Shlomo Carlebach

Carlebach is the subject of Soul Doctor, a musical that debuted on Broadway in 2013. Carlebach is considered by many to be the foremost Jewish religious songwriter of the 20th century. Carlebach was also considered a pioneer of the baal teshuva ("master of return") movement, encouraging disenchanted Jewish youth to re-embrace their heritage, using his special style of enlightened teaching, and his melodies, songs, and highly inspiring story telling. Following his death, numerous accusations of sexual abuse were levied against him, published in Lilith Magazine.

Carlebach was descended from old German rabbinical dynasties. The Carlebach family is a Jewish family originally from Germany that settled in several countries. He was born in 1925 in Berlin, where his father, Hartwig Naftali Carlebach (1889–1967), was an Orthodox rabbi. He had a twin brother, Rabbi Eli Chaim Carlebach and a sister, Shulamith Levovitz. His family left Germany in 1931 and lived in Baden bei Wien, Austria and by 1933 in Switzerland. Carlebach studied at Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn, New York, and Beth Medrash Gevoha in Lakewood, New Jersey. His teachers included Rabbis Shlomo Heiman and Aharon Kotler. He was considered one of Kotler's best students. During his yeshiva studies he was often asked to lead the services as a hazzan (cantor). He received semikha (rabbinic ordination) from Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner. In 1950 Carlebach set up a small Torah learning group called T.S.G.G. (pronounced TASGIG), an acronym for "Taste And See God Is Good". That year, Carlebach attended a Hebrew language ulpan class at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), where he played hasidic melodies on the piano. Sara Schafler-Kelman heard his singing and invited Carlebach to sing chasidic tunes at the Hillel Center on Convent Avenue. Schafler prepared a poster for the event, entitled "The Place of Music in the Hassidic Tradition". This was Carlebach's first invited performance. Years later, Carlebach said to Schafler-Kelman, "You gave me a title for my life's work." In 1951, Carlebach began learning English in a special program at Columbia University, having previously spoken mainly Yiddish. Becoming fluent in English only at the age of 26, he developed an unusual grammar, mixing Yiddish and English, that became his hallmark, and later influenced the language of his followers, as well as many other members of the neo-hassidic movement. Carlebach became a disciple of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the sixth rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. From 1951 to 1954, he worked briefly as one of the first emissaries (shluchim) of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher rebbe, who urged him to use his special skills and go to college campuses to reconnect Jews to Judaism, but would later disapprove of the non-traditional tactics he used. Carlebach left the movement in 1954. In 1972, he married Elaine Neila Glick, a teacher. They had two known daughters, Nedara (Dari) and Neshama. Neshama Carlebach is a songwriter and singer in her own right, incorporating new adaptations of her father’s melodies.

Carlebach began writing songs at the end of the 1950s, primarily based on verses from the Tanakh or the Siddur set to his own music. Although he composed thousands of songs, he could not read musical notes. Many of his soulful renderings of Torah verses became standards in the wider Jewish community, including Am Yisrael Chai ("[The] Nation [of] Israel Lives"—composed on behalf of the plight of Soviet Jewry in the mid-1960s), Pitchu Li ("Open [for] Me [the Gates of Righteousness]") and Borchi Nafshi ("[May] My Soul Bless [God]"). Carlebach was recording well before this and was invited to the festival by one of its organizers after she heard a recording of Carlebach. In 1954, the Atlanta Southern Israelite reported that Carlebach was named as the technical advisor for a production of The Dybbuk. Carlebach was to advise on the music used in the theatrical production. He became known as "The Singing Rabbi". Some Carlebach melodies were entered in Israel's annual Hasidic Song Festival. In 1969, his song Ve'haer Eneinu, sung by the Shlosharim won third prize. The Hasidic festivals were a yearly event that helped to popularize his music. He also produced albums with a more liturgical sound. Some of the musicians he worked with during this period added a psychedelic tinge and a wider range of backup instrumentation. Carlebach now spent much of his time in Israel, living in Moshav Me'or Modi'im. Carlebach's songs were characterized by relatively short melodies and traditional lyrics. His new tunes were easy to learn and became part of the prayer services in many synagogues around the world. Carlebach returned to New York City, where as part of his performances he spoke of inspirational subjects rooted in Hasidism and Kabbalah. Some of his teachings have been published by his students and appear alongside his recorded songs. Carlebach spread the teachings of Peshischa, Chabad, and Breslov, and popularized the writings of, among others, the rebbe of Ishbitz, Mordechai Yosef Leiner, and rebbe Kalonymus Kalman Shapira of Piasetzno. Carlebach became the rabbi of the Carlebach Shul on West 79th Street. He continued to perform regularly at concerts, and to record various albums of his original melodies. On February 27, 2022, Carlebach was posthumously inducted with the inaugural class of the Jewish Music Hall of Fame.

Carlebach's approach towards kiruv (the popular Hebrew term for Orthodox Jewish outreach) was often tinged with controversy. Put most favorably, "He operated outside traditional Jewish structures in style and substance, and spoke about God and His love in a way that could make other rabbis uncomfortable." After his death, Lilith magazine, a Jewish feminist publication, catalogued stories in which he was named as a sexual abuser by those who had come forward. Specifically, named accusers are quoted in this article, as well as unnamed sources and Jewish communal leaders with knowledge of the stories of harm. Even in his lifetime, Carlebach was approached about these matters. Lilith reports that people present when he was confronted say he acknowledged that he caused harm, expressed regret, and agreed that his behavior needed to change. The article indicates that most in Carlebach's circles were uncomfortable voicing their accusations at the time, leading to a widespread policy of "silence" which had, in part, enabled his continued offenses. Since his death, many others have come forward with additional stories about how Carlebach solicited them, touched them during dancing, or on private walks. Some of the stories of harm were toward young women, teenagers in camps or youth group retreats. Some of the older people who came forward point out that they were approached by him at a time in their lives when they were particularly vulnerable, as many of them were transitioning into Jewish life and practice, and as such undergoing large changes in their lives. As their sole spiritual leader at the time, Carlebach held a lot of potential power over them. Most of his offenses were unexpected and undesired touching, or telephone calls "in the middle of the night", which his accusers describe as disturbing, but also as odd. The Lilith article says that for many, his legacy is mixed. Even many of his victims state that he still had great positive impact on their lives, despite the irreparable hurt he caused -- and that, had his problem been more public, and more help been available to him, it is possible he would have willingly sought it. His disciples reject these accusations and say that it is unfair to accuse him after his death. However, accusations had already been made as early as the 1970s. Especially in light of the #metoo movement some have begun to question whether Jewish communities should still use his music. In January 2018 his daughter Neshama wrote an open letter to the women who were harmed by Carlebach. She wrote "I accept the fullness of who my father was, flaws and all. I am angry with him. And I refuse to see his faults as the totality of who he was."