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Who is this Rabbi?

An elderly man, wearing a gold-and-black-colored Chassidic-style jacket and a flat-brimmed black hat, clean-shaven, with white hair falling below his chin on either side of his face

This is a still taken from the beginning of a documentary on Haredi jews in Jerusalem: The Anti-zionist Jews of Jerusalem

I am curious to learn who this Rabbi is, why he is dressed this way and what kind of festivity we are witnessing here?

Danny Schoemann
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Raffael
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    Related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/12419/which-hasidic-rabbi-has-no-beard-and-what-is-the-story – Yishai Jul 22 '14 at 21:47
  • This question's been seen by a number of established users and has no closure votes, so I won't close it unilaterally, but it really seems to be off-topic. One of our standard closure reasons is: "Questions... about history or news of... Jewish individuals..., except as related to Judaism, are off-topic." See also http://meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/q/1473. Pinging @Yishai just because I can. – msh210 Jul 23 '14 at 05:21
  • @msh210, I think the last paragraph makes it on topic ("why is he dressed this way and what kind of festivity"). In this case, I would also think knowing who it is allows someone to further investigate those matters. – Yishai Jul 23 '14 at 14:20
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    @Raffael - I edited your question, as a mark of respect we don't refer to important Rabbis as GUYS! – Danny Schoemann Feb 10 '15 at 08:21

1 Answers1

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He is the Kaliver Rebbe.

[Rabbi] 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.

An extremely talented Rabbi who recently moved his headquarters from Bnei Braq to Jerusalem. He speaks quite a few languages, and as a survivor of Auschwitz, he regularly speaks passionately about the Holocaust and Jewish unity. As a twin, Dr Mengele experimented on him and his sister (who didn't survive).

As a Chassidic Rebbe, he regularly conducts tischen where his Chassidim will join him for his meal. This particular picture is likely on Tu B'Shvat when Rebbes are known to distribute fruit.

And, video caption aside, he is NOT anti-Zionist!

UPDATE: The Kaliver Rebbe passed away in Jerusalem, on Nisan 23, 5779 [April 28, 2019] (aged 95–96).

IsraelReader
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Zvi
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    As a chasidic rebbe, he wears a variety of colorful silk coats on various festive occasions. – Yitzchak Jul 22 '14 at 21:47
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    And he is "clean-shaven" because the Nazis pulled out his beard from the roots. – Y     e     z Jul 22 '14 at 21:51
  • @ YEZ I've heard that many a time, though don't believe it's true. Likely the experiments stunted his growth, though. – Zvi Jul 22 '14 at 21:52
  • @Zvi I actually heard it from him. I met him about 14 years ago. It is also true the rumor that he composes tunes to the posuk "Shema Yisroel" on the spot - he did so while we were there. – Y     e     z Jul 22 '14 at 21:58
  • @YEZ In that case I stand corrected. Many years ago he tried instituting that everyone add the 6 words of the Pasuk of Shema to be said after Aleinu. He even published a 'Shema Yisrael Siddur'. The 6 words, he maintained, were to remind Jews of the 6 Million Jews. Other Rabbis didn't give their approval, feeling that we shouldn't edit the Siddur. – Zvi Jul 22 '14 at 22:01
  • @Zvi I actually want to qualify that I don't speak Yiddish and at the time did not speak Hebrew well enough, and it's possible something got lost in translation. But that is how I have the experience in my head. – Y     e     z Jul 22 '14 at 22:03
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    @YEZ, considering the kinds of experiments Mengele (yimach sh'mo) did and the kinds of things that can cause non-growth of a beard, and especially because (as this answer notes) "he was unable to have children as a result", I wonder whether (but I don't assume) he said it was pulled out as a euphemism. – msh210 Jul 23 '14 at 05:19
  • @msh210 According to the Wikipedia article cited (and its Hebrew counterpart) " Because of "chemical burning experiments", he is unable to grow facial hair". – Danny Schoemann Jul 24 '14 at 08:44
  • @Zvi - where did you get the "twin" info from? it's not in the WP article you cite. – Danny Schoemann Jul 24 '14 at 08:47
  • I heard this growing up. When I studied in Israel, I used to frequesnt his Shul from time to time, intrigued by his 'Kiruv' nature and special background. I found him to be particularly warm. – Zvi Jul 24 '14 at 19:41
  • @Zvi in Nusach 'Edot haMizraẖ, they say Shema' after 'Aleinu. Also, why should he, as a chossid, have a problem with changing the siddur? That's exactly what the chassidim have done! Why else would there be a Nusach Sfard? – Noach MiFrankfurt Oct 05 '16 at 15:33
  • @Noach He wasn't the one who had a problem with changing the Siddur. Others did. Read my comments again. Nusach sefard pre-dates the Chassidim.. – Zvi Oct 06 '16 at 17:51
  • @Zvi, and most of the achronim opposed it until the acceptance of the chassidim. For Israeli Ashkenazi rabbanim, who in general accept Nusach Sfard, to oppose the Kaliver Rebbe's Shema siddur is complete hypocrisy IMO. – Noach MiFrankfurt Oct 06 '16 at 21:15
  • Israelis mourn death of beloved rabbi who survived Holocaust, helped rebuild Jewish people – sabbahillel Apr 29 '19 at 22:58