This article first appeared in Yated Ne'eman and Matsav.com (hence the ashkenazic spelling of Hebrew words), and is reposted here with slight factual additions.
Rebbetzin Frimit Taub-Housman z"l passed away one week ago on Shabbos Parashas Tetzave, just a few weeks short of her 91st birthday. She was a woman whose life was defined by unwavering Yiras Shamayim, profound Torah knowledge and a lifelong devotion to her extended family and to communal service. Her presence radiated dignity, strength, and quiet depth; her legacy is etched in the generations she nurtured and the Torah she lived.
Born Frimit Werzberger on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the days when it was a thriving Orthodox community made up mostly of immigrants, she was raised in a home distinguished by extraordinary mesiras nefesh for shmiras shabbos during the grinding years of the Great Depression. At a time when keeping Shabbos often meant forfeiting livelihood, her family stood firm. These formative years, shaped by sacrifice and emunah, left an indelible imprint on her character and on the spiritual tone of the home she would later build.
On her mother Rivka’s side, she was a granddaughter of Reb Berish Elefant, revered maggid shiur and meshiv at Yehiva Torah Vadaas and later Rosh Yeshiva of of Nesivos Olam. Her father, Reb Avrum Hersh Werzberger, arose every morning at 4a.m. to learn Torah before going to the mikva and shul, after which he would begin his day’s work. The bedtime stories he told his children were midrashim and there was always a sefer in his hands. Her mother, who emphasized tznius and chesed when raising her four daughters and two sons, made sure everything in her children’s lives was seen through the lens of Yiddishkeit. From them she inherited a deep reverence for Torah learning and a broad, historically grounded understanding of the mesorah of Klal Yisrael. A prolific reader and honor student, she also had vast and deep knowledge in a wide range of subjects.
Her first marriage was to Reb Dovid Housman, a devoted Karliner chassid who had recently come to America from Yerushalayim (a 7th generation Yerushalmi who grew up in the Beit Yisrael neighborhod of Mea Shearim) to serve as a shochet. Together, they established a Torah home, one infused with chassidishe warmth and steadfast commitment to halakhah, After Reb Dovid’s untimely petirah, she carried the mantle of responsibility alone. With remarkable inner strength and unwavering faith, she raised their six children, guided them, and married off the as-yet unmarried ones, ensuring that the home they had built would continue to flourish in Torah and yiras shamayim.
She never allowed grief to harden into bitterness and her home was filled with guests and happy times. In fact, on the contrary, she was known to say with characteristic clarity and gratitude: “I look back and say Hashem gave me two good husbands, when many are not zocheh to even one." Those words capture, perhaps, better than any description could, the depth of her bitachon and the remarkable ayin tova with which she greeted every chapter of her life.
Later in life, she married Rav Ahron Tzvi Taub, the Halleiner Rov and Av Beit Din, a Holocaust survivor who was Rov in the DP camps, and together they served the kehillah of Kehal Yereim Hallein for over thirty years. As the Halleiner Rebbetzin, she was not merely a title-holder but a genuine pillar of the community - a presence the kehillah leaned on, learned from and loved. Among the most beloved expressions of her Torah was her captivating Shabbos afternoon shiur in Pirkei Avos, delivered to many tens of women, that those who attended still speak of with reverence. Her clarity, command of Torah sources, and her sweeping grasp of Jewish history, made every shiur not merely a lesson but an experience. Her learning was lived, integrated and transmitted in perfect Yiddish with warmth and conviction.
She saw to the upkeep of the shul and Beis Medrash, to a weekly shaleshudes, as well as a large homemade kiddush on Shavuos and Hanukkah party for her extended family, where each child received a suitable gift from their loving “Babeh".
Idleness was not in her nature. She approached every responsibility - whether communal, familial or personal - with energy and purpose. When it came to family simchas, no distance was an obstacle, including overseas trips to Eretz Yisrael to attend those of her two sisters (both part of the Religious Zionist sector, one now deceased), who lived there, and whose children always visited their beloved Tante Frimit on their trips to the US. She would travel to wherever she needed to be, making her presence felt and her love known at every milestone in the lives of those dear to her. And in fact, her remaing sister and children flew from Israel to attend her 90th birthday event last year.
Even in her later years, when others might have withdrawn from public involvement, Rebbetzin Taub-Housman remained active in acts of chesed. She prepared food daily for Yad Efraim, providing comfort and nourishment to hospital patients and their families This quiet, steady giving, done without fanfare, reflected the essence of her life: Torah anchored, compassionate and purposeful.
She is survived by her sister, Mrs. Rochel Sylvetsky of Yerushalayim, her son, Rav Dov Housman of Monsey, and her daughters Mrs. Esther Eiizikowitz, Mr. Fraddy Wollner, Mrs. Tzipporah Schwartz and Mrs. Rivka Gober. Her son, Reb Mordechai, predeceased her.
The levaya took place at Kahal Yereim Hallein, the kehillah she served with devotion as Rebbetzin for over thirty years, located in Borough Park.