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Why The Shvesters Are One of the Best Jewish Music Groups in the World
The Shvesters, Chava Levi and Polina Fradkin. Photo: provided.
There are times when a concert is so good, you close your eyes and marvel in meditative greatness. But when I saw The Shvesters at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan on March 20, I kept my eyes open — because my experience was something far better than I could have imagined, and brought me back to nostalgic highlights of my youth.
Singing mostly Yiddish covers, along with Hebrew ones and some English songs thrown in, the Shvesters stand out for their vocal excellence. Chava Levi and Polina Fradkin, who live in Israel, make it look easy. A friend of mine noted that singers on TikTok sometimes don’t translate to the stage. The Shvesters own the stage with nothing more than their voices and a piano player — in this case a talented Moshe Elyakim, who lives in Brooklyn and is Israeli.
“This is the kind of music I love,” Elyakim told me in an interview. “Jazz, Jewish and fun.”
Wearing classic blue dresses, The Shvesters showed meticulous attention to dynamics, diction, chord changes, and creative introductions to songs. You may have heard Simon Cowell on American Idol say that someone doing a cover should “make it their own.” This group has no problem doing that; in fact, it’s their forte.
The highlight of the show was Levi’s interlude in “Eishet Chail” or “Woman of Valor,” where she lets it rip with her soaring vocals. The tearjerker, “Eli, Eli” or My God,” My God,” contains the words of Hannah Szenes, who was killed by the Nazis when she was only 23.
The harmonies of The Shvesters are airtight and magical. “A Yiddishe Mama” made me think of my own mother, while “Oyfyn Pripetshik” and “Tumbalalaika” made me think of my Nana who sang those to me before I would go off to Camp Ramah in West Nyack, New York.
From a vocal standpoint, this is one of the most flawless Jewish music groups you will see. While some may have wished they danced, or did original tunes, that is simply not what they do. Fradkin also displayed her comedic chops. In between songs, she noted that someone stayed late at a recent show and asked if they could bring an inhaler to Israel for their relative. She also quipped that someone wanted to set their grandfather up with her grandmother, and others wanted to set the two of them up (none are single).
Sean Leviashvili of Manhattan said he was greatly moved by the concert.
“My grandmother sang Yiddish to me, and she passed away 12 years ago,” he told me in an interview for this article. “This was the first time since then that I felt like she was with me.”
Alexandra Sapozhkinov celebrated her 95th birthday with family members at the show. Born in Romania, she told me, through a translator, that she loved all of the songs.
The Shvesters also performed a beautiful rendition of the Israeli classic “Kalaniyot.” One of my favorite songs is “Mi Haish?” or “Who Is The Man?/Who is The Person?” and I was floored by some harmonies I didn’t expect.
Radkin explained before the song that the words tell you how to be a good person, like avoiding “Lashon hara,” or evil speech.
The Shvesters are excellent from a technical aspect, but their best quality is that they sing with emotion, as if they are channeling the great traditions and memories of the past, directly into your hearts and ears. In a time when Jewish pride is sometimes lacking on college campuses, The Shvesters should immediately have a college tour.
A great concert, like a great movie, hugs you like a warm coat, long after the final frame or note. That is certainly true of the performance of The Shvesters.
The group is recording an album, and will no doubt have other tours and shows. You should go, bring them to your synagogue, or just share with your friends to celebrate Jewish pride and Jewish music.
The author is a writer, based in New York.
The post Why The Shvesters Are One of the Best Jewish Music Groups in the World first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.