CALL TO ACTION: Inform Congresswoman Yvette Clark about rabbi David Zwiebel

Click on the image below to send your message to the Congresswoman

INTERNATIONAL CALL TO ACTION: Regarding Israeli Judge, Moshe Gilad decision in case of Incest

July 12, 2010

INTERNATIONAL CALL TO ACTION:  

Brother of Incest Survivor Sent To Prison By Israeli Judge, Moshe Gilad

It appears that Israeli Judge,  Moshe Gilad is unfamiliar Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the ramifications childhood physical and sexual abuse can have on non-offending family members.  The Awareness Center along with other advocacy groups find it outrageous that a judge would send a young man who was attempting to protect his sister from any more sexual assaults to prison, instead of court ordered therapy with someone who specializes in PTSD.   

According to an article published by Ha'aretz (see below), upon arresting the teenage brother, the police also arrested the alleged sex offending step-father on suspension of a sex crime, yet released him two days later with the understanding he was not to go into the family home for two weeks.  The article also describes the young man as a victim of long term physical abuse by his sister's alleged sex offender.

Like in many other cases of incest, the mother doubted her daughters accusations.  The girl's mental health status declined, leading her to be hospitalized.

The article quoted Judge Gilad as saying: "I imagine that after he described himself and his sister being 'abused' physically and verbally for years, that when his sister described to him how the complainant had sexually assaulted her, the accused must have felt horrible," Judge Moshe Gilad wrote in his verdict. "I am ready to believe that when the accused saw his sister feeling so vulnerable, and heard her tell of such horrible things, he was frustrated and enraged."

But he added: "We cannot allow the court to send a message that someone who stabs another in anger, rage, revenge, no matter what the reason, will not be put under lock and key."

Though the young man stabbed his stepfather while sleeping, it is obvious to anyone who understands the dynamics of child abuse, that this was an delayed act of self defense and not one of "revenge and rage".  

Please demand that Judge Moshe Gilad reconsider his sentence of a young man who needs specialized care to help him overcome his childhood trauma, and also demand that his sister receive rape trauma counseling immediately and that her step-father be court ordered out of the home indefinitely.

Contact Information:

Judge Moshe Gilad

Haifa District Court

12 Palyam Street

Haifa, Israel  33095

E-mail:  pniyot@court.gov.il

Fax from the United States to Israel: 011-972-4-869-8644

Fax in Israel:  04-8698644

Background information on Judge Moshe Gilad

Born in 192 in Romania

In 1961 he immigrated to Israel

In 1970-1976 he served in the IDF

In 1980 graduated LLB degree at University of Tel-Aviv.

In October 1981 he qualified as a Din (Judge).

In 1981-2008 he worked as an editor - an independent lawyer

In February 2008 he was appointed to serve as a judge in Haifa District Court

http://elyon1.court.gov.il/heb/cv/fe_html_out/judges/k_hayim/202732298.htm

http://elyon1.court.gov.il/heb/cv/fe_html_out/courts/details/205.htm

Teen who stabbed 'rapist' stepfather jailed for 12 years

A Haifa District Court sentences an 18-year-old from northern Israel to 12 years in jail for stabbing his stepfather, who allegedly raped the man's younger sister.

By Fadi Eyadat

Haaretz - August 11,  2010

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/teen-who-stabbed-rapist-stepfather-jailed-for-12-years-1.307241

A Haifa District Court sentenced an 18-year-old from northern Israel to 12 years in jail yesterday for stabbing his stepfather, who allegedly raped the man's younger sister.

The court stated that the youth, who played an important role in his sister's life, was enraged after the girl told him of the rape. In delivering the verdict, the judge said: "Arguments must be settled by a court of law, not by the knife."

In January the teenager, who was still a high school student, was told by his younger sister that their stepfather had raped her two days previously and had sexually assaulted her several times in the past.

The teenager asked his sister to leave the house, armed himself with two kitchen knives, and stabbed his stepfather while he slept. The older man was taken to hospital but released soon afterwards.

Following the stepson's arrest, the stepfather was arrested on suspicion of sex crimes, but was released under conditions that included a restraining order banning him from the home for two weeks.

During the trial it emerged that the children's mother doubted her daughter's story. The girl's mental health deteriorated following the attack and she was eventually institutionalized.

"I imagine that after he described himself and his sister being 'abused' physically and verbally for years, that when his sister described to him how the complainant had sexually assaulted her, the accused must have felt horrible," Judge Moshe Gilad wrote in his verdict. "I am ready to believe that when the accused saw his sister feeling so vulnerable, and heard her tell of such horrible things, he was frustrated and enraged."

But he added: "We cannot allow the court to send a message that someone who stabs another in anger, rage, revenge, no matter what the reason, will not be put under lock and key."

