Kuzmir Hasidim (Yiddish: Kuzmir chasidim) – Hasidic dynasty originating from Kazimierz Dolny, known especially for its contributions to the development of Hasidic music.

It was founded by Yechezkel ben Zvi Hirsh Taub of Kuzmir (d. 1856), a disciple of Yaakov Yitzchak HaLevi Horowitz of Lublin. Born in Płońsk, he was involved in small trade. After settling in Kazimierz Dolny, he declared himself a tzaddik. He gained particular esteem as an author of calm, lyrical musical compositions. His successors, his sons and grandsons, were also musically gifted; they became tzaddikim in various towns, primarily in the region of Mazovia.

His eldest son, David Zvi (d. 1882), disciple of Menachem Mendel Morgensztern of Kotzk (Kock), founded a Hasidic group in Jabłonowo (Yabloner Hasidim), while his grandson Yechezkel Taub of Yablona settled in Palestine in 1925 together with a group of Hasidim and founded a religious agricultural community in the Ezekiel Valley.

Yechezkel Taub’s son, Shmuel Eliyahu (d. 1888), settled in Zwoleń, where he gained a group of followers and founded a dynasty (Zvolin). Like his father, he composed music. His son, Moshe Aharon (?-1918), first took over the leadership over the Zvolin Hasidim, and later moved to Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki. Shmuel Eliyahu’s grandson, Chaim Taub (d. 1942), who perished in Treblinka, led the Hasidic groups from Zwoleń, Mława and Warsaw. He composed many popular melodies played by Hasidic groups in central Poland, just like his uncle, Eliezer Shlomo of Wołomin (d. 1938), Yechezkel’s grandson. Another one of Shmuel Eliyahu’s grandsons, also named Shmuel Eliyahu (1905–1984), was the leader of the Modzitz Hasidim (originally from Dęblin) living in Tel Aviv.

Hanna Węgrzynek

The entry was originally published on the Diapozytyw portal, previously owned by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. It is an excerpt from the book Historia i kultura Żydów polskich. Słownik by Alina Cała, Hanna Węgrzynek, and Gabriela Zalewska, published by the WSiP.