At Woodstock With “Schwartzie”

By Dr. David Lazerson

Looking around, one could hardly believe the scene. Beautiful rolling green hills. Cows in pasture off in the distance. Turkey buzzards and a high soaring eagle gliding gracefully in the blue sky.

Despite the fact it was Sunday morning, there were lots of people roaming about. Well, perhaps roaming is the wrong word as there was barely room to move. The countryside was filled with close to 30,000 folks. All there for the Woodstock festival of free music.

The year was 1994 and it was the 25th anniversary of this unique concert.

Back in the original year of 1969, the festival had close to half a million people in attendance, and the music played on for close to three straight days – and nights. Many of the late 60’s major headliners back then made it to the Bethel site in upstate New York. The crowd was so massive and the roads totally closed that helicopters were needed to bring the performers in and out of the actual stage area.

It was this same stage that I found myself and my good buddy Avraham Rosenblum waiting anxiously for our chance to entertain the crowd. Back in my early Ba’alei Teshuva years, Avraham was the awesome guitarist and vocalist for the famous Diaspora Yeshiva Band. Since then, we’ve both played all over the globe but, quite frankly, this was not exactly the typical gathering we were accustomed to.

A hundred questions ran through my mind. How would this massive crowd react to our music? Would anything with a Jewish flavor and vibe go over here? What if they didn’t like us? One underlying question was, of course, how fast could we run? Perhaps this wasn’t our best idea. “Let’s go back and do that bungalow colony gig,” I joked with Avraham. “That melava Malka is looking better every minute!”

Avraham shrugged off my worries and responded that we’d be all right. “Who knows,” he said. “Maybe we’ll get that big recording contract.”

Despite my nervousness, it was an opportunity not to be missed, both in terms of performing and, like any good Chabadnik, there was “kiruv” work galore to be had. C’mon. 30,000 plus folks and a whole lot of members of the tribe in attendance, you just knew it was only a matter of time for that incredible dynamic California duo to show up.

I’m speaking of course of Rabbi Yosef Langer and Rabbi Shlomo Schwartz (“Schwartzie”), both icons in the Chabad Lubavitch world, and both absolutely beloved to their West coast communities and really throughout the world. I never realized one could be very Chassidic and totally cool at the same time – until I met these two larger-than-life personalities.

The 25th anniversary started Friday afternoon and ran through Sunday. We all got there motzei Shabbos. Back then I was working at Camp Heller which was only a bit over a mile away. We heard the festival music all Shabbos long. I couldn’t wait for the camp to hear some of Dr. Laz & Avraham Rosenblum on that huge Woodstock sound system.

I’ll never forget how this rumor ran wild through the crowd that Saturday night. Seeing Rabbis Langer and Schwartzie, along with my close friend and fellow rocker Simcha Gottlieb, with their really long, funky beards, everyone started talking about how ZZ Top was here in Bethel to play! Spontaneous cheers erupted through the crowd. “Awesome!” some shouted. “Wooohooo!” others cheered. Still others yelled out things like “oh yeah!” and “all right!” Now things were gonna really get rocking, they thought.

The two fearless Rabbis took the stage Saturday night a good two hours after Shabbos. This is going to be real interesting, I thought to myself. It was only a matter of minutes before the crowd found out that these two were not actually the front-men in the Grammy winning, hard-rockers band of ZZ Top. I looked around for a place to hide in case things got ugly.

There was a lot of drama associated with this 25th Woodstock reunion event. A lot of folks wanted it to resemble the original, which was in essence, a free event. The bands should play for free on a donated sound system and the people shouldn’t have to buy tickets. Others claimed that the times had indeed changed and it should be, for lack of a better term, a money-maker. That this norm should prevail: pay the bands, charge the people a lot for entertainment, food, drinks, etc. Let it be like most music venues – profitable.

Both sides got their way. Each sponsored a 3-day music festival. The money-maker ended up at Saugerties, NY. The freebie event, not unlike the original one from ’69, was held in the exact same area in Bethel, NY on the grounds of the now famous Max Yasgur‘s 600-acre dairy farm.

By the end of the weekend Saugerties had deviated from the Woodstock vibe of peace, love, & happiness, as there were riots, with people getting hurt and many arrested. In Bethel peace prevailed. At least until this nerve-wracking moment. Not when Avraham and I performed, but as these two Rabbis faced this mass of humanity on Bethel’s main stage.

Schwartzie explained to me that they had first planned on staying at the Saugerties festival, as it apparently was the larger event. “We got the boot,” he told me. “We set up a table to blow shofar and give away hundreds of apples since Rosh Hashanah was just days away.”

“How did it go?” I asked.

“Not as planned,” he responded with a laugh. “They said that it would cost us a thousand bucks to have our table there.”

“Didn’t have that extra thousand on hand?” I joked, knowing how hard it often is for Shluchim to raise funds.

“I told them we weren’t selling them,” Rabbi Schwartzie said. “That we were actually giving them away. I don’t think they believed us at all. Especially when we could’ve sold each one for probably five bucks apiece.”