INTERNATIONAL CALL TO ACTION: Brother of Incest Survivor Sent To Prison By Israeli Judge, Moshe Gilad

July 12, 2010

INTERNATIONAL CALL TO ACTION: 
Brother of Incest Survivor Sent To Prison By Israeli Judge, Moshe Gilad

It appears that Israeli Judge,  Moshe Gilad is unfamiliar Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the ramifications childhood physical and sexual abuse can have on non-offending family members.  The Awareness Center along with other advocacy groups find it outrageous that a judge would send a young man who was attempting to protect his sister from any more sexual assaults to prison, instead of court ordered therapy with someone who specializes in PTSD.  

According to an article published by Ha'aretz (see below), upon arresting the teenage brother, the police also arrested the alleged sex offending step-father on suspension of a sex crime, yet released him two days later with the understanding he was not to go into the family home for two weeks.  The article also describes the young man as a victim of long term physical abuse by his sister's alleged sex offender.

Like in many other cases of incest, the mother doubted her daughters accusations.  The girl's mental health status declined, leading her to be hospitalized.

The article quoted Judge Gilad as saying: "I imagine that after he described himself and his sister being 'abused' physically and verbally for years, that when his sister described to him how the complainant had sexually assaulted her, the accused must have felt horrible," Judge Moshe Gilad wrote in his verdict. "I am ready to believe that when the accused saw his sister feeling so vulnerable, and heard her tell of such horrible things, he was frustrated and enraged."

But he added: "We cannot allow the court to send a message that someone who stabs another in anger, rage, revenge, no matter what the reason, will not be put under lock and key."

Though the young man stabbed his stepfather while sleeping, it is obvious to anyone who understands the dynamics of child abuse, that this was an delayed act of self defense and not one of "revenge and rage". 

Please demand that Judge Moshe Gilad reconsider his sentence of a young man who needs specialized care to help him overcome his childhood trauma, and also demand that his sister receive rape trauma counseling immediately and that her step-father be court ordered out of the home indefinitely.

Judge Moshe Gilad

Contact Information:
  Judge Moshe Gilad
  Haifa District Court
  12 Palyam Street
  Haifa, Israel  33095

E-mail:  pniyot@court.gov.il

  Fax from the United States to Israel: 011-972-4-869-8644
  Fax in Israel:  04-8698644

Background information on Judge Moshe Gilad

• Born in 192 in Romania
• In 1961 he immigrated to Israel
• In 1970-1976 he served in the IDF
• In 1980 graduated LLB degree at University of Tel-Aviv.
• In October 1981 he qualified as a Din (Judge).
• In 1981-2008 he worked as an editor - an independent lawyer
• In February 2008 he was appointed to serve as a judge in Haifa District Court

http://elyon1.court.gov.il/heb/cv/fe_html_out/judges/k_hayim/202732298.htm
http://elyon1.court.gov.il/heb/cv/fe_html_out/courts/details/205.htm

The Awareness Center believes survivors of sexual violence should be given yellow ribbons to wear proudly.

Survivors of sexual violence (as adults and/or as a child) are just as deserving of a yellow ribbon as the men and women of our armed forces, who have been held captive as hostages or prisoners of war.  Survivors of sexual violence have been forced to learn how to survive, being held captive not by foreigners, but mostly by their own family members, teachers, camp counselors, coaches babysitters, rabbis, cantors or other trusted authority figures.  For these reasons ALL survivors of sexual violence should be seen as heroes!


===================================================================================================================


Teen who stabbed 'rapist' stepfather jailed for 12 years
By Fadi EyadatHaaretz 
Haaretz - August 11,  2010


A Haifa District Court sentences an 18-year-old from northern Israel to 12 years in jail for stabbing his stepfather, who allegedly raped the man's younger sister.

 A Haifa District Court sentenced an 18-year-old from northern Israel to 12 years in jail yesterday for stabbing his stepfather, who allegedly raped the man's younger sister.

The court stated that the youth, who played an important role in his sister's life, was enraged after the girl told him of the rape. In delivering the verdict, the judge said: "Arguments must be settled by a court of law, not by the knife."

In January the teenager, who was still a high school student, was told by his younger sister that their stepfather had raped her two days previously and had sexually assaulted her several times in the past.

The teenager asked his sister to leave the house, armed himself with two kitchen knives, and stabbed his stepfather while he slept. The older man was taken to hospital but released soon afterwards.

Following the stepson's arrest, the stepfather was arrested on suspicion of sex crimes, but was released under conditions that included a restraining order banning him from the home for two weeks.

During the trial it emerged that the children's mother doubted her daughter's story. The girl's mental health deteriorated following the attack and she was eventually institutionalized.

"I imagine that after he described himself and his sister being 'abused' physically and verbally for years, that when his sister described to him how the complainant had sexually assaulted her, the accused must have felt horrible," Judge Moshe Gilad wrote in his verdict. "I am ready to believe that when the accused saw his sister feeling so vulnerable, and heard her tell of such horrible things, he was frustrated and enraged."

