Shlomo Carlebach (1925-1994), was an Orthodox rabbi and is considered by many as the foremost Jewish religious songwriter in the 2nd half of the 20th century. At various times he lived in Manhattan, New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Moshav Or Modiin in Israel.

He used his music to inspire Jews around the world and was a pioneer of the Baal teshuva movement. In a recording career that stretched over 30 years, Reb Shlomo sang and recorded his songs on more than 25 albums.

Biography

Shlomo Carlebach was born in Berlin, where his father, Naftali, was an Orthodox Judaism leader. The family, which fled the Nazis in 1933, lived in Switzerland before coming to New York City in 1939. His father became the rabbi of a small synagogue on West 79th Street, Congregation Kehilath Jacob; Shlomo Carlebach and his twin brother, Eli Chaim Carlebach , took over 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

From 1951 to 1954, he worked as a traveling emissary of the Grand Rabbi of Lubavitch, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

His daughter Neshama Carlebach is a singer/songwriter who has written and sung many songs of her own following her father's style.

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.

External link

• The Shlomo Carlebach Foundation