The House of Love and Prayer: A Radical Jewish Experiment in San Francisco Main Menu A Brief History of the House of Love and Prayer The history of the House of Love and Prayer Carlebach and Controversy A note regarding the allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against Shlomo Carlebach Everyday Life at the House of Love and Prayer A Path that examines key elements of everyday life at the House of Love and Prayer Life Magazine Wedding A House of Love and Prayer wedding in Golden Gate Park, featured in Life Magazine in 1969. The Holy Beggars' Gazette An archive of the Holy Beggars' Gazette Global Offshoots of the House of Love and Prayer Photo Gallery A photo gallery from the House of Love and Prayer, 1968-1978 Acknowledgements

Financial Difficulties and Fundraising

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In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the House of Love and Prayer was the only Jewish outreach program focused on young adults in San Francisco that was unable to secure a constant source of funding from the local Jewish Federation. Mainstream Jewish institutions felt that the House threatened the Jewish communities’ norm, which, at the time, was mainly to promote Israel education and Holocaust memorial projects.[1] They were largely disinterested in funding a project that involved young Jewish Hippies taking on Orthodox practices.
 
Furthermore, the House had no formal relationships with other Jewish institutions in the city. Anshey Sfard, an Orthodox synagogue on Clement Street, near the House’s first location, was the only community welcoming of the House and its unique brand of Judaism, as exemplified by occasional visits from Anshey Sfard’s rabbi to the House. Aside from Anshey Sfard, one of the only semi-partnerships that took place was a one-off event at Temple Emanu-El (now Congregation Emanu-El) invited Shlomo to visit their community to sing songs; on occasion, people from Emanu-El wandered over to the House to see what was happening there, purely out of curiosity. (Coincidentally, the first House was one block away from Temple Emanu-El.) 

Since they had no support from the larger Jewish communities of the Bay Area, the financial struggles of the House were quite real. For example, every month they struggled to come up with their rent. Most who lived at the House didn’t have a paying professional job, to either help with rent or food. A typical monthly scenario was as follows: On the first day of every month, Aryae Coopersmith or Elia Succot, the co-leaders of the House, would go to the bank to see how much money they had in the House account, hoping that by some miracle there would be enough money to cover the rent. Surprisingly, every month there would be just enough to pay the rent and keep the House alive. To this day, they don’t know who put money into the bank account or even how it got there.

            The mystery donor/s aside, most of the funding for the House came from a biannual fundraising campaign that often netted as much as $10,000.[2] The campaign largely consisted of a mail campaign, with letters sent out to Jews in the Bay Area and beyond. With the money, they paid rent or mortgage, bought food, or purchased books for the House Yeshiva library. The success of these campaigns showed members of the House that although they had no support from mainstream Jewish institutions, there were individuals who supported their efforts.
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[1] Interview with member of the House of Love and Prayer, April 2017.
[2] Yaakov Ariel, “Hasidism in the Age of Aquarius: The House of Love and Prayer in San Francisco, 1967-1977” in Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation, Volume 13, No. 2 (2003), 139-165.

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  1. Everyday Life at the House of Love and Prayer Oren Kroll-Zeldin

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