A Collection of Favorite Stories of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach

Everyone knows the Holy R’ Shlomo Carlebach as our generation’s “sweet singer of Israel”. Today, Jews everywhere in the world pray and celebrate to the strains of his uplifting tunes. But Rabbi Carlebach was more than a vocalist, more than a “dancing Rebbe”, as he was sometimes called. He was an extremely insightful teacher.

Giving over the deepest depths of the Torah in his own inimitable style, and punctuating his songs at concerts and his teachings at study sessions there were always stories — stories about tzaddikim, about the Rebbes — chassidic stories, Jewish stories. But R’ Shlomo didn’t tell stories merely to provide extra entertainment at his performances or a moment of lightness to break an intense learning.

His tales were vehicles for giving over profound insights, the inside of the inside of the Torah. Storytelling for him wasn’t an art form. It was a form of prayer wrapped in the garment of a seemingly simple narrative. Hidden within each story of Jews of another time, struggling with and overcoming the obstacles of exile, are the seeds of our own strength in dealing with our troubled world. Find here a collection of R’ Shlomo’s amazing stories and be inspired.

By Tzlotana Barbara Midlo