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;.l7,40,75,192,2,127,40,0,

R.. Shlomo Carlebach Jokes and other remarks::
Excerpted from R. David Herzberg collection, as posted on Website.

[[ I excerpt those jokes and remarks that seem to have spiritualand/or religious (halachic) depth.]]

RSC:
`My sweetest friends, I know that I'm constantly late,  but I justdon't want to put the Messiah to shame.'

`I swear to you, it's never too late.'

DH: `In the Talmud it is written that one should always knock onthe door to his own house so as not to startle the residents eventhough they are his own family.'

DH:  A Jewish pen is one that won't write on the Sabbath.
l2
[[sa:  But some pens are so dumb, they don't always know whenit's not Shabat ]]
l1

Parable from Reba Simcha Bunim of Pshyscha, retold by RSC, esp.HLP early 70's:

`In the early 70's in the House of Love and Prayer in SanFrancisco, Shlomo loved to tell the following story.  He prefacedit by telling us that the great Chassidic Rebbe, Reba Simcha Bunimof Pshyscha was accustomed to say that this is one of the deepestparables.'

The town drunk is taken, in a stupor, to the Bishop's house anddressed in the Bishop's clothes.  Awakening, he does not know ifhe is really the Bishop and just thinks that he's the Drunk; orreally the Drunk and just thinks that he's the Bishop.
l2
[[Cf. parable of Lao Tzu who fell asleep, and dreamt he was abutterfly, and awakened, and wondered:  am I a man dreamingof being a butterfly, or a  butterfly dreaming of being aman. ]]
l3
[[but many, eg Reb Nachman, would say:  which is better: to be Jewish and the town drunk -- impoverished, at themercy of all passersby, an object of ridicule -- ; ornot to be Jewish but be the rich and powerful andhonored Bishop of the entire region.] ]
l1
So anyhow:  (DH):  `While contemplating these feelings the prayerbook is presented to him and placed on the huge prayer stand.  Heopens it up and turns it in every; direction but to his greatdistress, he cannot make out one word.  He stands in front of themirror dressed as the Bishop and cries bitterly in the realizationthat indeed he is the disgusting town drunk.  Then, as if hit by alightning bolt, he lifts his hands heavenward and with greatunderstanding says, `Ah, but who says the Bishop knows how toread.'
THIS IS SAUSALITO
l2
[[sa:  Cf. Wordsworth, `trailing clouds of glory'.   
Cf. PVK on the Elusian mysteries:  the tore off the wings andwhite robes of the initiates, and hurled them to the earth.[my partial recollection:]
Or Cf. esp. Reb Nachman, parables of  the lost Prince, 
l3
[Cf. PVK, intro to ;The Way of the Dervish' `or use it[your heart, if you give it to him] to ransom the King'sdaughter'
That is:  Cf. Psalms:  `yet THOU has made him but littlelower than the Angels '
Cf. Heraklitus:  We are like drunks, like those asleep. 
Cf. New Testamaent, St. Paul:  `through a glass, darkly'
Cf. PVK, notion of `Awakening'
In short:  `Everyone knows' 
that everyone knows, 
l4
however darkly, dimly, or `like dreamers'  that weare both of Heavenly descent, and of earthlyevolution.  
l5
And so [Cf. PVK] the question, or challenge 
l6
[Cf. HIK: `the Message is a lullaby tothose whose time is is to sleep [ie,remain asleep] and a call to those whosetime is is to Awaken.] 
l5
is:  with which do you choose to identify. Or:  on which will be your focus.
So this parable focuses on that bafflement,that challenge. 
l6
[[sa:  from `In Search of  the Ox withthe Gilded Horn:  selected poems with atleast some Jewish content.':
      Lao-Tzu again
      and/or that baffled butterfly, 
      each the other's dream  ]]
      SOUTH SAUSALITO
l5
[[But Cf. Pascal:  It is a terrible thing tofall into the hands of the living G_d.  
l6
And Cf. Hopkins (struggling with) -- `myGod -- my G_d' (poem:  `oh, the mind hasmountains'
l5
That is:  to Awaken 
L6
[and RSC would sometime chant, within asong, `wake up, wake up' (he would saythe phrase only two times)]

