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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.
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Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
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Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
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Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
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