The Hasidic Rebbe Who Left it All — And Then Returned

Why did this Hasidic Rebbe move from Poland to Israel, only to change his name, leave religion, and disappear to Los Angeles? And what made him come back home at the end of his life?

The Yabloner Rebbe lived a life that spanned many changes, and the story of his life is a deeply moving expression of heartbreak and hope.

For more, listen to the full story of the Yabloner Rebbe on the 18Forty podcast, with guest commentary from R. Moshe Weinberger and R. Pinny Dunner: Yabloner Rebbe: The Rebbe of Change: https://18forty.org/podcast/yabloner-rebbe/.

Read R. Yechezkal Taub’s story in the first article that shared R. Taub’s life with the world, R. Pinny Dunner’s The Amazing Return of the Yabloner Rebbe: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/amazing-yabloner-rebbe.

A special thank you to R. Pinny Dunner, without whom this story may have never been told, and for providing all of the research, photos, and videos. Thank you as well to Eitan Katz for his permission to use his beautiful song, which you can listen to here: https://open.spotify.com/track/3wPqQSMGv6lgLjpxkuuyTg?si=4b1484417ce14a08.

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