[GO TO INDENT 2}
l2
I mean to say 
l3
(Cf. TSE,  Prufrock, `It is difficult to say just what Imean'; 
l4
and Carl Shrager parodied it, 
l5

that false piety and instant 
l6
(`like a silk hat on a Bradfordmillionaire' (TSE)) 
l5
easily assumed humility -- 
l6
for TSE, for all that he wrote withstriking precision of what it is to bebroken 
l7

(which, brokenness, is one of RSC'sthemes ) 
GO TO INDENT 3
L2
-- so Shrager said 
L3
(we were joking in a pad in Cambridge, 
L4

(over Taj Mahal -- the folksinger Taj Mahal thatis); 
L5

(and now anyhow where's Ezra Pound now that wereally need him; he'd dig Talmud 
GO TO INDENT 4
L6

 Sa:  `& Meir said to t'Other:
       Wanna go to hell?
       Can't get theah from heah.
       This here's the pits;
       And thataways' just Bet She'an.
       
               Slide over Dante;
               Let an old man rest.'

L2
So Shrager parodies TSE's pose:  `It is difficult to say justwhat I mean' [emphasize `what']
BACK TO INDENT 1

L2

I mean to say:  to Awaken, 
L3
or anyhow to Awaken without having simultaneouslyachieved Enlightenment -- 
L3
and I guess that's the forbidden left-hand path, notwon, but stolen, through deprivation and despair,through destruction of one's own options, as if plowingup the earth of one's own personality 
L4
-- a most ill-advised strategy -- 
L5
maybe the early Christian ascetics did thus;they did lots of goofy things, like sitting ona pillar in the desert -- like Hindu fakirs --
L2

So anyhow, to Awaken without Enlightenment is terrible -- onesees everything -- how beautiful things could and should be 
L3
[But Cf. PVK:  `one should never say `should''] -- 
L2
but can't do anything about it; can't act to make thingsbetter; for when one acts, things only become worse , forone's character has shrunk while one's Vision has expanded. One gains Vision, if not Wisdom, at the cost of Motivation -- 
L3
But I digress.
L2
SOUTH SAUSALITO 
And all that was just a gloss on the drunk/Bishop(butterfly/man) parable of man's earthly/Heaven's dualism 

BACK TO SAUSALITO
I still ain't got to the punch line, `but who says the Bishopknows how to read'

L3
Cf. Paul Wienpahl, UCSB ca. '68, in class:  we havethese exalted images of holy men, but what do we know ofthe real flesh-and- blood ones -- 
l4
`no man is a hero to his valet' -- not beause thethe man is not a hero; but because the valet is(merely) a valet' -- 
l5
and this is why I keep saying, to begin tocomprehend, to encompass, even to truly learnfrom, RSC , stop thinking of him a teddy-bear,stop idolizing, begin by acknowledging that hewas a broken man, who not merely carried on,but gained a great triumph over his brokenness
l6
(Cf. PVK on the Crucifixtion
l2
You see:  the drunk is a honest man -- 
l3
being Jewish, how could he not be -- 
l2
and longs to be the Bishop; 
and when he realizes that he really cannot even read (theLatin Breviary), as he assumes a great man, a Bishop -- 
l3
to a poor in a shtetl, what might seem greater -- 
l2
as he assumes a great man must do, he is broken.  
l3

For nobody really wants to go back to being a drunk, 
l4

(with or without alcohol; Cf. HIK, each man selectshis own intoxicant)   
l2
But then he takes heart -- but who says the Bishop knows howto read -- 
l3
so one can carry on, yearning for 
l4
(Yedid Nefesh), 
l2
aspiring to, greatness, despite having Awakened to anawareness of one's limitations 
l3
(Cf. HIK:  `meeting my shortcomings with the sword ofself-respect.' (Collected Sayings
l1
=================================================================


So:  back to DH:
`Our mother Srah gavae to all her children as aninheritancethe laughtaer from within.  The laughter of understanding,not the laughter ofstupidity.
[This document is by no means all jokes (most ofwhich fall flat).  DH includes reminiscences thatare quite moving.]

