New York, NY – He’s the Jewish Johnny Cash.
But instead of singing for a raucous crowd of inmates at Folsom Prison, as Cash famously did in 1968, Orthodox Jewish singer Yaakov Shwekey was the headline act for a group of about 60 non-inmates invited into a Manhattan jail to celebrate the bar mitzvah of a prisoner’s son last December.
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The bar mitzvah boy — whose dad is former fugitive fraudster Tuvia Stern — “was happy” at the Dec. 30 event in the Tombs, Shwekey told The Post.
“[But] you could tell it was rough on the family with the father being in jail.”
A major macher in Jewish recording circles, the 31-year-old, Jerusalem-born Shwekey came out with his first album, “Shomati,” in 2001.
Last year, he kicked things up a notch with his eighth album, “Shwekey — Live in Caesaria.”
He said he did the unorthodox jailhouse gig at the Tombs — for free — after being asked by a friend of a friend of Stern’s.
Shwekey said he had never met Stern until the day he shook his hand in the lockup.
“I was asked to come and give my services, and I went. That’s why God gave me this gift,” said Shwekey yesterday at his home in Long Branch, NJ.
“I try to use my talent to uplift people.
“It didn’t really concern me, the situation. I was there for the family. I didn’t find it unusual.”
But unlike normal bar mitzvahs — that is, ones not held in jail — which are typically happy affairs, the party for Stern’s son began on a solemn note, according to Shwekey.
Guests in the Tombs’ visiting house were apparently feeling restrained by the grim surroundings.
So Shwekey and his band tried to lighten the mood with several upbeat songs, which he said got the crowd loosened up.
But he also trotted out one of his most famous numbers, “Racheim,” whose lyrics are a prayer asking God for mercy.
“It’s a sad song,” Shwekey said.
The crooner said he was surprised yesterday by the furor over news that a bar mitzvah was allowed in the downtown lockup as a favor to an inmate.
“We didn’t think we were doing anything wrong,” Shwekey said.
“I would never do something that was illegal or wrong. I just focus on the uplifting.”
In every story, there are good people involved.This is one of the good ones. Good Shabbos To All!
what wromg can there be in singing in a Jail? maybe the organizers did something wrong, but not the participents.
and one thing for sure, wrong or not, he has a big Zechus. thank you Shweky, may you be zoche to be Mesameiach more and more Jews!
just 1 question…where were the Askonim?
Why wasn’t this mini concert banned!
shwekey you rock. may Hashem give you much Brochas and Nachas.
the bottom line is anyone who’s so irate about this story is subconsciously jealous of this man. here’s a man who’s in prison and he manages to pull this off, do you know what kind of person can pull that off? a man with an awesome personality who everyone loves his family his friends prison warden prison guards etc.. they all love him he’s smoothness par excellence. and everyone is jealous who wouldn’t die to have a personality like that? so thats where bashing and the jealousy comes in
[Simply] Avraham Fried and Mordechai Ben David. Thats a fact.!!!
Shwekey is the king of all the singers that came out with in the past 5 years ? Like Dovid Gay [who wishes he can be Shwekey and Shwekey wishes he can be like Avraham Fried].
Anyways bottom line is they all look up to the [2] kings and [try to] copy everything they do.
Good Shabbos !!!!!