The Film
THE DARKEST LIGHT is the debut feature documentary from Simon Mendes — and it takes on one of the hardest reckonings in modern Jewish life: Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, the “Singing Rabbi,” whose melodies transformed Jewish worship so completely that many assume they’re centuries old — and who, according to accounts multiple women brought forward after his death in 1994 (first made public in a 1998 Lilith magazine article), sexually abused women and teenage girls who idolized him. The title comes from Carlebach’s own improvised homily about “darkest light” — evil masquerading as good.
The film’s protagonist is Neshama Carlebach, his daughter — who stayed silent when the allegations surfaced, then, moved by the MeToo movement, chose to publicly support the survivors. Mendes doesn’t hand the audience a verdict: defenders, survivors, and community leaders (including Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of Central Synagogue, on her congregation’s struggle over whether to keep singing his music) all get the floor. It’s a film about holding two truths at once — which is, as you know better than anyone, the actual clinical work of grief.
The award
Winner — the inaugural Best First Feature Award at the 46th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, where it world-premiered July 19 (two days after your interview — you spoke to Simon on the eve of his premiere). The jury said it was “extraordinarily moved and transformed” by the film’s “complex reckoning with his legacy.” Produced by Heidi Reinberg, supported by the Jewish Film Institute (Simon was a 2022 JFI Filmmaker in Residence) and Jewish Story Partners.
What do we do when the man who gave us our songs also caused profound harm? THE DARKEST LIGHT — the debut documentary from Simon Mendes, winner of the inaugural Best First Feature Award at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival — sits inside that question with rare courage. It follows Neshama Carlebach reckoning with her father, the “Singing Rabbi” whose melodies transformed worship, and the survivors whose truth changed how a community hears them. I sat down with Simon on Do You Feel Me?® two days before the world premiere. As a psychoanalyst, I’ll say this: idealization is the feeling that makes truth hardest to hear. Watch at fredrickedo.com/media. And if this story touches your own — support is real, and it’s yours: 988. #DoYouFeelMe #TheDarkestLight
Congrats:
Congratulations to Simon Mendes — THE DARKEST LIGHT just won Best First Feature at the 46th SF Jewish Film Festival. We spoke on Do You Feel Me?® days before the premiere, and the jury’s words ring true: “extraordinarily moved and transformed.” So was I.
Sources: AwardsWatch — Best First Feature win, The Forward — review, SFJFF film guide, Jewish Story Partners, Simon Mendes — about