`Reba Shlomo once taught us in the name of theKotzker Rebbe, that the wholest thing in the worldis a broken heart.  Reb Shlomo added to this [orbetter: clarified'; since that was the sense ofwhat the Kotzker Rebbe said] and told us this istrue only if our own heart is broken,  but not[obviously] if a ;person breaks someone else'sheart.  I humbly added tht if two brokenhearts cometogether andlaguht then the broken ;pieces becomeone.'
DH had a great sense of humour; but it doesn't seemto have extended to choosing jokes.
`Smehow, desite his marathon schedule, he foundtime to take a swim [in hotel swimming pools][[N.B.:  Someone said of RSC, that he usuallystayed at good hotels.  (Which seems incongruous,because in all other respects that I noticed, heseemed to live a life of poverty -- shlepping hisown suitcases, taken rides from whoever would takehim; simply dressed; living in a small simple houseat Moshav Meor Modi'in ; eating Shalom Shwartz'sShabat chicken dinners ==
So from this remark by DH, I reckon that he stayedat good hotels because he needed the swimming pool.
When Dafna was flipped out, she would go toShlomo's hotel and swim laps in the swimming pool,on his bill of course.  Dafna said:  Shlomo takesvery good care of his hevre.  ]]
DH continues:  `It [his swim] was usually for onlyabout twenty minutes but, as the Rebbe oftenrelated, the Holy Sanzer Rebbe would only sleep atotal on one and three quarter hours in a 24 hourperiod.  When he was asked how he doul durvive onso little sleep, he answered: Sages are able tolearn in a few moments what the layman can takesyears to understand.  A sage is aboel to doeveryghing at blidng speed.  So, thanks G_d, I'mable to sleep very fast.'  [[Similarly, PVK hintedthat one can sleep fast' if need be -- that is,get in relatively few hours all the rest andrefreshment that most people need 7 or 8 hours ofsleep to get.  And I guess the night-time prayer inJudaism can facilitate that.]].  
DH continues:  `On this occasion the Rebbe wasswimming very fast '
After a very nice introduction, describing his 6thfloor walkup on Rehov Ben Yehuda ca. 1984,  DHnotes that RSC first sang VeYitechu Bicha  ,which was first recorded on his last album,(released posthumously) Sweetest Friends', in1959:  RSC said to to a group in DH's apartment: `This was the third song I wever wrote  in theblessed year of 1959.  I never recorded it but Ihope to one day soon, G_d willingthis is the lastrecording he madel to commemorate themissingIsreali soliders.
An enigmatic joke about a humble holy liar:
DH:  ` he left us with these words:
`Holy borsthers and sisters, there was once thisJew that jproudly announced to everyone that he isthe grandoson of the great and revered Tzaddik(righteous man) the holy jDavair Shekarin, the onewho speaks lies.' ` We are already laughtng butthen Shlomo hit us with the punchline:  There weretwo Yidden (Jews) standing close by.  One turned tothe other and said The truth is he's so humblethat he just says that it's his grandfather, butreally he himself is the holy liar.''
DH:  `It was Friday night at the Moshav, and theRebbe was going strong .  We were all in thesynagogue that was exquisitlely painted by thefamed artist Reba Yitschak ben Yehuda.  He and hiswife Rivka had been on the Moshav for some twentyyears ever since the school bus they were living inborke down.  Sitting in this beautiful Shul(synagogue) with Reba Shlomo was trusly a taste ofthe Garden of Eden. '
`The holy Kiddush wine was flowing freelhy but ourRebbe gently taubvght us that the whole world drunkin order to forget, but we Yidden drink wine toremember.  The main thing, he said, was that,  [heaven forfend] a person should never get drunkjon Shabbos; but then he reminded us that we haveto be drunk from Shabbos.  So too, we drink wineunder the wedding anopy to remind ourselves that weshould be druk with love for eachotehr. `
DH quoting RSC:  `My holy grandmother was theduaghteer of a Cohen ) (priest) and also theduagher of a ;priest's [ie Cohen's  daughter.  