But he added: "We cannot allow the court to send a message that someone who stabs another in anger, rage, revenge, no matter what the reason, will not be put under lock and key."

CALL TO ACTION: "rabbi" Marc Gafni Promoted in the Huffington Post

As many of you are aware, "Rabbi" Marc Gafni (Mordechai Gafni) confessed to sexually assaulting teenage girls in the United States and of clergy sexual abuse of adult women in Israel.  His criminal behavior has always escaped prosecution by him bouncing around from one state to the next and by going to and from Israel.   Over the years The Awareness Center has done what we could to expose his violations in hopes of preventing one more person from becoming his victim.  He currently resides in California and is about to become a father once again.  We have heard rumors of him being wed to his forth or fifth wife.

Today, The Awareness Center learned of an article that was published in the Huffington Post in which Marc Gafni is being promoted by Mariana Caplan, PhD, who is an author and a psychotherapist specializing in spiritual issues.  You can read her article here 

Please contact the Huffington Post and let them know that their article is promoting a confessed sex offender at: scoop@huffingtonpost.com

For more information about "rabbi" Marc Gafni here

The Awareness Center is closed. We operated for fifteen years (April 30, 1999 - April 30, 2014). The information on this site is being provide for educational and historical purposes only.

CALL TO ACTION: Demand the Brooklyn Police Dept. Investigate the newest attempt on Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg life

CALL TO ACTION:  Demand the Brooklyn Police Dept. Investigate the newest attempt on Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg life

Pictured is Senator James Brochin (MD) and Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg -- Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg receiving the 2008 - Rape Victim Advocate of The Year Award for his advocacy work in Brooklyn, NY

Last Thursday night, Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg was trying to cross the street when a car attempted to run him down in Brooklyn, NY.  Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg is a well known advocate for orthodox children in charedi communities in Brooklyn.  Rabbi Rosenberg is also a member of The Awareness Center's international advisory board.  

Rabbi Rosenberg's was able to get the license plate number of the car that attempted to harm him, and went directly to the 90th Police Precinct which is located on Union Ave.  He spoke to Officer Thompson, providing all the information necessary for a police report to be taken.  Officer Thompson, made a copy of Rabbi Rosenberg's drivers license and told him someone would be in touch with him.  Friday morning Rabbi Rosenberg called over to the 90th Precinct to get a police report number, and was told there was no such report made.  Unfortunately, this is the same thing that happened two years ago when an unknown assailant shot Rabbi Rosenberg in the head.  

The Awareness Center is asking that everyone contact Deputy Inspector Michael M. Kemper and demand that a police report be taken and that his precinct investigate the newest attempt made on Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg's life.  

CONTACT:  

Deputy Inspector Michael M. Kemper 

90th Precinct - Brooklyn Police Department

211 Union Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11211
(718) 963-5311

Sincerely, 

Vicki Polin, MA, LCPC

Founder and CEO

CALL TO ACTION: Demanding The Immediate Removal of David Mandel as CEO of Ohel

CALL TO ACTION: Demanding The Immediate Removal of David Mandel as CEO of Ohel

Over the last several years, The Awareness Center has received numerous complaints regarding David Mandel's inappropriate handling of cases of sex crimes in the frum community in Brooklyn and around the globe.  

Besides the fact that Mandel continues to act as an "expert" in cases of child sexual abuse, without having any clinical or forensic training in the mental health field.  He also has been reported to provide misinformation when he presents at workshops and conferences around the globe.   

Back in 2008, The Awareness Center was able to capture Mandel on film at a workshop in Baltimore, MD.  During this workshop Mr. Mandel told the audience not to report sex crimes to law enforcement, instead to bring the allegations to their local rabbonum.  You can watch his presentation here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Soo67uqrseE

Considering Ohel receives both state and federal funding -- David Mandel's statements are in violation of the law which requires him and his staff to be mandated reporters.  Meaning if David Mandel or any of his staff SUSPECTS a child is at risk of harm, they are required to make hot-line reports to the state agency immediately, without asking for rabbinic approval first.  Because David Mandel is violation of not only New York law, but the laws of every state he has been presenting at, The Awareness Center is calling for his immediate resignation and removal from his position as CEO of Ohel.

Below are the two highest paid employees of Ohel's staff according to the 2008 - 990 form:

David Mandel, CEO (salary: $308,750.00, plus $22, 572.00 to employee benefit plan and deferred compensation plans)

Howard Lorch, CFO (salary: $202,258.00, plus $29,678 to employee benefit plan and deferred compensation plans) 

The Awareness Center is asking that the following  Board of Directors of Ohel Children's Home and Family Services( as listed on their 990 form dated June 30, 2008) be contacted regarding David Mandel's violation of New York and Maryland's law.  The Awareness Center is needing your assistance locating the contact information on all of the board members, since the address given on the 990 form is: c/o Ohel Childrens Home, 4510 16th Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11204

Board of Directors (as of June 30, 2008)

