The Neshama of Carlebach

For almost forty years, the Carlebach legacy has had a major role in defining the spirituality and soul of the Jewish community. Reb Shlomo, Ztl', was world renowned and beloved for his stories and songs. Equally endearing was his genuine kindness and love for humanity; his warm handshakes and hearty embraces, making him the "Godfather of Kiruv." After his untimely passing four years ago, it is not surprising that among the people continuing the tradition he began, is ....another Carlebach.

Neshama Carlebach, Reb Shlomo's 24 year-old daughter, has already made her mark. After recording two albums and performing concerts around the world, there is no doubt that she can perform. Her sensual vocals give new life to the familiar melodies crafted by the elder Carlebach. Displaying the charisma, confidence, and warmth of her holy, holy father, Neshama is now proving that she is a standout performer in her own right.

Neshama Carlebach is a busy woman. Taking my early morning phone call, infinitely more awake than I am, she fends off another interviewer, this one, calling from a radio station in Israel. After traveling for five months, she is back home in Toronto for only a few days, and speaks of impending engagements in Los Angeles, New York, and Israel. That she does this while pursuing a college degree is impressive; the "two full-time jobs" she juggles are as exhausting as the most demanding of dual curriculum workloads.

Yet with so much to do, Neshama demonstrates the patience and positive karma that have become part of the Carlebach trademark. She tells that after her parents' divorce, when she was six years old, she and her father remained "exceptionally close." Although Reb Shlomo was really a father to everybody, he would make time to call his daughter several times a day while touring. She recalls, "My father was always singing. He was so sweet, exactly like what he was onstage was what he was at home."

But it was Reb Shlomo's stage presence that set the example for Neshama's singing career. Although she had dabbled in performing arts since she was five, and had trained as a singer since age twelve, Neshama's real preparation came while performing with her father. Early pictures show little Neshama onstage with Reb Shlomo, standing on a chair and peering, wide-eyed, over his shoulder. Years later, the two would sing together, and Neshama was taught some hard lessons. Her father would shlep her on stage, and "he would literally walk off the stage and sit down." She recalls an instance when she was sent out to open a show shortly after the two had arrived from a particularly exhausting flight. The incident left her terrified and confused. "It felt strange to me," she said. "I mean, why is he waking off the stage when this is his show…but when he passed away I realized…he knew he was shaping me to take over." Reb Shlomo's final ten-month tour was also intended as a showcase for Neshama's talent, and it inaugurated her new career.

Neshama's career thus far has been stellar. At age 24, she has two albums already out: Neshama/Soul, released in 1996; and HaNeshama Shel Shlomo, a father-daughter effort completed just two weeks before Reb Shlomo's death in 1994, and released on his yahrtzeit in 1997. Neshama's vocals are passionate, soulful, and sometimes sultry, revitalizing her father's classic music. Neshama's modernized band adds to the music's updated twang, featuring electric guitar work unparalleled in Carlebach history. Anthems such as Ein K'Elokeinu and Amen (A Medley) rock and roll in a noticeably un-Carlebach-esqe fashion, while songs like K'vakorat and Ana Hashem are as heartfelt and poignant as any ballad by the divas in the top 40. Although Neshama is less impressive at telling stories- an act only Reb Shlomo could really get away with- she produces beautiful music that is fun, moving, and unmistakably groovy.

Unfortunately, Neshama's music has been subject to much controversy within the Orthodox world because… let's face it, her voice is a lot more feminine than her father's! Violating the issur of Kol Isha, she has been the subject of repeated verbal attacks. (Admirers have quipped that her comely voice helps clarify the reason that the prohibition was instituted.) She approaches her critics with a healthy, open-minded attitude. "Those people, gezunter hait- it's not my audience," she says. "If it offends them; if it takes away from their kavanas, I'm honored that they're not coming, because I'm also serving Hashem, but I'm singing for those people who need me to sing, who feel like I connect them to that place." She recounts a time Reb Shlomo, appearing on television, was asked by an angry caller, "How dare you call yourself an Orthodox rabbi, and you're bringing your daughter up on stage?" Grasping his daughter's hand, he replied, "We're living in a time of emergency…my daughter, if my daughter can m'karev one woman, to light candles on Shabbos because she's singing, she has to sing."

Neshama, who is also Orthodox, adds, "My heart breaks so much for the women who feel like they don't have a place, just because there is a mechitza between them and the men." She says that she is proud to be a woman, and hopes to give voice to women everywhere. She says, "My father was very into giving strength to women in their way, not making them shaliach tzibur, and not by making them wear kippas and tallisim, but giving them the strength to feel connected on their level."

Neshama dreams of teaching children to feel connected in the classroom, and already teaches part-time in day schools in her community. She hopes to avoid what she feels is often a dry, unfulfilling approach to Judaism, and help the children appreciate the richness and spirituality that their religion offers.

For the moment though, she is working on a new album, which will contain a surprise. Neshama recently received a gift of over one hundred of Reb Shlomo's songs that were not released. She therefore will be performing "all new, old" material for the first time on her upcoming album expected next year, as well as at upcoming shows. Neshama, who promises that "it's not a Madonna-type show," performs at the West Side Institutional Synagogue on November 7^th, in a concert commemorating her beloved father's Yahrtzeit. Although the name is the same, the younger Carlebach's music is a completely new sensation; as Lisa Traiger of the Washington Jewish Week wrote, "This is not your grandfather's yiddishkeit."