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A Journey from Haight Street to Jerusalem
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Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach was born in 1925 in Berlin, child of one of the most distinguished rabbinic families in Europe. He came with his family to New York in 1939, and studied at Lakewood Yeshivah with the legendary Rabbi Aaron Kotler, who recognized him as an illui, genius of his generation. He later became a student of RabbiYosef Yitzchok Schneerson, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, who sent him and Rabbi Zalman Schacter on a mission to reach out to young Jews on college campuses. Guitar in hand, Reb Shlomo embarked on this journey and began composing songs. Reb Shlomo's journey brought him to the Berkeley Folk Festival in 1965, where he found himself in the middle of a great migration of young spiritual seekers, many of them Jews turned off to Judaism. He inspired the founding of the House of Love and Prayer in 1968 in San Francisco, as a place where they could find loving friends and reconnect with their souls and with God. He said that the House wasn't only for Jews, it was for anyone who was crying, dreaming, hoping for "the great day of love and peace," and ready to help bring that day to the world. The House attracted thousands of spiritual seekers from every imaginable background, became an historical milestone in the religious and spiritual history of 20th century Judaism, and part of the development of the American New Age spiritual movement. By the time the House closed in 1976, Reb Shlomo was increasingly turning his attention to Israel, where his followers founded a moshav (intentional community) called Moshav Me'or Modim. He continued to travel the world, singing and teaching, inspiring people wherever he went. Reb Shlomo left this world on October 20, 1994. The Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rav Yisrael Meir Lau, gave his eulogy, saying, "Only once in a generation does such a soul turn up." His musical legacy includes dozens of albums and over 2,000 songs, many of which are now standard in the liturgy of synagogues internationally. Reb Shlomo's teachings, stories, music, and personal acts of kindness have touched the hearts and changed the lives of thousands, among Jews and people of all faiths, all over the world. |