1. Sendy Berger
2. Moshe Bertram
3. Dr. Marcel Biberfeld
4. Sid Borenstein
5. Mark Bunim, Esq
6. Shloime Dachs
7. Joel Eisenreich
8. Gary Elchorn
9. Rabbi Yona Feinstein
10. Dr. Frank Goldberg
11. Rabbi Joseph Fischman
12. Avi Fishoff
13. Rabbi Yitzchok Fleischer
14. Dr. Jerald S. Friedman
15. Saul N. Friedman
16. Sonny Ganger
17. Rabbi Philip Goldberg
18. Moshe Hellman
19. Ronny Hersh
20. Marc Herskowitz
21. Moshe Hertz
22. David Jacobson
23. Danial Jacobson
24. Ari Jungereis
25. Chaim Kaminetzky
26. Jay Kestenbuam
27. Dr. Philip Kipust
28. Irving Langer
29. Hershel I. Langer
30. Louis Libin
31. Miriam Lubling
32. Arthor Max
33. Chaim Mermelstein
34. David Mermelstein
35. Sol Mermelstein
36. Chaya Neuberger
37. Dr. Tzvi Neuberger
38. Marc Newman, Esq
39. David Nussbaum
40. Naftali Perlowitz
41. Barry Picker
42. Avi Pifko, Esq.
43. Rabbi Jacob Rabinowitz
44. Pinny Rand
45. Rabbi Harry Rieder
46. Nicole Rosenberg
47. Baila Sandhaus
48. Harry Schlachter
49. Barry Schreiber
50. AJ Schreiber
51. Fred Schulman
52. Duvi Simon
53. Barry Stern
54. Ely Tendler
55. Louis Tratner, Esq
56. Max Wasser
57. Shaul Wasser
58. Moshe H. Wieder
59. Mel Zachter
60. Morris Zakeim

CALL TO ACTION: Alleged Sex Offender Rabbi Jack Sparks is now working in a new synagogue

The Awareness Center was just informed that Rabbi Jack Sparks is now "the rabbi" of Temple Hativkah - Homestead Jewish Center in Homestead, Florida. The Awareness Center is asking everyone to call and write to the Board of Directors of the synagogue and ask them what safety plan they have in place to protect their children from this alleged sexual predator. Be sure to let them know that if another child is molested after being warned that they can be held responsible in a court of law.

Rabbi Jack Sparks was arrested on May 12, 2008 on charges of child endangerment of a fourteen-year-old boy. Sparks took the boy on a shopping trip to the Fairfield News and Tobacco store on New London Road in Newark and encouraged the boy to pick out a magazine in the "back room" where pornographic magazines are kept. The boy declined, picking out a gaming magazine instead.

Dr. Rabbi Jack L. Sparks, holds a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from Boston University, as well as graduate and undergraduate degrees in curriculum and instruction, Jewish studies, counseling psychology and elementary education. He has been an educator in Jewish Private Schools for 25 years in Boston, MA; New York City, NY; Miami, FL; Austin, TX and Talleyville, Delaware.

Unfortunately it is not uncommon for an individual who molest children to work in the education field and also to move around from state to state. There is a fear that Rabbi Sparks could have left a trail of victims along the way.

If you or anyone you know was abused by Rabbi Jack L. Sparks please contact Newark Police Department or The Awareness Center.

CONTACT

Temple Hatikvah/Homestead Jewish Center

183 NE 8th Street Homestead FL 33030 (also known as Campbell Drive or SW 312th St)

Mailing address:

PO Box 924250 Homestead FL 33092-4250

Phone: 305-248-5724 ~ Fax: 305-258-4645

Officers

President: Mitch Rabin lcnmitch@yahoo.com

1st Vice President: Carol Silver silv5622@bellsouth.net

2nd Vice President: Sandy Liebowitz sandellini@aol.com

Treasurer: Judy Creque pps2585670@bellsouth.net

Recording Secretary: OPEN

Corresponding Secretary: Carole-Ann Santelli missca44@bellsouth.net

Director of Education / Cantorial Soloist: Eilat Schmalbach eeschmalbach@bellsouth.net

Immediate Past President: Justin Enfinger jenfin@earthlink.net

Board of Directors

Sue Nulman shnkatz@bellsouth.net

David Feinberg k4idn@aol.com

Susan Burakoff-Hopkins shopkins33031@yahoo.com

Trustees

Darryl Silver

Larry Creque lazman55@bellsouth.net

Help Those Who Were Sexually Abused in New York

CALL TO ACTION:  Help Those Who Were Sexually Abused in New York

New York Assembly Bill A2596 / Senate Bill S2568
The Awareness Center's Daily News Letter - June 9, 2009
 

Click here for more information on this bill and/or for daily updates

If you live in the state of New York, were abused in New York, and/or your offender has lived in or currently resides in New York, contact Senators Dean G. Skelos and Dale M. Volker (Chair of the Codes Committee). They are key in getting the New York - Child Victim Act of 2009 passed.

