Rabbi Shlomo Carlbach ..... Yurzeit

Dancing and singing at the grave of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach

R' Shlomo was born in Berlin on January 14, 1925, and grew up in Baden near Vienna where his father, R' Naphtali Carlebach, served as chief   rabbi.                                                                  With the

Nazi rise to power, the Carlebach family trav to Lithuania, and eventually managed to emigrate to New York, arriving on March 23, 1939

He studied at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas and Beth Medrash Gevoha in Lakewood, New Jersey. He also studied at Yeshiva R' Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn, New York, and in 1954, received rabbinic ordination from its Rosh Yeshiva, R' Yitzhak Hutner. His aptitude for Torah study was recognized by great Torah scholars and teachers, among them R' Shlomo Heiman, and the R' Aharon Kotler.

R' Shlomo became a disciple of R' Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Rebbe of Lubavitch. From 1951 to 1954, he worked as one of the first emissaries (shluchim) of R' 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. In 1972, he married Elaine Neila Glick, a teacher. They had two daughters, Nedara and Neshama. He began writing songs at the end of the 1950s, eventually recording over 25 albums, and composing up to 5,000 songs.

After his appearance at the Berkeley Folk Festival he decided to remain in the San Francisco Bay Area to reach out to "lost Jewish souls". He opened a center called the House of Love and Prayer in San Francisco, to reach out to disaffected youth with song and dance. He became known as The Singing Rabbi. R' Shlomo also became known for his stories and Chasidic teachings. As part of his performances he spoke of inspirational subjects, rooted in Chasiddus and Kabbalah.

Returning to New York City R' Shlomo became the Rabbi of the Carlebach Shul on West 79th Street, and continued to perform regularly at concerts. On the 16th of Cheshvan 1994, R' Shlomo passed away of a heart attack on a flight to Canada. His body was flown to Israel for burial at Har HaMenuchot.