Shlomo's wedding

[Susan Lewis]

I'm curious to know if any of the Chevra from the HLP remember Shlomo's wedding. I think it was in 1973. I remember sitting at a table that was set up specially for the Holy Beggars. It was the first time I had met anyone from the HLP.

[Ne'eman]

I was there, but don't remember meeting you. I will tell you my memories of the wedding when I have more time, probably this Sunday night. Ne'eman

[Ne'eman]

A bunch of us drove across country from S.F. for the wedding in Neil Raders van. Pesach was with us, but I forgot who the others were. Malka and I were married a few months earlier; she flew in on the gift of a ticket from her parents.
On the day of the wedding Shlomo went to Boro Park to receive a bracha from the Bobover Rebbe, who he often said was his main teacher, from whom he learned how to tell stories. He brought a group of us along. Hundredsof Bobover chassidim were around their Rebbe, pretty astonished, some amused, others distessed at our appearance. The average size of these chassidim seemed to be about 250 pouns, and I remember our being pushed and shoved for every step we took, sort of like playing football with people literally twice your size. The Rebbe called Shlomo to him, Shlomo bent over humbly, the Rebbe put his hands on his head and blessed him, and we left.
We folks came to town with the feeling like we had a part of Shlomo, as if he was ours. We had a rude awakening that Shlomo was part of a much bigger world than we knew of.
Shlomos wedding was the first I had been to that he didn't lead. It was somewhat of a culture shock.... more when I have the time.

[Ne'eman]

When Shlomo made the wedding everyone stood around , gently swaying in mutual happiness as Shlomo gently strummed his guitar, telling over beautiful teachings and stories related to marriage, the different parts of the ceremony, blessings for the choson and kallah etc. The dancingwas a harmonious , timeless circling round the choson and kallah, everyone feeling they belonged in the circle. Now, when Shlomo was the choson, and the proceeding was beyond his control, the atmosphere was more like a public spectacle, with a circus-like feeling. It was in Terrace on the Park, a huge hall in Flushing. There must have been a 1000 people inside, pushing and shoving to be a part of the scene, with many more outside who couldn't get in. The photographers were climbing on top of people to get their pictures. The dancing was a wild competition between a handful of individuals showing their prowess, while the rest of us watched. I had little enjoyment from the wedding. As I left I remembered what Shlomo taught us from Rebbe Nachman... 100 people come to a wedding; as they leave one talks about how good the food was, another about the musicians, another about the dancing, still another about all the old friends they saw, etc. Maybe one walks out thinking how nice it is that Hashem brought the couple together.
The Sheva Brachos on the following nights were pleasant, especially since Shlomo honored his kallah with quite a few new niggunim he composed .
The only people I remember meeting for the first time were Elya and Miriam Succot, and Natan and Ahuva.
Let's hear your memories of the wedding. A Chag Kosher Vesameach' Ne'eman

[reuven sabel aka golden gater rebbe aka proshevitzer rebbe aka proszowicer rebbe]

i went to the wedding but they would not allow anybody without an invitation into the elevator to the hall which was about one or two hundred feet above flushing meadow park. just before the chupa everybody who was waiting outside in the cold was allowed in for the chupa. right after the chupa everybody who did not have an invitation to show upon going into the dining hall was told to take the elevator down. after the meal was served and the people who leave weddings right after the meal left they finally let everybody in for the rest of the wedding and i saw shlomo's mother sitting at a table by herself and reb shlomo zatzal sitting next to his kallah playing his guitar and singing his new od yishama niggun to a tune that is a simchafied version of shuva hashem es shivisenu.
maybe the reason that shlomo's marriage ended in divorce is that he got married in terrace in the park instead of golden gate park and that the whole world was not only not invited to but prevented from attending the kabolas ponim and the wedding feast.
it is very important that the whole world be invited to all weddings. this does not mean that you have to publicize that a wedding is taking place more than you want to. if you want to have a small wedding or want to keep the engagement a secret until after the wedding you can get married without telling the whole world that you are getting married. but if the whole world knows that you are getting married you should not do anything to prevent anybody from attending any part of the wedding even if he is a schnorer going around asking people for donations and has no other interest in the wedding taking place other than schnoring. if one cannot afford to serve a whole meal to everybody at the wedding, there should at least be two tables with left over food from the schmorgersbord, one for the men and one for the women.
but shlomo married into a fancy family that wanted a wedding for their daughter in an extremely fancy hall instead of in a place that could accomodate all the holy beggars.
now we have a problem with shlomo's daughter neshama having put a copyright on shlomo's music that shlomo refused to copyright because shlomo felt that his music and his stories and his torah belong to the whole world. does neshama carlebach's copyright also extend to shlomo's stories that he heard from the bobover rebbe and told us translated into english? if neshama thinks that she should own a copyright to shlomo's stories, maybe she should have to get permission from bobov to publish these stories because shlomo heard these stories from the bobover rebbe and translated them into english telling the stories in english with the same intonations that the bobover rebbe used to tell stories in yiddish at his weekly malave malkas. then the question comes up as to which bobov she has to get permission from and i would say both bobovs.
i can understand the desire of shlomo's heirs to make a living from the only inheritance that shlomo left in this world, his music his stories and his torah, but saying that shlomo's stories only belong to shlomo and not also to bobov and that shlomo's torah belongs only to shlomo and not to the rebbes and roshei yeshiva who taught it to shlomo.
at the time of the house of love and prayer many of the nigunim that shlomo sang were not his own new nigunim but old hasidic nigunim that shlomo had heard and felt motivated to sing for us. shlomo was also singing many nigunim of his own and over the years before, during and after the house of love and prayer brought down from heaven many new nigunim that shlomo sang instead of the older hasidic nigunim.
i think that the only intellectual property that neshama can copyright is recordings of shlomo singing or speaking, and maybe other people singing nigunim that shlomo brought down from heaven. but shlomo's nigunim, stories and torahs that shlomo learned from his teachers and passed on to us belong as much to whoever taught them to shlomo as they do to shlomo and his heirs.and torah was never meant to belong to anybody less than the 600,000 jews who recieved the torah on mount sinai and our offspring.
this website needs music!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aryae coopersmith is scared to put music on this website because he is scared that neshama carlebach will object. if neshama doesnt want her father's music on this website, why cant we at least have a recording of a modzitzer or a rizhiner or a tzanzer nigun that shlomo sang at the house sung by somebody other than shlomo?

[Sarah Ariella Kauffman]

Hi Susan,
Shlomo's wedding was December 26, 1972. It was held at the site of the 1962(?) World's Fair in Flushing, Queens. I have lots of photos and will have to figure out how to post them.
Are you the same Susan who was at the HLP, Machon Hannah in St.Paul and later moved to Tucson?

Sarah (Dickerson) Kauffman