The Child Victims Act of New York is in the hands of Senator Dean G. Skelos (Long Island) and Senator Dale E. Volker.  On behalf of protecting children and those who were already abused, please call both Senators and let them know you are counting on them to allow the bill (Child Victims Act of 2009) to reach the Senate floor for a vote.  They need to be persuaded to support the amended bill (already on record as opposed to original bill).

Remind the Senators that according to statistics, between one-fourth to one-fifth of their constituents are survivors of childhood sexual abuse (forty-six percent of these constituents were abused by family members, the remaining fifty-four percent are made up of survivors of babysitters, neightbors, doctors, therapists, teachers. It's only 2% by clergy of all faiths).  

It is also important to mention that if they allow the bill on the senate floor not only will survivors in their districts vote for them in the next election, that you are sure that all supportive people in the survivors lives will also be more likely to vote for them.  Any Senator not voting for this bill is basically saying that they care more about political pressure and game playing then caring about protecting children in who live in their district or travel through the state of New York.  

See Contact Information and Brief Bio's on Both Senators Below

Senator Dale M. Volker - 59th Senate District

http://www.senatorvolker.com/59/Contact.aspx

Facebook

Albany Office:Legislative Office Building, Room 808
Albany, New York 12247
518.455.3471

Main District Office:
4729 Transit Road, Suite #5
Depew, New York  14043
716.656.8544

Warsaw District Office:
143 North Main Street - Room 103
Warsaw, New York 14569
585-786-5048

***********************************************

Dean G. Skelos9th Senate District

Albany OfficeRoom 907 LOB
Albany, NY 12247
(518) 455-3171

District Office
55 Front Street
Rockville Centre, NY 11570
(516) 766-8383

========================================================================

Senator Dale M. Volker (NY)

Current Office: State Senate Current District: 59 Party: Republican, Conservative, Independence, Working Families Background Information Gender: Male Family: Wife: Carol 3 Children: Martin Andrew, Mark Dale, Meredith Ann. Birth Date: 08/02/1940 Birthplace: Lancaster, NY Home City: Depew, NY Religion: Catholic Education:  JD, State University of New York, Buffalo Law School, 1966 BA, Canisius College, Buffalo, 1963 Attended, Niagara University. Professional Experience: Practicing Attorney, Private Practice, present Police Officer, Village of Depew, 1963-1972. Political Experience: Assistant Majority Leader, Conference Operations, New York State Senate, present Senator, New York State Senate, 1975-present Won Special Election, New York State Senate, 1975 Assemblymember, New York State Assembly, 1972-1975. ======================================================================== Senator Dean G. Skelos (NY) Current Office: State Senate Current District: 9 Party: Republican, Independence Background Information Gender: Male Family: Wife: Gail 1 Child: Adam. Birth Date: 02/16/1948 Birthplace: Rockville Centre, NY Home City: Rockville Centre, NY Religion: Greek Orthodox(?) Education:  JD, Fordham Law School, 1975 BA, History, Washington College, 1970. Professional Experience: Counsel, Ruskin Moscou Faltischek Professional Corporation. Political Experience: Temporary President/Majority Leader, New York State Senate, 2009-present Minority Leader, New York State Senate, 2008-2009 Deputy Majority Leader for Legislative Operations, New York State Senate, 1995-2008 Senator, New York State Senate, 1984-present Assemblymember, New York State Assembly, 1981-1982. Organizations: Member, National Conference of Insurance Legislators, present Member, National Conference of State Legislators, present Member, Order of American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, present Member, Rockville Centre Kiwanis, present Member, Sons of Italy, present Member, State Legislative Leaders Foundation, present Member, Valley Stream Elks, present Board of Directors, State Legislative Leaders Foundation, 1998. Caucuses/Non-Legislative Committees:  Member, Capital Program Review Board, present Member, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Program Review Board, 1998-present Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment Member, Nassau Republican Committee Member, New York State Republican Committee Chair, NextGen Task Force Member, Rockville Centre Republican Committee. Committees: Rules, Member

CALL TO ACTION: In Honor of Those Sexually Violated by ex-Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach

October 2, 2008

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (AKA: Soul Doctor) - Alleged Sexual Predator

Over the last several years The Awareness Center has exposed ex-rabbi, Shlomo Carlebach as being an “alleged” serial sexual predator. To the best of our knowledge there have been more women sexually victimized by Carlebach then any other individual “alleged” sex offender. Even though Hadassah Magazine (which is geared towards Jewish women) mentions The Awareness Center and the fact there there have been so many allegations of clergy sexual abuse made against Carlebach, it’s shocking to learn that this month’s cover story would honor the memory of a man who has terrorized so many (see article below).

It is also disgusting to learn that a musical has been created as another attempt in making this "alleged" sexual predator (Shlomo Carlebach) into a tzadik (saint).

