The 50th Yahrzeit of Rebbitzen Fayge Yitta Taub, a”h
by Eli W. Schlossberg
We certainly look different as we sit in the Rebbe’s dining room. He’s the chashuva Rebbe of Arugas Habosem, and looks the part, with his bekeshe and long beard. I, on the other hand, am wearing my usual tie-less shirt and casual tan slacks. Yet we are sitting together at his dining room tisch, along with his wonderful Rebbetzin, discussing his mother’s upcoming 50th yahrzeit.
Back in 1963, Reb Shaya and I loved to ride our bikes all over the Park Heights neighborhood where we both lived. Both our families were refugees, resettled in Baltimore. But we were different in many ways. He attended the Yiddish-speaking Shearis Hapleita (now TI), a chassidishe cheder, and came to TA with his class in the afternoon for English studies. I went to TA. He was from a Hungarian Satmar family, and I was from a Yekkishe German background. But for the last 50 years, Reb Shaya and I have stayed close, cherishing the old bike-riding days when we were classmates and very good friends.
A Tragedy in Baltimore
I remember the petira of the Rebbe’s mother, Rebbitzen Fayge Yitta Taub, a”h, a true tzadeikis, at only 38 years of age, leaving behind nine children and her dear husband, the Grand Rebbe Rav Amrom Taub, zt”l. The pain and the shock of the small frum community of Baltimore were overwhelming. I clearly remember that very sad day in December, 1963. Now, 50 years later, Reb Shaya Taub and I are reminiscing on the greatness of his mother and what we can learn from her short but precious life.
The Rebbetzin’s Family
Rebbetzin Taub was born in 1925 to Rabbi and Mrs. Yechiel Alter Steinberg, Halevi, in Hothasz, Hungary. She was one of seven siblings. Rabbi Steinberg was a ben achar ben (direct descendent) of the T”z and an excellent melamed. He suffered from a debilitating and deteriorating eye condition that eventually caused him to become totally blind. But he had a gift from Hashem: He remembered everything be’al peh (by heart). He knew Mishnayos, Tehilim, Chumash, and the daily tefila. After DP Camp in Germany, having married off most of the children, he took the family to Eretz Yisrael in 1947 with the two youngest children. Many years later, when he moved to New York, he gave a Mishnayos shiur in the Bialystok Home for the Aged until he was 90 years old. He would visit Baltimore sometimes for Sukkos and Pesach.
The Shidduch
After the war, Rav Amrom Taub arrived in the DP (displaced persons) camp in Badreichinhal. There he met Rav Aharon Hacohen Pollack, a close friend from childhood, who inquired as to the welfare of his friend.
Meanwhile, the Steinberg family arrived in Badreichinhal, and R. Pollack, a sofer and gabbai tzedaka of the DP camp, approached R. Steinberg to ask if he needed anything: food, clothing, a roof over the head? The answer was, “B”H, I have everything.” R. Aharon was pleasantly surprised at such an answer from someone with a large family, after such a war. He asked R. Steinberg, “If you have so much, maybe you can help some of us?” R. Yechiel Alter took out a torn purse, and in it there was a note with the words “Poseach es yadech umasbia lechol chai ratzon.” This is where I have everything from. When R. Pollack became aware that this man had a daughter, he came up with the idea of a shidduch for R. Taub with Fayge Yitta Steinberg. This was just the family his friend should be a part of.
(The friendship of the Taub and Pollack families continues, as Rabbi Pollack’s grandson is now Reb Shaya’s son-in-law, and his oldest daughter is a mechutenista to Reb Shaya’s sister, Yocheved, a”h. And the last letter Rebbitzen Fayge Yitta wrote before her petira was to Rebbetzin Pollack.)
In 1946, Fayge Yitta married Rav Amrom Taub in the DP camp. She gave birth to three children while still in Europe; Reb Shaya was the third. The Taubs returned to Hungary, to a small village, where they remained until 1949 when they set out for America.
