(Photos: Moshe Milner, Shutterstock)
Havdala Karlibach? Another episode in the series “Yoali looking for the source”. On Shabbat evenings, especially at large events or musical Shabbats, there are those who sing the Havdalah verses and the blessings with a guitar, with the title for this event being “Havdalah Karlibach”.
To this day, no recording has been found of Rabbi Shlomo Carlibach singing the Hafdalah like this, and even on the contrary, he even sang the Hafdalah in a different tune.
Watch: ‘Havdala Karlibach’ has nothing to do with Rabbi Shlomo Karlibach
The first part of the tune, ‘Here is the God of my salvation‘ is a composition by Rabbi Shaul Yedidia Elazar Taub – the Rebbe of Modzitz, who composed the verses of the blessing “And God will grant you” a series of verses that are said in the Ashkenazi communities on Shabbat night.
The first performance of this melody with the words of the Hafdalah “Here is my salvation”, was recorded many years after Carlebach’s death.
Cantor Shlomo Glick and Naria Choir – Havdala Karlibach
Blessings of the Hafdalah – a melody of a reform cantor
The second part – the melody of the blessings, is actually a work of Debi Friedman, a very leading American Jewish composer and singer in the Reform community in the USA. Her composition was published on the album The World of Your Dreams Released in 1993, a year before the death of Shlomo Carlibach, who I doubt very much if he even got to hear it.
The twist in the plot probably comes, when the band ‘HaMoshav’ – Carlebach’s students from Moshav Modiim – records the first part of the tune in Los Angeles. Among the Jews of California, Debbie Friedman’s tune was already known, and it was probably there that the connection between the two tunes was made – between the Hasidic tune of the Rebbe of Modzitz and the Reform singing teacher.
The unified piece caught on very strongly in the Jewish communities in the USA and from there the tune “made an ascent” and entered the repertoire of the musical Sabbaths.
We gave correct credit: Nathaniel Hershtik & the Machabites
If you search on YouTube, some artists in Israel still remember to give the credit to the first part – to Modzic, but the name of Friedman, who died in 2011, has been forgotten or disappeared.
In any case, now you also know that “Havdala in the style of Karlibach”, apart from the guitar, has nothing to do with R. Shlomo Karlibach.