The Yiddish Book Center's

Wexler Oral History Project

A growing collection of in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories about the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture offer a rich and complex chronicle of Jewish identity.

Modzitser Rebbe Composed During a Leg Amputation

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Ben Zion Shenker, world-renowned composer of nigunim (wordless melodies) in the Modzitzer Hassidic dynasty's tradition, tells the story of Yisrael Taub, a Modzitser Rebbe, who wrote a 36 part composition while having his leg amputated. The Rabbi did not want to be anesthetized and writing the music took his mind off the pain.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Ben Zion Shenker.

This excerpt is in English.

Ben Zion Shenker was born in Williamsburg, New York in 1925. Ben Zion died in 2016.

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This interview is part of the Yiddish and the Arts: musicians, actors, and artists series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

"I Never Needed Any Toys": Ben Zion Shenker and His Yossele Records

1 min 49 sec

Khazn (Cantor) Ben Zion Shenker Reflects on His Influences

1 min 28 sec

Singing for the Modzitzer Rebbe

4 min 33 sec

Cantor Ben Zion Shenker on Composing While Taking a Walk With A Friend

4 min 8 sec

Composing Mizmor L'Dovid

3 min 31 sec

Ben Zion Shenker On Getting the Rebbe's Blessing To Produce a Recording

2 min 40 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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