My first association with the term "oneg" was growing up in my shul, as well as through Kadima and USY. It was the name given to the snack we would have either after services at shul or after our Friday night study sessions in Kadima and USY. I imagine I realized at some point that this was a Hebrew word which means pleasure, but no connection to anything else was ever made. An oneg shouldn’t be about food, it should be about getting pleasure from something. Oneg was always attached to Shabbat, in that the snack was only called oneg on Shabbat, but there should have been more. Sure, food is great, but is that really how we define getting pleasure from Shabbat?

In February of 2000, I attended my first KOACH Kallah in Miami, Florida. The Kallah was amazing for many reasons; I had never experienced anything quite like it. One special event that stood out in my mind however, was the Carlebach style davening for Friday night services. This is a form of davening that includes many upbeat tunes with the additional singing of niggunim (melodies without words) and dancing…in the middle of davening! It was an amazing, eye-opening experience that I have tried to replicate many times. I have since davened in Carlebach services at each of the successive KOACH Kallot I’ve attended, as well as in Israel and in synagogues in Washington, DC, where I live. I even brought these tunes to my home synagogue the last time I visited. There’s something about this style of services that just pulls you in and really makes you enjoy and get pleasure out of Shabbat; even after the services, the feeling stays with you for a long time.

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, for whom these tunes are named, was born in Berlin and with his family fled Nazi Germany and moved to New York. His father became a Rabbi in a shul on the Upper West Side, which later became headquarters for R. Shlomo Carlebach’s new form of Judaism and which is now called the Carlebach Shul.

Raised in the Hasidic tradition, Carlebach broke away in the 1950’s over progressive ideas that were not held by his community. Throughout his life, Carlebach spread many words of Torah and beginning in 1958, wrote niggunim and songs, all in the spirit of love, peace, spirituality and connection to Judaism. During that time and since his death, he became the inspiration for other singers, bands, synagogues and even a master’s program in spirituality.

I’m still learning much about Rabbi Carlebach, but for me, he introduced me to what it really means to enjoy and celebrate Shabbat. Before knowing anything about his approach to spirituality, I had some good Shabbat experiences, but none as fulfilling as I’ve had since. I also think that Carlebach’s life experience increased his large influence, at least for me. Following his escape from Nazi Germany, Carlebach came to America and chose to reach out to Jews of all backgrounds through music and words of Torah. Many people who experienced Nazism turned inward, but Carlebach chose to reach out and inspire love of Judaism and of each other. To me that makes him a true Jewish Hero.