Coming to America
HIAS (the Hebrew Immigrants Aid Society) secured a position for Rav Amrom Taub as a rabbi in St. Louis. Their possessions had already arrived in Chicago– the family still has the crate – on its way to St. Louis. Meanwhile, Rabbi Taub and family decided to visit with the Satmar Rav in New York, before continuing their trip. The Satmar Rav told Rav Taub not to go to St. Louis. So, for a year-and-a-half, the family resided in Brownsville, New York, where many frum Jews lived. Rav Taub served as a mashgiach for shechita.
Meanwhile, in Baltimore, a Satmar chasid, Rabbi Shlomo Goldstein, practiced shechita in Baltimore. He had been sponsored as a talmid by Ner Yisrael Yeshiva to help him come to America. Missing the chasidus of the shtetl, he lobbied the Satmar Rav to send a Satmar family to Baltimore. It was then that the Satmar Rav asked the Taubs to move to Baltimore, and they reluctantly agreed.
Rav Taub was in his mid-30s when he came to visit Baltimore before moving the family. He attended a siyum Mishnayos at the Shomrei Mishmeres shul, where only elderly men were gathered to celebrate the siyum, unlike in Brownsville, where younger talmidei chachamim and balabatim lived. He was therefore discouraged at the idea of coming to Baltimore. But he followed the advice of the Satmar Rav, and the family moved to Rosewood Avenue, which was behind the Agudas Achim shul in Lower Park Heights. It wasn’t long before Rav Taub would move his mishpacha to Shirley Avenue, where he opened a small shul and constructed a mikva and a matza bakery. Among the dedicated shul members were the Boehms, the Buchwalters, the Feldmans, the Intraitors, the Pollocks, the Recheses, and the Schmells.
Baltimore now boasted a wonderful Satmar mishpacha and a Rebbe with a shtreimel. The Rebbitzen was extremely active in the shul, She made a delicious cholent for the shul kiddush every Shabbos, and wonderful Hungarian culinary delicacies like chocolate kokash and real Hungarian stuffed cabbage.
The Rebbetzin started a ladies auxiliary; some of the active members were Mrs. Rochel Boehm, Mrs. Leah Friedman, Rebbetzin Sternhill, Mrs. Stern, Rebbetzin Shanker, Mrs. Glick, Mrs. Zirkind, Mrs. Rosa Roth, Mrs. Helen Davidovitz, and Mrs. Shiffeldrin.
Rebbetzin Taub also managed the shul’s mikva, and guided many women in the laws and practice of taharas hamishpacha. Mrs. Leah Friedman, the mother of Chaya Esther Brull, said that Rebbetzin Taub taught many lost chasidishe minhagim to women of the community who were Holocaust orphans and unable to learn from their mothers.
Rebbetzin Taub bore nine children in all. After their arrival in America, in 1951, she had Malke, Yisrael Shalom, Herschel, Mitzi, Naomi, and Briendel.
Cattleman and tzadik Ernest Guttman, z”l, brought chalav Yisrael milk from his farm, and the Rebbitzen would make butter, cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream each week. All the children had regular chores; Reb Shaya’s main chore was to separate the cream from the milk. He hardly remembers being in a supermarket, as his mother made everything from scratch.
A Happy Home
The Taub home was a calm and very happy home. All the children from the neighborhood would congregate there, and the Rebbetzin made it a point to befriend them. She was very tuned in to the children, and in this way also knew who her children had as friends. Classmates have commented how totally “normal” the children were. They had their chasidishe customs but were fun loving and friendly with all the kids, never judgmental.
Who was this aishes chayil, and wonderful mother? We have only the memories of her deeds to tell us:
A very close friend and neighbor lost her husband very suddenly. The almana was crushed and totally lost. Rebbetzin Taub took the reins and acted as a caring mother to a woman much older than she. Counseling the woman, she advised her not to make the unfortunate circumstance worse than it was: “You need to have strength and carry on.”
