Last month, a new documentary about Shlomo Carlebach titled The Darkest Light was released. The film explores Rabbi Carlebach’s extraordinary musical and spiritual legacy while directly confronting allegations of sexual abuse made by numerous women. A central voice in the film is his daughter, singer Neshama Carlebach, who openly grapples with the painful and conflicting aspects of her father’s story.

The documentary has renewed attention on allegations that have lingered for decades. Because Carlebach passed away in 1994, there was never a legal proceeding to formally adjudicate these claims. That leaves each of us—and our communities—to wrestle with the available testimony and decide how to respond.

When new details emerge about figures whose work we have loved, we are forced to ask some tough ethical questions: Can we separate the artist from the art? Does enjoying the music imply we endorse the person who wrote it? And once we learn something deeply troubling about a creator, does it permanently change what the art means to us?

There are no easy answers.

On one hand, many feel that once a piece of art enters the world, it takes on a life independent of its creator. Carlebach’s melodies, for instance, are now deeply woven into the fabric of Jewish prayer. In many synagogues, worshippers singing Mizmor L’David or Am Yisrael Chai aren’t thinking about Carlebach at all; the tunes simply feel like part of........

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