Reb Shaul of Modzitz

Reb Shaul Yedidya Elazer Taub zt'l, the second Modzitzer Rebbe. was born in the city of Osherov, in the Radom district of Poland.

He assumed the leadership of Modzitz upon the passing of his father Reb Yisrael in 1920. At the outbreak of the War he made his way through Lithuania, Russia, China and Japan. Eventually with the help of some Modzitzer Chassidim reached the shores of San Francisco from there to New York with a number of family members. From 1940 until 1947 the Rebbe resided in Brooklyn New York, He traveled extensively bringing Torah and niggunim to many communities.

Reb Shaul was, in a true sense, a composer. His niggunim (lyricless tunes) were not merely the simplistic folk type melodies of many of his predecessors. A number of them were intricate, musically structured and quite lengthy. He thought in terms of instrumental colorations and often suggested that accompaniment of strings, winds and horns would enhance his niggunim.

In keeping with a tradition established by his father, Reb Shaul created new melodies for the Halel text so that the rikkud, march or waltz form would be employed. The Rebbe was especially fond of march tempi although as a practical matter the Jews of the ghetto had little use for militaristic sounding melodies.

Reb Shaul. He was especially known for his extraordinary love for the land of Israel. All his life his soul was drawn to Israel and he so much wanted to settle and live there. He visited Israel three times from Poland and always planned to settle there. His fourth and last trip to Israel was from the United States in 1947, He went fully intending to settle there this time. He became very ill and died on November 29,1947 the very day that the U.N. passed its partition plan for Palestine, and was the last person buried on the Mount of Olives until after the 6 Day War.

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