[[N.B.:  `;priest' is in some respects a misleadingtranslation of  Cohen'; the Roman Catholic Churchpresumably chose it with tendentious, triumphalist,intent; claiming that Christian (Catholic, afterthe schisms) priests are the legitimate successorsof the Cohenim of  pre-destruction-of-the-Templetimes. ]]
`So it was for many generatins in here familhy. Both sides wer Cohanim.  My holy grandfather wasthe first one in many generations that broke thattratdition.  They bot married but it was a bit ofan embarrassment for my grandmother.  The firsttime myil grandfather, also named Reba ShlomoCarleback, giave a speech in the jSynagogue inAustria my holy grandmother sat in the balconylistening closely to every word.  Afterward my;grandfather asked my grandmother, Nus, how was thespeech.  My grandmother, unable to hide her truefeelings simply said, To tell the truth for anordinary Yisrael (non-Cohen) it was OK.''
A very engaging story, 
with a sub-story about a fisherman, `a follower ofthe holy Rebbe, Reba Tsvi Yehuda of Stsretten, Z'L' who spitefully cuts off the tail of a little fish - the Rebbe tells him,  ` You must realize thatthe `honor of anyone of G_d's creatures muset neverbe taken lightly.'
    Of how R. Shlomo put off a nudnick caller, butfelt guilty for having done so.l
DH:  `I kept thjnking of my holy mother, may sherest in peace.  JShe didn't speak abadly aboutanother person -- not because she controlledherself but rther because she simply never sawanything bad in another person '
DH recalls going with RSC to Ramle prison prior toRosh HaShana.  `One lprsoner was qite evidentlyunder the infrluemce of drugs and put his hand onReba Shlomo's head.  W9th a big smakiel he said: `JRe bShlomo I bless you with a Shjana Tova Umi-ushenet a good and smokey year.'  Insead of theteradition belessing of Shana Tova Umivorachat AGood Blessed Year.  What a joke>?!  The whole ridebaci Reba Shlomo kept repeating is words and saidthat truly was a blessing from the hearat.!'
DH recalls RSC doing a wedding when the britfollowed about 10 days later.  [[At the Abode theycalled this, in the 80s , a Sufi wedding.  In thosedays we didn't much hold with state-authorizedweddings. 
`But as as always, R'eb Shlomo with his holyhlight pyut it all in the proper prospective [sic: 
[that is:  that proper perspective was that thechatan was a prospective pappa.]
So anyhow, Channa-Leah Bogost, z'l, said R. Shlomoposed the question:  how can lyou tell if thewedding you are attending is orthodox, ultraorthodox, conservative, or reconstsructionist.
He reminded us of the time that Adam and Eve gavebirth in the Garden of Eden on the same day thatthey met.  And that when the Mashiach wiell berevealed the pain of pregnancy and labor will bebamosjed fprever/  `My sweetest friends, maybe weare returing to the Garden of Eden as more womenare giving birth on the same day they get married. Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov.'