Reb Shaya was once at Sinai Hospital recuperating from a bout of rheumatic fever. It was a very hot summer day, and the ward had only ceiling fans, no air conditioning. His mother came to visit him wearing a jacket. He said, “Mommy, it’s so hot; please take off the jacket so you will be more comfortable. The Rebbetzin, pointing to a less-than-tzniusdik woman in the ward, told her son, that is not how a bas Yisrael should dress.”
Baltimore had a world-class chazan, Cantor David Jacob, a”h. He was the cantor of Beth Jacob Congregation and put out a record of his beautiful singing. It was a favorite at the Taub home. One day, one of the children put on the record, and the record player unfortunately stopped. He asked some of his siblings to say tehilim, thinking that would fix the problem. Sure enough the Victrola began to work again but, soon after, abruptly stopped again. The Rebbetzin had a wonderful musar haskel (lesson) to impart to the children: “If you need a yeshua, don’t ask others to say tehilim…You need to daven yourself!” Reb Shaya will never forget those wise words.
The mishpacha eventually moved to Rogers Avenue in 1961 and lived next door to the Baltimore’s ladies mikvah that was just being built. Rabbi Taub was often called upon to answer shailos pertaining to the mikva observance.
What the Rebbetzin Taught Us!
The Rav and Rebbetzin were a real team, providing exceptional chinuch (child rearing) for all their children. The Rebbetzin had a most calm, happy, and loving disposition; she never raised her voice or got excited. Her upbeat, constant encouragement and positive approach were wonderful traits for raising her children. With all this, and with her wonderful involvement with the shul, her home was one of gracious and warm hachnassas orchim (hospitality).
One time, the Rav purchased his wife an exceptionally beautiful, multi-stem sterling silver candelabra. It was a special gift and one she cherished as a matana from her husband. Once, in the middle of the Pesach Seder, a fight broke out between two of the many guests. Things got a bit out of hand, and one irate guest hurled the candelabra at another guest. It hit the floor, bending the arms completely out of shape. Calmly, the Rebbetzin picked up the candelabra and placed it back on the table, not uttering a word to the unruly guest. She always looked at the big picture. Shalom, peace, was the most important thing. The home was made comfortable to all, with an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
Tragedy Strikes
After a three-year illness, on December 23, 1963, at the age of 38, Rebbetzin Taub was niftar. Reb Shaya was only 14 years old, and his world came to a crashing halt. The town was devastated, and the mishpacha suffered terrible grief. But they knew the Rebbetzin’s always upbeat demeanor and moving-forward approach to life, so they continued living in the derech she had taught them so well. The Rebbetzin was buried in Baltimore, and a Bais Yaakov yearbook was dedicated in her memory. Her legacy was the beautiful mishpacha she raised and the chesed and wisdom she had spread to all with whom she came into contact.
Succession
Rabbi Taub went on to be both mother and father to the children, all of whom grew up, married, and continued his chasidishe way. A master mohel, he was the mohel of my son. With his special smile, fantastic chein (charisma) and caring personality, all types of people from all walks of life loved him. I know I did. Unfortunately, Rav Taub was niftar in 2007 as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident.
After spending many years in New York, Reb Shaya succeeded his father as the Rebbe of Arugas Habosem. I had remained in Baltimore and raised my children here. Yet when we met again in recent years, it was incredible. Reb Shaya and I reconnected immediately, not missing a beat; it was just like the old days. He is a chasidisha Rebbe and talmid chacham who also possesses a marvelous chein and ahavas Yisrael – traits he received from his special parents. You can talk with him on any topic, as he is well read and very well informed. And I? I am an American yeshiva student from a Yekkishe home who became a Baltimore balabos (layman). I too received a wonderful heritage of strong minhagim and a misnagdishe Yekkish education, based on Torah im dedrech eretz (Rav Hirsch’s philosophy), from my wonderful parents.
What Reb Shaya and I have in common is the investment our loving parents made in us, and the sense of mesiras nefesh (devotion) for the klal (community) that they transmitted to us. Different derachim (paths), definitely, but both totally lishma (sincere).
