Watch below as Yaakov Shweky stuns the crowd in Tel aviva during Chol Hamoid Sukkos 5778.
As a child, he sang in the Ateret Yosef Choir in Mexico City and he and his brother Yisroel Meir sang with the Miami Boys Choir for a short period of time. As a young man, Shwekey learned in Rabbi Menachem Davidowitz’s yeshiva (TIUNY) in Rochester, NY.[2] He launched his professional career as a singer after his marriage.
Shwekey is a singer and his music and songs are composed by others. His albums until late 2015 were produced by Yochi Briskman, and distributed in the US by Aderet Music, and in Israel by JMI. Going forward, he has produced his own albums with Yitzy Waldner. His current musical director is Rafi Greidi. Many different arrangers have arranged his albums in the past including Moshe Laufer, Mona Rosenblum, Yanky Briskman, Leib Yaakov Rigler, and Yisroel Lamm. Until 2006 Shwekey’s primary studio was “Studio X” (run by Yochi Briskman, engineered by AJ Greenwald), today, some of his recording is done in his private home studio.
One of his best-known songs is “Racheim” (Have compassion), composed by Pinky Weber. The lyrics are from the Grace after meals, asking God to have mercy on the Jewish nation and the city of Jerusalem. As Shwekey describes this song, “It’s a prayer. It’s not just a song. We connect with G-d and ask Him to have mercy”.[citation needed] In 2008/2009 Vehi She’omdah, composed by Yonatan Razel and debuted on his Live in Caesaria concert DVD, and later rerecorded on Ad Bli Dai became a major hit. Many of his songs, including “Shomati” (from the Talmud) composed by Yossi Green and “Im Eshkacheich”, from Psalms 137, have found considerable popularity as Jewish wedding songs. His latest hits are: “Cry No More”, “Ra’u Banim”, “Bo’ee Be’shalom”, “Lo Ya’avod”, “Am Yisrael”, and “Et Rekod”, among others. From his latest album We are a Miracle, “inshalla” is making some waves. He sang a song for the Israeli soldiers in the Nokia Stadium, Tel Aviv in 2013.