As a people we have the responsibility to stop the cult like craze of re-writing history of a man should be seen as nothing more then a sexual predator, who still has a cult like following.

CALL TO ACTION:
In Honor of Those Sexually Violated by ex-Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach

Contact Hadassah Magazine and demand that they stop honoring a man who created so many victims of sex crimes. Demand that in a future issues they focus on the issues and ramifications sex crimes have played in our communities and the stories of the women and families who have been victimized by Shlomo Carlebach.

CONTACT:

Hadassah

The Women's Zionist Organization of America

50 West 58 Street

New York, NY 10019

membership@hadassah.org

800-664-5646

-----------------------

Shlomo Carlebach - The Music Man
by Rahel Musleah
Illustrations by Ken Orvidas
Hadassah Magazine - October 28 (pages 51-56)

On any given Friday evening, the crowd is standing-room only. The long, narrow sanctuary often overflows with up to 300 people: On one side the paneled mehitz, the women gather, some in head coverings and long skirts, others bareheaded and in pants. The men wear suits or jeans and T-shirts-and even a smattering of Hasidic streimels (fur hats) and stringed robes.

Wealthy or homeless, seekers or grounded in tradition, worshipers are drawn to the Carlebach Shul, as Congregation Kehilath Jacob in New York is affectionately known, because of the musical and spiritual legacy of its renowned leader, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.

Fourteen years after Carlebach’s death of a heart attack at age 69-- he died on October 20, 1994 -- his influence borders on a grassroots movement, complete with its own music, legends, minyanim, yeshiva, conferences and legions of disciples who count him as one of the world’s 36 hidden righteous people. From Russia to Singapore, in most synagogues in America and in Israel, Carlebach’s music is everywhere, even when the people sin it don’t know it is his or even who he was, transforming places of prayer into vibrant spiritual happenings with uninhibited dancing and closed-eye inwardness.

“[Carlebach] made it a basic expectation that you go to prayer service to have your heart open and your spirit soar,” says Jay Michaelson, 37, a writer and a teacher of spirituality who attended the shul from 1999 to 2004. “He epitomized Yiddishkeit.”

An Orthodox rabbi who embraced feminist and liberal causes while transmitting Hasidic wisdom, Carlebach’s impact today reverberates across Jewish Prayer, outreach and healing. Some Jewish dating Web sites, such as www.frumster.com, even offer a category of religious observance called “Carlebachian,” implying openness and a spiritual orientation.

“It would be hard to find a Jewish spiritual leader under 60 who hasn’t been influenced by Carlebach,” notes Michaelson. “It would be like finding a civiil rights leader who hasn’t been influenced by Martin Luther King.”

Carlebach’s blend of folk songs and Hasidic nigguim revolutionized Jewish music. His iconic song range from the first he ever wrote, “Od Yishama” (a wedding staple), to “Ve-ha’er Einenu,” popularized by the Israeli Hasidic Song Festival in 1969, to “Am Yisroel Chai,” which became the anthem of the Soviet Jewry movement. Many have been absorbed so totally into the Jewish Musical canon that they are often categorized as “traditional/folk,” with no composer cited.

And now, there is even a show, Shlomo: The New Musical, which premiered in April at the Museum of Jewish Heritage--A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York. “with his meteoric talent, incredible charisma, unbounded love and treasure house of authentic Judaism, [Carlebach] reinvented the Jewish experience,” says Danny Wise, playwright and producer. Wise’s musical brings Carlebach the man to life, from his birth in Berlin, his escape with his family from Nazi-occupied Europe to New York and his ascendancy to rock-star status as a the singing hippie rabbi who exuded love and shepherded trouble souls. In the show’s opening song, lead actor David Rossmer sings: “in the house of love and prayer/May the fixing finally start/Raise your voice up and prepare/. To mend a broken heart.”

In real life, it would be easy to caricature Carlebach, to mimic phrases as “Holy Brother,” by which he addressed many, and to parody his trademark hugs. “He’d ask himself, ‘If I have [only] two words to say to someone, what would I say?” says Wise, who knew Carlebach well. “So he would ask, ‘Do you know where God is?’ [and answer] ‘Wherever you let Him in.’ Or he’d say, ‘You are the highest of the high.’ It was something that would never leave that person.”

Stories abound of people who not only became religiously observant but also turned their lives around because of Carlebach. “he was the Pied Piper of lost souls, a traveling troubadour,” says musician Rabbi Moshe Shur, who accompanied Carlebach on tour.

Carlebach made Judaism accessible to an audience that might have remained disaffected, adds Michaelson, but he “never dumbed down the sincerity of his belief... The lesson we can learn today is not to dilute our own spiritual tradition, but to communicate it authentically.”

Michaelson remembers waiting--and waiting--for Carlebach to lead a weeknight learning session at Jerusalem synagogue in 1994. As was his wont, Carlebach was two hours late. “But when he entered the room, it was...like magic,” Michael recalls. “There was a current of love and energy that seemed to be able to tap into. It was a real encounter with holiness.”

