Cantorial Comments
By
Cantor Elihu Feldman
The Father of Jewish Folk Music Lives On
Last month we observed the eighth yahrtzeit
of one of the greatest folk singers of Jewish songs that ever lived. I would like to dedicate this article to his blessed
memory. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, the
"father of Jewish Folk music", affectionately also called by many
"the singing rabbi", passed away five years ago unexpectedly while on
a plane preparing to leave for Israel.
Despite the controversy over the person, Shlomo Carlebach earned his
place in the world of Jewish music by having composed over a thousand Jewish
folksongs and negunim (tunes) in the thirty years that he was active on the
Jewish music scene. In almost every
synagogue, every Hebrew school, day school and yeshiva, songs composed by
Shlomo Carlebach are a mainstay.
No one can dispute Shlomo's great
contribution to the field of Jewish music and his appeal to thousands upon
thousands of listeners both here and in Israel. For
Shlomo reached out to the unaffiliated, disenchanted and unconnected Jew, to
the drug addicted, to hippies on campus, to the religious and the irreligious,
and to the Jew as well as non Jew. He
made everyone his family by calling them brother or sister. His music is loved by Conservative, Orthodox
and Reformed Jews as well. Yet, this is
a man who, although an excellent performing artist, composer and song writer,
provoked a lot of controversy among many of his religious listeners.
Beloved by many, Shlomo and his music were
scorned by the right-wing Orthodox establishment because of the controversial
"House of Love and Prayer", which he opened in California,
and his many public appearances in which he openly embraced young attractive
women despite his Hassidic deportment, tzzizit flying, long beautiful beard and curly hair.
He was just too much of a challenge for the establishment. Shlomo
suffered greatly because of this animosity and ill will. I invited Shlomo to
entertain at my son Alexander's school on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah
celebration, but it did not work out.
The school would not permit this once controversial man to perform for
its student body. Yet, after his demise, a special assembly was held in which
many of the faculty recounted the stories he told and sang many of Shlomo's
songs.
Shlomo was born in Berlin fifty seven years
ago. Of interest to us locally, was that
he was one of the best students to be produced at Rabbi Kotler's Yeshiva in Lakewood, New Jersey He was ordained as a
rabbi and obtained a masters degree in social work and, at the time of his
death, was pursuing a doctorate of philosophy
I first met Shlomo when I was an adolescent,
when he was staying at my cousin's home in NYC.
The two of them were jamming together and I was invited to come over,
sing and play accordion as background while we harmonized. Little did I know that was the rehearsal for
the concert that we were to perform at a local synagogue at 4:30 that afternoon. You see that was the way Shlomo was. Although he was a great performer, he was as
unassuming, friendly and down to earth a human being as one could find. I then met Shlomo several other times at
concerts in the metropolitan area. Marcia
and I attended a concert so thrilling and inspiring that when Shlomo invited
the audience to come on stage to dance and sing with him, security had to be
called to stop the performance and the throngs of people that came up to the
stage. I next met Shlomo at Town and
Campus at a wedding where his greeting to me was, 'How are you my
brother." That warmed my heart. He
performed a wonderful wedding ceremony, which included song, stories and words
of wisdom.
Here is one of Shlomo's stories. Every time I retell the story it warms my
heart. Once there was a Jerusalem taxi cab driver. He picked up a fare who complained what a
hard day he was having. The cab driver
responded by saying that he had lost 3 brothers in Israeli wars. The passenger responded by drawing back his
sleeve and revealing tattooed numbers on his wrist. The tax driver took an intense look at the
numbers and invited the passenger to his home for tea. The tired passenger agreed. As the passenger entered the home his brother
whom he had not seen in over 30 years greeted him. It seems that the numbers on the passenger's
wrist and those of the cab driver's father were sequential and they were long
lost brothers.
This story exemplifies Shlomo Carlebach's
soul. It is a soul that has now gone on
to entertain in Heaven. Shlomo's life
ended too soon and very sadly. At his
levaya (funeral) collections were made to assist in the funeral costs. Several hundred people gathered to pay
tribute to this great man and in his tribute after the eulogy began to sing
many of Shlomo's songs. It is ironic
that a man who gave so much to so many, left so little
for himself, and died penniless, was scorned by elements of the religious
community that sings his songs.
Today there are Carlebach Minyanim all over
the place and many of the heretofore Anti-Carlebachians sing his songs the loudest!
Sincerely,
Cantor Elihu Feldman