The Kaliver, Dead

The Nagykallo (Hungary) Hassidic dynasty changes generations as the 96 y.o. old rebbe Menachem Mendel Taub dies and a younger relative takes up the leadership of the court. The rebbe was the seventh in the male line of the original miraclemaker, the founder of the Hungarian Hassidic movement Itzhak Taub (1751–1821). This hassidut was deported in toto to Auschwitz and exterminated by the Nazis, and the young rebbe was taken out of the gas chamber and submitted to chemical experiments by camp-doctor Mengele. As consequence, he never grew a beard (a biblical no-no for Jewish priests) and conserved his youngish feminine face. He was married but sterile. After the war he settled in Israel and rebuilt, with the few survivors here, the Kaliver Hassidut, which follows the Hungarian tradition. The Rebbe spoke no Hungarian but sings (with Yiddisch accent) the "Szol a kakas mar" written by the original miracle rebbe.