Yehuda Green (), born 1959, is a

Hasidic Jewish Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

singer and composer, and

hazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' (, plural ; ; ) is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term al ...

at the

Carlebach Shul A Carlebach minyan or neo-Hasidic minyanhttps://www.jewishideas.org/article/dancing-footsteps-reb-shlomo-halakhic-analysis-carlebach-minyan is a Jewish prayer service that follows the style of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and uses the melodies he compo ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

. Singing in the style of singer-rabbi

Shlomo Carlebach Shlomo Carlebach (; January 14, 1925 – October 20, 1994), known as Reb Shlomo to his followers, was an American rabbi and musician nicknamed "the Singing Rabbi". Although his roots lay in traditional Orthodox yeshivot, he branched out to c ...

(1925–1994), he has been called "more Carlebach than Carlebach", and is acclaimed for his heartfelt renditions of Carlebach's songs.

Biography

Yehuda Green was born in the Mea Shearim area of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

to a family of Breslover Hasidim.Besser, Yisroel. "The Songs We Sang". ''

Mishpacha ''Mishpacha'' () - Jewish Family Weekly is a Haredi weekly magazine package produced by The Mishpacha Group in both English and Hebrew. History ''Mishpacha'' is one of the four major English-language newspapers and magazines serving the Hared ...

'' supplement: "10 Years".

Pesach Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

5774 (Spring 2004), p. 39. He heard his first Shlomo Carlebach album when he was five years old, and was encouraged by his father to sing Carlebach's composition, "''Mimkomcha''" ("From Your Place"), again and again. He enjoyed singing Carlebach's songs at the Lubavitcher

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

that he attended. In 1969 he attended his first Carlebach performance, and began frequenting Carlebach's Melaveh Malkah performances on Saturday nights on

Mount Zion Mount Zion (, ''Har Ṣīyyōn''; , ''Jabal Sahyoun'') is a hill in Jerusalem, located just outside the walls of the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City to the south. The term Mount Zion has been used in the Hebrew Bible first for the City of David ( ...

whenever the singer was in Israel. After his

bar mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

, Green went to hear Carlebach lead the prayers at the

Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...

on Friday nights. In 1980 Green attended a '' kumzits'' in

Golders Green Golders Green is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet in north London, northwest of Charing Cross. It began as a medieval small suburban linear settlement near a farm and public grazing area green, and dates to the early 19th century. It ...

, London, where Carlebach was performing. Carlebach invited him to sing with him at a concert he was giving the following night. Green says he was so embarrassed that he agreed to perform only from behind a curtain. Green made his first recording of Carlebach songs in the early 1990s, and asked Carlebach for his opinion. The singer wasn't happy with the

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

s, which put Green in a difficult position with his music arranger. In the end, the material was destroyed in a fire at the recording studio.

Music career

Green released his first album, ''Land of Your Soul'', in 2007. This and subsequent albums feature a combination of Green's own compositions and Carlebach pieces. One of the tracks on Green's first album, "''Nishmas Kol Chai''", became a favorite at ''kumzits'' gatherings in the

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

world, and Green acquired a following in Hasidic communities in

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

and

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

. Green attracts both religious and secular fans to his concerts. He was the headliner at the two "Kumzits on the Hudson" concerts in 2008 and 2009. In 2014 he was the featured singer at a

Yom HaAtzmaut Yom Ha'atzmaut (, , ) is Israel's national day, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948. It is marked by a variety of official and unofficial ceremonies and observances. Because Israel declared independence on 14 ...

gala at the Terrace on the Park in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, New York. Green frequently performs at charity benefits. He was one of over 30 Orthodox Jewish superstars appearing on the 2010 ''Unity for Justice'' album to benefit the legal defense of

Sholom Rubashkin Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin (born October 30, 1959) is an American businessman and convicted fraudster who was the CEO of Agriprocessors, a now-bankrupt kosher slaughterhouse and meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa, formerly owned by his fath ...

. He was a featured singer at the HASC 22 "A Time for Music" concert in 2009. At the HASC 24 "A Time for Duets" concert in 2011, he sang an on-stage duet with Jewish singer Ohad and a virtual duet with

, as the latter appeared on video footage. Green also lends his talents to annual musical evenings for the elderly and special needs population in Crown Heights.

Hazzan

In the late 1990s Green was asked to lead the

High Holy Days In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim; , ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm'') consist of: #strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); #by extension, th ...

prayers at the

on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He became an official hazzan at that

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

in 1998. He leads the

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

prayer services twice monthly. His Carlebach-style ''

Selichot Selichot (, singular: , ''səliḥā'') are Jewish penitential poems and prayers, especially those said in the period leading up to the High Holidays, and on fast days. The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy are a central theme throughout these pra ...

'' prayers for the Carlebach Shul, which are held at the West Side Institutional Synagogue with guitar and violin accompaniment, attract upwards of 1,000 participants.

Discography

*''Land of Your Soul'' (2007) *''Yearning'' (2010) *''Peace in My Heart'' (2012) *''Barcheini'' (2015) *''Neshameleh'' (2018) *''Amar Abayeh'' (2024)

References

External links

*
"Yehuda Green and Reb Shlomo Carlebach at HASC 24" (video)"Yehuda Green Moishele's Niggun (Kadish) at the Carlebach Shul First night of Selichos" (video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Yehuda Israeli Orthodox Jews American Orthodox Jews Hasidic singers Jewish songwriters Musicians from Jerusalem 1959 births Living people Jewish folk singers Shlomo Carlebach