“On Rosh Hashanah, every Jew stands in the position I was in — and he gets an electric shock for life”

Photos: Matisyahu Goldberg

It was after midnight in the beginning of the summer in Bnei Brak, and hundreds of chassidim and admirers were gathered in the hall, waiting for the Kuzmirer Rebbe to take the gartel and begin the mitzvah tantz for his eldest granddaughter. Standing on a chair, the badchan regaled the crowd with Yiddish lyrics and poignant tunes. He sang about the holy forbears of the intertwined Kuzmir and Modzhitz dynasties, whose souls had descended to take part in the simchah of their children. It was during the few weeks when wedding restrictions where more relaxed, and the chassidim — many of them ovdim (seekers of elevated levels in avodas Hashem), as is their Rebbe — stood around, swaying in concentration as they watched the Rebbe prepare for this time-honored wedding finale.

The Kuzmirer Rebbe, Rav Pinchas Moshe Taub, is the second son of the previous Modzhitzer Rebbe, Rav Yisrael Dan Taub, while his older brother, Rav Chaim Shaul Taub, is the current Modzhitzer Rebbe. In fact, the two brothers look very much alike, and are often confused in photographs. (The Kuzmir connection comes fron the forerunner of the Modzhitzer dynasty, Rav Yechezkel Taub of Kuzmir. the great-grandfather of Rav Shaul Yedidya Taub, the first Modzhitzer Rebbe.) While Modzhitz is known for its music and singing (the first Rebbe, Rav Shaul Yedidya, composed over 1,000 niggunim), it’s more than just scales and notes, but rather a path to spiritual devotion and deep inner connection — and as a scion of the dynasty, the Kuzmirer Rebbe has expanded this to include a holy dance. At the wedding, those who have remained press forward to see the sight: the Rebbe’s hands raised heavenward, his eyes closed, and his entire being seemingly suspended between the two worlds.

The old chassidim of Tel Aviv still remember the Modzhitzer tishen conducted by the Rebbe’s grandfather, Rav Shmuel Eliyahu Taub, known as the Imrei Eish of Modzhitz. On occasion, the Imrei Eish would ask his little grandson, Pinchas Moshe, to be brought up front, where he’d motion to the child to climb up on the table and dance with all his energy in honor of Shabbos or Yom Tov. Since then, the Rebbe’s been dancing — to which the chassidim attribute esoteric kavanos and secrets. And now it was time for the Rebbe to dance with his granddaughter the kallah, as per the holy tradition.

The signal was given, the anticipation high. The Rebbe gripped the long gartel, as the musicians began to play the song that the Rebbe considers his life’s anthem: “Nor emunah, nor emunah in Borei Kol Olamim [only emunah in the Creator].” And then as his feet seemed to hover off the floor, his face luminous, hundreds of chassidim watched in horror as the Rebbe collapsed in a heap on the floor. Cardiac arrest.

While the rescue forces sped through the streets of Bnei Brak toward the hall, two medics were already next to the Rebbe administering CPR and essentially saving his life. One of them, Hatzolah member Reb Yitzchak Rose, attended the wedding because he is close to the court of the mechutan, the Rebbe of Shatz-Vizhnitz in Haifa. The second was Dr. Michoel Pectorovitz, a well-known chareidi pediatrician with a practice in Modiin Illit. Dr. Pectorovitz wasn’t even planning on staying for the mitzvah tantz, but someone whispered to him that it was worth staying a bit longer in order to see the dance of the Rebbe of Kuzmir.