Born into an Orthodox rabbinic family, Carlebach imbibed Torah from childhood. An opening scene in the musical depicts the true story of 5-year-old Shlomo who went missing and was found in the Ark, arms and legs wrapped around a Torah scroll. He was recognized as a talmudic genius as a teenager at Rabbi Aharon Kotler’s ultra-Orthodox Ben Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey, but left to follow his twin brother, Eli Chaim, to Chabad-Lubavitch, choosing outreach over scholarship.

In 1949, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Yosef Yitzhak Schneersohn, sent him and Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, who later became the father of the Jewish Renewal movement, to college campuses as emissaries. Both concluded that to bring Jews back to Judaism they had to break with some elements of tradition, especially with regard to women, and ultimately left Chabad, but not before helping to bring it to the mainstream.

Carlebach devoted himself to reinvigorating Jewish spirituality and pioneering a model of rabbinic activism, espousing the cause of blacks in South Africa, for example. Historian Jonathan Sarna writes in American Judaism (Yale University Press) that after the Holocaust, “Judaism appeared desperately unwell, racked by assimilation, emptiness, and an epidemic of tormented souls. The loss of six million...made it especially imperative to nurture every spark and...save every Jewish who survived.” Carlebach defined Judaism as a religion of happiness and love, said Sarna recently in an interview. “Before there was such a word as outreach, he was doing it.”

People still say to me, ‘Your father was my best friend,’” says Carlebach’s daughter Neshama, 33, who has carried on his work through her own musical career. “I ask them, ‘How long did you know him? They answer, I met him once.” A best friend is that person who sees you, sees your pain, your joy, and my father was that person.”

Carlebach and his wife, Neila, had two daughters, Neshama and Nedara, but separated after several years of marriage because of his long absences; they remained on amicable terms. Neshama sees her father in her nearly 2-year-old son, Rafael Lev Shlomo, and she has just recorded her sixth CD, One and One, featuring the Green Pastures Baptist Church Choir; it is based on her father’s teaching. “we think one and one is two, but one and one is one,” she explains. “Until we open our hearts to every person, there won’t be peace.”

Early in the 1950s, Carlebach discovered he could inspire people through music, a living metaphor for the harmony he sought for a fragmented Jewish community. Among the many who influenced him was African-American singer Nina Simone, who became a voice of the civil rights movement. Carlebach recored his first album, Haneshomo Lach, an instant hit, in 1959. After appearing at the Berkeley Folk Festival in California in 1966, he opened the House of Love and Prayer in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, “A combination synagogue, yeshiva, crash pad, and sanctuary,” writes Sarna, where he enticed his “holy hippelach” to get high on Judaism even while “Experimenting with meditation, yoga, vegetarianism, Eastern religions, even drugs and sex.” A Zionist who kept his watch on Israel tim, in 1977, Carlebach settled his followers in Mosha Meor Modi’in (formerly Meve Modi’in) in Israel. He continued traveling the world, eventually returning to his base of Kehilath Jacob, which he took over from his father.

Today, the moshav of 40 families perpetuates Carlebach’s teaching, his musical outreach (Moshav Band, Soulfarm and HaMakor all have their roots in the moshav) and spiritual warmth--welcoming students and singles visiting or living in Israel temporarily.

Leah Sands, a member of the moshav, recalls that as a child growing up in Amsterdam, she loved Carlebach’s music. After she moved to Israel in 1979, she attended one of his concerts in Jerusalem and was daydreaming that he’d sing her favorite song, “Bo’V’Shalom” (the last verse of “Lekha Dodi,” which likens Shabbat to a bride), when suddenly, Carlebach picked her out of the audience, beckoned her closer and sang that very song.

“Why did you call me over?” she asked him later. Carlebach responded, “I saw the bride in you.”

“From that moment, my life changed,” says Sands. “Shlomo showed me a halakhic Judaism that made sense, like a puzzle that fits.” She met her husband Avraham, at another Carlebach concert.

Carlbach’s aura was not wrought purely of peace and love. Because he crossed boundaries--ignoring the Jewish laws proscribing physical contact between the sexes, for instance -- the Orthodox community ostracized him, says Wise. Some women alleged that he also crossed personal boundaries. A 1998 article in Lilith magazine and a Web site run by The Awareness Center (www.theawarenesscenter.org), a project of the Baltimore-based International Jewish Coalition AGainst Sexual Abuse/Assault, describe allegations of sexual misconduct, from suggestive middle-of the night phone calls to sexual molestation, especially with teenagers and young women. Consequently, some rabbis and Jewish leaders have thought carefully about using his melodies and stories.

The musical doesn’t shy away from mentioning this controversy, even though Neshama Carlebach was a conceiver of the play. “He didn’t fit in any box,” she points out. “he went against everyone’s wishes, his rebbe, his family, to do what was right in his heart. He struggled. He used to say, ‘If I had two hearts I could afford to use one for hate, but I only have one heart, so I used it for love.’” Now that he’s gone, she says, his message and the beauty of his music remain.

