Jewish Life Digital Edition January 2014 | Page 24

FEATURE

MEETING THE

KALIVER REBBE

SPREADING LOVE FOR THE GREATNESS OF JUDAISM AND TORAH

WITH SUCH MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS AS THE SHABBOS
Project and the anniversary celebrations for
Rabbi Tanzer’s 50 years as head of Yeshiva
College, last October was an undeniably
momentous month for South African Jewry. Not to be outdone, though, October
2013 also saw the second visit to these
shores by the Kaliver Rebbe, Rabbi Moshe
Taub, and this was a unique and unforgettable event all on its own.
Rabbi Taub is the latest in the long and
direct lineage of Kaliver Rebbes, with Kaliv
being a Chassidic sect that can trace its origins to late 18th century Hungary. Not to be
confused with his cousin, Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Taub of Jerusalem, who is also
known as the Kaliver Rebbe (to distinguish
between the two, Rabbi Moshe is often
called the “Kalover Rebbe”), Rabbi Moshe
Taub spends his days visiting countries all
over the world, speaking to communities,
giving blessings to individuals and generally
trying to spread authentic Judaism wherever Jews of any sort can be found.
If there is no such thing as coincidence –
and according to both psychology and Judaism, there apparently isn’t – there’s something decidedly providential in the Rebbe
arriving on these shores when he did. As the
Rebbe puts it, when it comes to defining his
mission in this world: “To spread love for
the greatness of Judaism and Torah”, which
was something that was very much in full
force in Johannesburg (and much of the rest
of the country where large Jewish populations could be found) last October. A fact
that was not lost on the Rebbe.
When I asked the Rebbe the inevitable
question of what he thinks of the state of

20 JEWISH LIFE

ISSUE 69

Judaism in Johannesburg, he replied that
not only was he very impressed, calling
South African Jewry a “symbol for other
countries”, he also noted that things are
greatly improved, “much, much better”
since the last time he was here. He pointed
specifically to the Chief Rabbi’s Shabbos
Project as a way of illustrating just how
connected the South African Jewish community is to its roots.

The Rebbe tells how in another fairly
large Jewish community, the community
there was asked to adopt a single symbol
to represent their Judaism, and they ultimately decided to go for the rather stinky
option of gefilte fish. Across South Africa,
though, Jews from all walks of life embraced Shabbos. It may have just been one
Shabbos, but he stressed how much it says
about our community that South African

THE KALIVER REBBE CALLED SOUTH AFRICAN JEWRY
A ‘SYMBOL FOR OTHER COUNTRIES’, AND HE ALSO NOTED
THAT THINGS ARE GREATLY IMPROVED, ‘MUCH, MUCH
BETTER’ SINCE THE LAST TIME HE WAS HERE.

PHOTOGRAPHS: SUPPLIED; ILAN OSSENDRYVER; BIGSTOCKPHOTO.COM; WIKIPEDIA.ORG

BY ILAN PRESKOVSKY