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See this phrase translated! |
RARE VINTAGE
In the Presence of the Most High?
A night of dancing with the music
of Shlomo Carlebach, the Singing Rabbi
 ARE I CALL him the Rainbow Rebbe?
During the "hippy" craze in the Haight/Ashbury
neighborhood of San Francisco, Shlomo Carlebach maintained a storefront mission in
the neighborhood. I heard about him through word of mouth, so I was intrigued when
I found out that the Ashram started by disciples of an American westerner swami,
Rudrananda would be sponsoring a concert of his music at the auditorium of the
county library. Some local musicians who knew him put together an impromptu string
band for the occasion. That night would prove to be most formative. I now feel as
if I received a spiritual inheritance that evening. I was late to
the concert - the small auditorium was packed! No place to sit, except along an
aisle directly down in front of the stage, where two women, both old friends of
mine were squatting on their haunches. I joined them. Almost immediately, I felt a
tremendously heavy vibe, stronger and more overwhelming than the
worst paranoid flash I'd ever had...yet at the same time, it was NOT paranoia I
felt. It was more like extremely abject unworthiness. I felt compelled to leave
the presence of such a strong SPIRIT. So, as
quickly
as I had joined my two friends, I got up, turned and trudged up the
same aisle of stairs to leave by the back side door through which I had entered.
Yet, when I got to the top of the aisle, behind the last row of seats, the same
sense which had motivated me to leave directed me to turn to my right and
prostrate myself in the aisle behind the chairs! Then on my knees and fore arms,
I placed my head in my hands and began rocking slowly back and forth, and side to
side. What I've described was not a process of thought, what led to it is much
deeper than thought. How do I know? Have you been there? You tell me, if you
yourself have experienced the same thing, please write me and tell me how it came
to you, OK?By the
same direct knowledge of my state of unworthiness, in the previously
described moment, I knew that I was able to get back up on my feet. The
unworthiness was gone! Almost at the same instant, Shlomo ended a tune, and began
to tell a story about a young fellow in a Eastern European Shtetl some time back,
who disappeared for three nights one winter. Distraught, to say the least, his
parents began looking for him. Before long, they found him dancing in an alley way
turning blue in the snow.I'm dancing... Why are you dancing? Because I'm Hungry (By
this time in the story, I was shuffling in place behind the last row of
seats...consumed by an intense feeling of identification with the boy in the story
Shlomo was so masterfully weaving. Almost like I was having a past life read to me
- and I am still skeptical about anyone LITERALLY having past lifes, maybe
there's a stream of consciousness involved, but I don't feel like I have to
prove this to anyone, I can live this life, NOW, with such ambiguity about
previous ones...and yet, again that sense of knowing the boy in the story was so
intense...I was not terrified, I felt exhilarated!)You know there's chicken soup in the pot on the stove in the kitchen, what're you talking, hungry? I'm hungry because I'm dancing... Here
Shlomo
changed his tone of voice, and mentioned that the parents looked at
each other and said, WE BETTER TAKE THIS ONE TO SEE THE REBBE... Then,
Shlomo informed us that by the time that boy had grown old and died, he was the
most reknowned Rabbi of his time. Frankly, I don't recall him giving the fellow's
name. If I can get this pertinent detail, I will add it to this account, to be
sure. Then, Shlomo added, with humor gently rippling in his voice, "So
remember. parents, IT'S NOT ALWAYS CHICKEN SOUP YOUR CHILDREN ARE ASKING FOR
WHEN THEY SAY THEY ARE HUNGRY!" HAT HAPPENS next, gentle reader, is like a
movie to me as much as anyone else
might see it. Simply let me place you in my head as I both participate and/or
witness the events that follow. Please think in terms of the "I'n'I" state
of mind - dove-tailed as we are, in MIND'S EYE - of which
Rastafarians speak.The
band
struck up a dance tempo - Shlomo made an outright invitation to what the
Jubilee must be like: "So DANCE, children!!!!!!!" Without
hesitation, in
the twinkling of an eye, I found myself bounding down those same side aisle stairs
I had so heavily climbed a short while before. When I reached the front of the
seating area, my two friends had already started to get up off their haunches. In
a nonce, I took the hand one friend gave me, she grabbed her friend's hand, and we
were off, high-stepping it across the front of the small auditorium, and up the
aisle on the other side of the seats. When I turned to my left to cross the aisle
half-way back, there were thirty or forty people on the line! Beatific grins on
every face...the band continued the reel/jig like tune. The local stand-in
musicians were in the groove with Rabbi Carlebach, as if they'd written the tune
in one life, rehearsed it in another, and were getting to show it off NOW - if I
may dare employ some hyperbole at this point in the story...My
legs
were beginning to get quite fatigued from all the high knee stepping we
were doing. So, I suddenly stopped as we crossed the stage in front of the band,
and plopped down in a side aisle with my legs straight out on the carpet. My
friend kept up the pace, no one else dropped out. Yet, I did want to continue with
the rest, so I waited until they came across the stage again, and as I saw the
tail end of the line approach, I willed myself up out of that
muscles-full-of-lactic-acid tiredness by saying out loud, "I'm so tired, I
could walk another hundred miles!" - thinking as I was of refugees
escaping to freedom, over some mountain pass...then, I got on the END of the line.
When we'd all had our fill of such perfect pleasure, the music just stopped, and
we all sat down again. Rabbi Shlomo announced he'd give the Rebbe's blessing to
any who wished to receive it. A number of folks stood in line for this. When it
came my turn to receive the blessing, which consisted of Shlomo cupping the back
of the head in one hand and placing your chin on his right shoulder as he bear
hugged you, he said, "Blessings be upon you, brother. THEY
NEEDED TO DANCE, AND YOU GOT THEM ON THEIR
FEET." |
I am pleased to present this link. You will find an index of talks Shlomo gave, that have been preserved.
Maintained By The Reb Shlomo Foundation.
Reb Schlomo spoke of the Baal Shem TOV and the Tree of LIFE.
These two pages are interlinked.
Updated March 18, 2001, CE
