Eric Anderson and Julie Osborne as Shlomo Carlebach and his wife, from the off-Broadway play "Soul Doctor." (Carol Rosegg)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Despite its rabbi protagonist, \u201cSoul Doctor\u201d attracts diverse audiences because \u201cIt\u2019s about how we are spiritually all the same,\u201d says veteran Broadway composer and orchestrator Steve Margoshes, who wove together the score for \u201cSoul Doctor\u201d and previous Broadway smashes such as Elton John\u2019s \u201cAida,\u201d \u201cSmokey Joe\u2019s Cafe\u201d and \u201cThe Who\u2019s Tommy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the 1950s, the thirtysomething Orthodox rabbi searches American counterculture and becomes intimate friends with Simone, a then-unknown jazz singer who introduced him to gospel music and R&B.<\/p>\n
Carlebach suddenly finds himself \u201ctorn between his deep traditional roots and his dream to create a Jewish revival through his joyous and soulful melodies,\u201d Margoshes explains. \u201cHe wakes up one day and decides the Jewish experience is bankrupt and he is going to reinvigorate it, no matter the personal cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their unusual connection — Simone later became the musical voice of the civil rights movement — helped Shlomo shape contemporary Jewish music and reinvigorate the American Jewish experience in the aftermath of the Holocaust, Wise says.<\/p>\n
With composite characters and scenes, \u201cSoul Doctor\u201d is not a strictly factual presentation of Carlebach\u2019s life. Rather than pure hagiography, it is a gripping exploration of the many challenges and controversies encountered by Carlebach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is more the idea of Shlomo than what historically happened,\u201d says Rabbi Naftali Citrin of the Carlebach Shul and Carlebach\u2019s grand-nephew. \u201cIt\u2019s a version of Shlomo\u2019s life that can\u2019t possibly contain everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSoul Doctor\u201d reflects the humanity of this larger-than-life personality leaving an Orthodox dynasty to become Chasidic while attempting to reach the young and unplugged through conventional rabbinic teachings. The methods prove ineffective, so Carlebach struggles again to break out of the mold of previous Orthodox leaders and \u201cbecome Shlomo,\u201d the recording star, performer, spiritual minstrel and friend still both treasured and criticized.<\/p>\n
Carlebach grapples with questions of modernity and how to heal young broken souls who expect a hug and won\u2019t dance with a mechitzah.<\/p>\n
\u201cSoul Doctor\u201d doesn\u2019t shy away from Carlebach\u2019s struggling with his upbringing\u2019s Orthodox restrictions against even casual physical contact with women and intense condemnation from the establishment and his own father. Audiences watch him find love, attempt to balance family with touring, and ultimately encounter a devastating divorce when his wife takes their children — Neshama and her sister, Nedara (now a married mother of two living in Israel) — to Toronto.<\/p>\n
Today, the sisters honor their father\u2019s rich contributions to Jewish tradition through the Carlebach Legacy Trust, which collects his teachings, compositions, photographs and bootleg recordings. Neshama, also a mother of two, is working on her ninth album celebrating her father\u2019s music, despite Orthodoxy\u2019s concerns of kol isha, or halachic rulings regarding men hearing women sing. She also is trailblazing interfaith concerts with the Rev. Roger Hambrick and members of the Green Pastures Baptist Church Choir of the Bronx. Their album, \u201cHigher and Higher,\u201d was a sixth-time Grammy entrant last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is work to be done,\u201d Neshama says, \u201cand not everyone is down for the work.\u201d<\/p>\n
(This is Lisa Alcalay Klug\u2019s third article in\u00a0a JTA series<\/a>\u00a0about Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach\u2019s\u00a0 legacy<\/a>.\u00a0 Klug\u00a0<\/a>is the author of two humor books, “Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe,” a National Jewish Book Award finalist, and “Hot Mamalah: The Ultimate Guide for Every Woman of the Tribe,” a celebration of Jewish women debuting in October.)<\/em><\/p>\n(EDITOR’S NOTE: “Soul Doctor” was developed as a workshop during 2010 in New Orleans<\/em>.)<\/p>\n
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