[N.B.:   It looks  like DH is quoting from tapes;though he does not note sources.]
[at a restaurant] `he praised G_d for giving thecook so miuch wisdom to cook the food with suchlove.  I thought it was a joke but realized thatthe Rebbe meant it.'
`He simply said Brother Dovid'l:  How could I sitdown and eat before I said hello to everyone?'
I thought og the teaching of the graet Rav ofSlobotka, ZT'L on the passage:  Thou sahlt lovethely neighbor as you love yourself. ' He askesthe question:  How is it lpossible to love someoneelse the same wayi I love myself?  He answers asfollows:  The love on e has for himselfr orherself is a verl;y natural love.  It is notnecessary to be commanded to feel such a love.  Sotoo the jTorah command sus to love evehyrone elsein a natural way not necessarily because of acommandment to do so.'
[[Well, they are truly fortunate, wno naturallylove themselves; and they are  fortunate whonaturally love others, ]]
Stosry of Reba Shmelke and Reba Pinchas; theirmother goes to the Maggid of Mezritch, Reba DovBer.  
DH retells stories fro Rabbi Shmuel Krauss, ztz''l. This material has not ;previsouly been published.
`I asked him how it was ossible to ot give up insuch awesomely terrible stimes.  He just smiled andsaid,k I never gave up on G_d, and as you can seein front of you, G_d never gave up on me. '
[His father wrote him a letter, and threw it outthe window of the train.  He received it.  It said` Be a Jew everhy ;precious moment of your life. Never give up the faith of oru forefathers,Abraham, Issac and Jacob.  Not only live as a Jew,but if necessary give up your life as a Jew.  Nevertry to save your life at the expense of someoneelse's life.  Remember, my son, G_d's salvationcomes in but the blink of an eye.'
`I owned a very small j;pair of Tefillin which hadbeen written by a truly G_d--fearing scribe.  Onedsy a thought came to my head.  Where could I hidethe Tefilling and not get caught?  I realized thatthere was only one place.  I had heard from adiamond smuggler that his armpit srved as a goodplace ot hide diamonsds. So I took my most precious possession more valuable than anydiamond and put it in my armpit. Not only did I merit to fulfillthis great Mitzvfah but eery morning as we marched to work in thethe dark before dawn, I ;passed the Tefilin around to at leastseventy othe trJews who desir5ed not to abadndon this greatoppo4rtunity;  Every single day for four yearass I merited to prayeach mornig with jTefillin and always,l whatever I did , whereverI went, they wre part of me.  I knew that the pure desire of a Jewto fufill the will of G_d would break down every baqrrier that theenemy could construct to restricdt our souls
Yes, they wanted to kill us, but first and foremost thy wanted totake away our pride of Yiddishkeit, the ;pride of being a Jew.  Iwoldn't sta d for it. '
`I was so hungry and so thirsty all the time, and I knew that thislittle bit of olive oil wold be able to nourish me for a longtime.  Late at night when everyone was fast asleep from thetortuous days, I wold stealthily take out the vial ofr olive oilfrom under my armlpit.  I would smell the secnt of the o89l andremember how good it taste.d  Hundred and hundred of times inthilse gfive months I jput the little vial to my lips and almostgulped it down to save my satrtving soul.  Each time I did this,ksoemteimes even ten times in one day, I would whisper to mayself,ۑWait for Chanukah.'  Hering mly own voice, Oi wold close the vialsecurely and lput it away safely.
DH states:  `If I hadn't heard the story [of  how he managed toobserve Hanukah] from the ljips of this great Tsaddi,k  with myown ears, I wold not have been able to imagein e that a personcould have such fortitude and courage in the absolutely worstconditions.  

Whre did this great figt of living each moment to the fullest fcoefrom? `  Rabbi Krauss! I cried out,l what mad eyou ant to livaewhen it seemed there was nght left to live for?'

`I ne3ver stoppe4d dreaming for one memeont,  he answerd.  `Iwnevisoned clearly in from tof tme the most beautiful Shabbostable ever seeen.  I was starving to death, so it helped to keepimaging that there were twelve challash in front of me each adifferent size and shape that I had jpersonally baked for thehonor of the Sabbath Quieeen.  I iamagined the table filled withfamily and guests, each with their own Kiddush cup and twoChallahs and as much food as we could eat that I had jpreparedwith my own hand s. `

DH goes with his wife [Alifa Sadya, who lives at Moshav MeorModi'in] to visit Rabbi Krauss.  `To my utter astonishment therewere tw3elve Challahs (according to the KIabbalisti c tradition ofthe Holy Air Rabbi Yitzchak Luria) each a different size andshape.  this scenario repated itself for each othe there three Sabbath meansl Rabbi Krauss s;pent all of the S?ahabbos sivningat the table, ;praying fervently, teaching Torah to the gatgheredrfroup and never mentionng one word of the ;pain he endured.
` I had read in the Code of Jewish Law that aerson shold alwaysset his table4 immeidately fter the Sabbath so as to begin theweek well with a fourth meal' of the the Sabbath.   jRabbiKrauss took this to mean that the fourth meal of Shabbos was notlynot anly less that the three melas of Shabbos, but might even begreater.  there were two huge challahs  Rabbi Krauss sang withis gueset s lutnil the middle of the night and told us that theforuth meal of Shabbos brings blessings to all the meals we woldeat in the coming weei.  

`; so sthat each oen will havae too good strong cups of coffee onShabbos mronging as was the custom of the Holy Baal Shem Tov, thefounder of the Chassidic movment. `
`'Rabbi KIrauss, you speak of yoru guesets quiate often. J Did youevery havae a meal tiwthout guests?' I asked jokingly.  Heanswered various seriously G+d forbid I wold neer thinik such athing.'

