From the good life in Alabama to prison in Yemen, from being a shepherd to an arborist, and from Transcendental Meditation to Chabad/Carlebach/Yemeni spiritual Jewish observance, Simcha Yosef Chaim shared with me a few stories from his fascinating life.
Simcha Yosef Chaim shared how to overcome an intense fear (14 minutes), how to defend oneself with confidence (15:30), parenting advice (48), and about the consciousness of Gd that trees in Israel have (43).
The language spoken by Yemeni Jews is a Yemeni dialect of Judeo-Arabic. At this time, there are no Jews living in Yemen (except the women who had been forced to marry Yemenite men, and their children.) But in previous generations, Simcha Yosef Chaim told me, Jews were highly respected in Yemen — non-Jews were afraid that if a Jew cursed them, they would die.
When speaking about his visit, Simcha Yosef Chaim mentioned the grave of the famous Yemeni poet Shalom Shabazi. There is a street in Nachlaot named after him.
His website is https://www.treesurgeon.co.il. You can email him at jerusalemtreesurgeon@gmail.com .
You can see him dancing/shuckling in these 2 Shlomo Carlebach videos: Two Stories and Motzei Shabbes Nachamu. Catch him on stage at a Yahrzeit event for Rabbi Carlebach here.
Share this post