Why This Week? This Shabbat, 16 Kislev, is the yahrzeit of the Rebbe Shaul-Yedidiah.

Biographic note:
Rabbi Shaul-Yedidiah-Elazar Taub [21 Tishrei 1886 - 16 Kislev 1947], author of Imrei Shaul and Yisa Bracha, was born in O?arów, Poland. In 1920 he became the second Modzitzer Rebbe, succeeding his father, Rabbi Yisrael. At the outbreak of WWII, he left Poland and eventually arrived in New York (via Rissia and Japan) in 1940. He was famous for his musical compositions and is said to have written in excess of 1,500 songs! On his fourth trip to his beloved Land of Israel in 1947 he fully intended to remain and settle, but he passed away that same year at age 61. He was the last person buried on the Mount of Olives until after the 6 Day War.

Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.

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