Story of Reba Zusia and Reba Elimelech, discplies of the Maggid ofMezrich Reba Dov Ber who tried making Shabbat on Wednesday.  `Worried aboaut their discovawery they went to the master, theGreat Maggid to seek his adice.  We borught Sha bos down on anoridarnyl Wednesyday,' they said, `so it's boviosuly not Shabbosthat's so highw but wheat we do to make us feel good.'  The Maggidof Mezrich pondered the hooliy borhters' quesitnl.  Tell me,' hesaid, did you have guests at your talb efor the Wednesday feast' ۑOf course,' they said.  Aah, the Great Maggid replied, that'sthe reaon youi frelt tohte ;presenceo fShabbos on an ordinaryJWednesday.  JFor during any meal that you sith with a gueset itreally is Shabbos.

Rabbi Krauss anaswed wmy queasetion with theis great sotryl, whichtruly defined him.  Why eat alone when every day bcan be Shabbos.ۅ'
DH:  If we let go of oruds dremas or cease to laught, G+d forbidwe become extremely vulmerable to our enemies' desires.  IF wetrulyi want to live to see our dr4ams fulfilled we cannot onlycome back from the grave beut we can even experience the words ofthe Holy Kotzker Rebbe (Reba Menachme Mendel, the Angel):  Revivalof the dead is no big thing; to me the revival of the living isthe real Chidush (new pheonena.) 
[[ Somebody asked, at a mystic camp in Switzerland, can youcommunicate with the dead.  Stefan said something aboutۑcommuicaste with the livign' ]]

`His door was always open to receive the beggars, the huingry, andespecially to the lone3ly peple wo simply needed someonte tolisted to them.. `

`The impeneterable faith and unq2uenchable desdire to fulfill G_d'[s words, especially the abyss fo the fieryi furnaces ofGehennom, Hell, turned the absolutely miraculous insdto thecommplace trivialities we barely pay hee3d ot.  Only in retrospectcan swe see BG_d's grat hand through it all.'  So Rabbi Kraussmused as he often reminded ofme of the dicdtum of the sages, Theperson a miracle happens to does ot greacognize the greatness ofthe miracle.'

So nu I asked hij, did you really get to eat Matza ofn Peach' ?

`Not only did I reac the required amount of an olive-siaed portionbut (you probably wont' believe it!) I distributed portions to 400Yidden in the samp from the one little Matza that as left'.  Isaidl, Your'sre right, I don't' believe it'.  But with a veryserious ex;pression he said, I am telling you the truth.  Fourhundred Yidden received a crumb of Matza that last Peach were inthe camps.'
`  I had opened up mily little bag of flour many hundred of tiemsand came so close to stuffing it all in my face.   I keptbaettlign whith the questin:  Which took jprecdence, my life ormystubbotrn dream of baking Matza.  The Matza always came out ontop, for mo matter how weak with hunger I was the thought ofeating Matza at the Passoverf Seder gave just enoguht strength tolive. `

`'Accordign to our holy tradition the best time to bake Matza forPassover is the day begfore Passover afster twelve noon. 
`'I thnen took out the three little Matzas I had baked and showedto everyone.  Notone lperson tried to grab them, but thatetreveryone was slparked with a glimmer of hope. '

`I concluded the Seder with the words frolm the Zohar that arepr9inted in most Haggadas.  It speaks of the angels and theheavaenly host descending from heavaento experience the Seder ofthe Jews.  In the year that the mricale of jLPurim took place, afast day weas declared by Queeen Esther; the fast came out on thenight of the Seder.  Th heavenly host complained to G_d that theywould miss the annoual event of the heavenly Seder on eath G_danswered tham and said by that this year  [sic; biy that thisyaer'] the Seder wasw cancelled in order that the Jews truliyrepenet.  jBut next year I promise to make up for it .  Pease bepatient until next yaer. 
`I was well awre that the jGremans could not last much longer. Theyi had wasted all the money theyi needed to githt the war inorder to exptermiate the Jews.'

`Ra bi Krauss lived for almost fify years after he was liberatedand saw the blessing of his father fulfilled.  He saw much nachesfromj his six cildren and his many, many grandchildren.  May thememory of the righteous protect us all.'

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