Rabbi Shlomo Charlebach
(1925 - 1994)
Shlomo Carlebach (1925 - October 22, 1994), was an Orthodox rabbi and is considered by many as the foremost Jewish religious songwriter in the second half of the 20th century. At various times he lived in Manhattan, New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Moshav Mevo Me'or Modi'im in Israel.
He used his music to inspire Jews around the world and was a pioneer of the Baal teshuva movement. In a career that stretched over 30 years, Reb Shlomo recorded more than 25 albums.
Biography
Shlomo Carlebach was born in Berlin, where his father, Naftali, was an Orthodox leader. The family, which fled the Nazis in 1933, lived in Austria (in the city Baden bei Wien) before coming to New York City in 1939. His father became the rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jacob, a small synagogue on West 79th Street; Shlomo and his twin brother Eli Chaim took over the rabbinate of the synagogue after their father's death in 1967.
He studied at several yeshivas including the Yeshiva Torah Vodaas and Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn, New York and at the Bais Medrash Gevoha in Lakewood, New Jersey.
He became a devoted Chasid of the sixth Rebbe of Lubavitch (as is documented on his gravestone)and from 1951 to 1954, he sudsequently worked as a traveling emissary of the seventh Rebbe of Lubavitch, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
He later left Lubavitch after some of his outreach tactics were seen to be too extreme and not in line with Halacha.
His daughter Neshama Carlebach is a singer/songwriter who has written and sung many songs of her own following her father's style.
Carlebach died suddenly of a heart attack while travelling on an airplane on his way to relatives in Canada.
Works
His singing career began in Greenwich Village, where he met Bob Dylan and other folk singers, and moved to Berkeley for the 1966 Folk Festival. After his appearance, he decided to remain in the Bay Area to reach out to what he called "lost Jewish souls", runaways and drug addicted youths. Through his music and his special gifts many Jews feel that he "saved" thousands of Jewish youngsters and adults.
As part of his performances he also spoke on inspirational subjects, many rooted in Hasidic Judaism. His teachings have been published by his students.
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