Part of Reb Shlomo’s ground-breaking approach was his joyous and individual expression of faith, which served to mentor generations after him, according to Judah Cohen, a specialist in Jewish music at Indiana University in Bloomington. “There is a sense of yearning in his music,” says Cohen, “the yearling of a soul to reach the divine. He gave people the impetus... to compose their own music [and] express his or her own voice.”

“The limited texts and purposely repetitive Hasidic-style songs he wrote and sang... were the key to his outreach efforts and enable Jewishly uneducated members of his audience to become a part of the music-making,” writes marsha Bryan Edelman, professor of music and education at Gratz College in Philadelphia and author of “Discovering Jewish Music” (Jewish Publication Society). It conformed with the Hasidic notion that words were secondary to music and that they sometimes get in the way of real communion with God. The catchy new tuns encouraged American Jews to incorporate the songs into their services, she writes: “For many, it was among their most powerful Jewish experiences...”

Carlebach was not a virtuoso musician. “He was a teacher who used music as a vehicle,” explains Shur, executive director of the Queens College Hillel in New York, admitting that Carlebach’s guitar was often missing a string and was tuned by others.

But, says Velvel Pasternak, owner of Tara Publications, a Jewish music publisher distributor who produced two Carleach songbooks, “there is something beyond the notes and the composition that you can’t analyze. His is the music that has lasted.” Indeed, artists who have preserved his tunes include Eitan Katz, who recorded “Unplugged”, a CD of little known niggunim, and Israelis Chaim Dovid, Aaron Razel and Shlomo Katz’s K’Shoshana.

Carlebach’s liturgical niggunim comprise the “nusah Carlebach,” used in 100 minyanim from Passaic, New Jersey, to Safed, Israel. other shuls have integrated heavy dollops of it into Friday night services.

The Carlebach minyan itself, says Rabbi Naftali Citron, Carlebach’s great-nephew and spiritual leader at Kehilath Jacob for the past five years, “is a haymish experience that combines Hasidic strands and touches New Age but retains a lot if its Eastern European roots.” Being nonjudgmental is vital; he adds: “Shlomo’s feeling was about [love of Jews}, not the minutae of halakha (Jewish law).

Citron’s relationship with his great-uncle deepened when his grandfather, Eli Chaim, died and he looked to Shlomo to fill the void. As the two grew closer, the would go for walks in New York. “He was so full of love for the homeless,” Citron recalls. “They’d come and talk to him. Not just because he’d give them money--which he did--but because they were really his friends.”

In the tradition of Hasidism’s charismatic leaders, Carlebach has been idealized, says Michaelson, but in a way that “simplifies and distorts his complex and controversial personality. Yet for all Reb Shlomo’s faults, his is a sect where the doors are wide open. The Carlebach yeshiva, Simchat Shlomo in Nahlaot, Jerusalem, accepts men and women from diverse backgrounds for text and experiential learning. To fulfill its vision of a “spiritual traditional Judaism that is in constant dialogue with the complex modern world in which we live,” its course range from Mishna, Talmud and Kabbala to “Secrets of Joy” and “Torah and Ecology.” Its Web site quotes Carlebach: “The right Yeshiva is a place where there is so much love that it’s awesome. God gave us Torah with so much love, so if I want to give over Torah to my children, it has to be done in the same way....”

Despite the allegations about his womanizing, Carlebach had an enormous impact on large numbers of women and believed in their empowerment, says Sarna. He was the only male rabbi to join the feminist group Women of the Wall at the Kotel in 1989, and he ordained two women, a controversial decision.

“Even though he was an Orthodox rabbi, we women didn’t feel ‘less than,’” says Melinda Ribner, a student of Carlebach’s for over 20 years whom he ordained to serve as spiritual guide and transmitter of Jewish meditation, prayer and Torah. At Kehilath Jacob, she says, Carlebach gave her semikha at a public event on his father’s yortzeit. Ribner’s organization, Beit Miriam and Kabbalah of the Heart, offer spiritual psychotherapy, healing and the “Kabbalah of the feminine: (www.kabbalahoftheheart.com).

Rib tries to live by Carlebach’s teachings. In Safed, she once met some female soldiers outside a synagogue and invited them in. One of the women responded with discomfort, and as they talked, Ribner forged a connection with her, tell her about the prayer for Israeli soldiers recited in American synagogues. “Then I asked myself, ‘What would Shlomo do?’” Ribner recalls. I asked her if I could give her a hug. She accepted, and then all the women soldiers lined up for hugs.”

Carlebach himself recognized he was not a perfect vessel. he taught that the world is a broken place and was always conscious of the need for personal healing and universal repair. Says Wise: “Shlomo’s legacy is that people can still discover an oasis of safe joy wherever they are just by listening to his music.”