Sholmo Carlebach comes to Haifa!

By: Jason

Like all Friday evenings in Israel, it is Erev Shabbat (Shabbat evening) and as the traffic lessens, buses and trains stop and shops close, the atmosphere becomes one more laden with rest, and spending time with friends and family for a festive meal, a walk, or a visit to one of the many local synagogues (about 240 in Haifa alone!) for Friday night (Shabbat Kabalat) services.  I have been doing sort of a tour of the synagogues in the neighborhood since each one (and the people that attend) is completely different.

Ohel Avraham Synagogue, Haifa (photo: ynet)

In Hadar (my neighborhood) most the synagogues are, ironically, somewhat cryptic and often tucked away amongst the homes and businesses.  They are small, utilitarian, and most could use a bit of a makeover.  Nonetheless, they are filled with a diversity of people from all over the world, speaking among other things, Persian, Spanish, French, Russian, English, and yes, of course Hebrew.  An Iraq-based synagogue I have been to (extremely nice guys!) is situated on a busy street corner downtown but in a resident apartment building, while the Great Synagogue in the adjacent Geula neighborhood is a massive building with a predominantly Haredi presence.  

Haifa's Great Synagogue (photo: Wikipedia)

This past Friday night, we heard about a Friday service at a synagogue on Masada Street which we had walked by, but had never been to. The service was advertised as songs and singing in the theme and spirit of Sholmo Carlebach, the legendary Rabbi, considered by many as one of the most influential religious songwriters of the 20^th century.  You can read up on the entire life of Sholmo Carlebach here if you are interested: 

In addition, we read that there would be a dinner following the service that we intended to check out as well.  Like the other synagogues in Hadar, this one fit the bill: small, not too many seats, and rickety bookshelves.  However, the flip side was the jubilant and passionate group of people singing and yes, dancing to the beautiful sounds and tunes of Carlebach.  We were greeted by such a great and friendly group of folks afterwards and invited to partake in dinner. We were not  exactly where the dinner was (this, by the way, is the Israeli way: knowing that there is something but not knowing the details!) but decided just to follow the crowd.

We eventually made it across the street to the home of our host, the ‘Rabbi’, his wife, and their family (this was our dinner location, unbeknownst to us!).  We were welcomed in not just as guests, but as family.  Also there was a mix of neighborhood locals, visitors from around Israel, and my favorite, two hysterically funny and bright Mexican Jews who we sat next to.  I don’t think we could have staged a more eclectic mix of folks (virtual strangers) with such diverse backgrounds if we tried.  Although the conversations were mostly in Hebrew, we also had the opportunity to practice Spanish and a few words of Russian, give some college advice to an aspiring Israeli psychologist, and quote movies and talk politics with our Mexican friends.

As we finished up desert and said our after-meal prayers, I realized how lucky we are to have had such and experience and be welcomed into the homes of such warm and friendly folks.  We hope we can do it again!