My experience with Shlomo

[Alex Jacobowitz <alexbjacobowitz...>]

B"H Bamberg

I guess my most moving experience with Shlomo
was around 1990. My family and I had recently moved
into Jerusalem´s Old City. Our modern apartment in
the Jewish Quarter was built directly over the
excavated Roman road known as the Cardo.

As we were preparing Shabbos, beautiful musical sounds
wafted up to us from the Cardo´s cavern. It sounded
like Shlomo Carlebach´s music. How could that be? The
Shabbos siren was going to sound any second, and
playing cassettes and CDs is clearly forbidden on
Shabbos. Was it possible that the Old City´s observant
Jews would listen to music so close to the siren?

I had to know. Since it was time for us to daven at
the Western Wall, my sons and I raced down from the
apartment and made a slight turn into the Cardo.
It wasn´t a machine. It was Shlomo himself, singing
his own Shabbos melodies and accompanying himself
on guitar for a group of American Christians from
California, who wanted to experience the beginning of
the Jewish Sabbath in a personal way. Shlomo obliged.

At first I thought of Rabbi Shlomo´s "act" as
borderline Shabbos desecration. But after a bit more
research I found that it had originally been a
chassidic tradition to play musical instruments up to
the beginning of the Shabbos service, to soothe
and to excite listeners as they prepare for prayer.

Alex Jacobowitz

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