They left Saugerties with a whole bunch of delicious apples and a couple of shofars, and made their way to the Bethel party.

Schwartzie smiled, patted me on the back, and added “Divine Providence strikes… we’re meant to be right here right now! So let’s see what the Boss has in store for us.”

Schwartzie and Langer strode boldly to center stage and took a couple of microphones. Both smiled broadly to the huge crowd. They were now in the spotlight as a hush came over the countryside in Bethel. I don’t remember exactly who said what as, quite frankly, they both looked very much alike to me, especially wearing their long kapatas and black hats.

“Saugerties,” one of the rabbis said, “proves the power of the almighty dollar.”

“Bethel,” the other added, “proves the power of the Almighty!”

To my utter surprise, the crowd roared and applauded in approval.

“We’ve shown right here in Bethel,” they continued, “that we can all get along, enjoy each other’s company, and help each other out.”

I couldn’t help but marvel at this totally hip and outrageously cool Hassidic duo. Schwartzie and Langer seemed to have this magic emanating from their very beings. Many in the crowd, more than I could ever count, came up to speak to them afterwards. Some came just to get a closer look at these two holy, unusual, yet very friendly, down-to-earth rabbis.

They spoke to the 30,000 plus and by the time their 10 minutes of glory was over, they had wished everyone a happy, healthy upcoming New Year, and blew the shofar right on that stage, that would later host Arlo Guthrie, Melanie, and other performers who had, in fact, played Woodstock 25 years earlier. It would also host Avraham and I but not until later that Sunday mid-morning.

Their stage appearance, nothing short of a Grammy performance, gave me a needed booster shot. Later that night at this Woodstock site, we held a sort of mini, impromptu Farbrengen. It was yet another one of those unforgettable moments together. Rabbis Schwartzie and Langer shared some stories (and a few L’chaims) and wisdom with Simcha, Avraham, and myself.

They touched on this notion of how we simply have to be who we are; no pretenses, no need for false humility or compromises, no matter where we are – even if we find ourselves on center stage at Woodstock. “Just be who you are,” Schwartzie later reminded me. “We don’t have to be pushy… just stay warm and open. If we’re a light, others will automatically come closer.” I no longer feared taking that stage myself. Seeing how these two incredible rabbis related so remarkably well to the throngs of people, was a clear demonstration to me that there was absolutely no need for worry. We all said a quick L’chaim and the rabbi added: “Besides, as a shliach of the Rebbe, the tsaddik yesod olam, you go with the Rebbe’s strength and blessings.”

While our song list didn’t change, my attitude did a 180. Rather than worry about how we’d be received, instead I focused on that fact that we were indeed exactly where we were supposed to be. Avraham and I were at Woodstock not for our own personal gains but to reach out with the warmth and beauty of Yiddushkeit – all through the magic of music. Although we didn’t have the “official credentials” and weren’t on any Chabad payroll per se, nonetheless, I felt that Avraham and I were truly shluchim of the Rebbe. It was high time to see what the Boss had in store for us.” And for our 30,000 new fans.

We were given a 30 minute slot so we figured we had time for five or six tunes. We decided that I would back up Avraham on drums for the first few songs, and we both play guitar for my tunes. In the middle of the second song a young woman came up on stage and started yelling something into my left ear. It was totally impossible to hear one word since the sound system was in high gear and I was also concentrating on staying in the beat for Avraham’s music. I quickly motioned for her to wait. I realized that she hadn’t been yelling out of anger or anything, as she had this big smile on her face.

Avraham finished his song to cheers and shouts for more.

“I was in my tent,” she said when I could actually hear her. “And I think I’m hearing Jewish music. So I think I must be on some psychedelic trip!”

I could only laugh in response.

“So I came out of my tent,” she continued raising both hands up to her shoulders, “and I see two Jewish guys on stage singing Jewish music… so I know I’m on a psychedelic trip!”

We both laughed some more and I asked her what her Hebrew name was.

“Chaya,” she answered. “But I haven’t been called that in years. So what’s a nice Jewish guy like you doing in a place like this?”

“We’re here for the nice Jewish people like you!” I said as Avraham motioned for me to get ready for the next song. “And well… to play some music. Hope you like it!”

As a result of our 30 minutes of glory on Woodstock’s main stage, we were able to connect with many Jews and Gentiles as well. Some came up to tell us how proud they were to hear some music with a Jewish feel. Others told us that they related to us since music “is the language of the soul.” Just weeks later after the festival we had a special visitor for some of the Tishrei meals. It was none other than Chaya, who has become a close friend over the years. She slowly began reconnecting with her Jewish roots.

But a big part of our success was watching Rabbis Schwartzie and Langer in action. I will never forget how they stood on that stage at Woodstock and, with this rare combination of confidence and humility, related to each and every person in that crowd. Despite looking very Hassidic, their message of love, respect, and living life with purpose resonated with one and all.

Before we left Woodstock and headed back to camp, the rabbis told me to “carry on and rock the world.”

It’s an impossible act to follow, but even if we follow a little bit in Rabbi Schwarzie and Langer’s footsteps, good things are in store.