Rabbi Menachem Shwekey z"l, father of singers, Yaakov and Yosef Chaim Shwekey, passed away on Purim. For years, Rabbi Shwekey lived in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem and later emigrated to New Jersey, USA. In a conversation with Hassidic singer Lipa Schmeltzer, Yaakov Shweki eulogized his father: "When we sang Shabbat songs, we used to sing all kinds of melodies; Sephardi, Ashkenazi, Hassidic – my father always had the next song ready, but his songs always suited all tunes and ethnicities. We never knew what the next part of the song meant to him." "Now we will continue the same traditions in his memory. We are walking on the bridge to get to the next place and to bring people together from different places." "My father passed away on a day when there is no halachic mourning, on a day when we eat meat and drink wine. We have to be happy. That's how my father lived his life, full of joy and faith." The funeral was held at noon at the Eretz HaChaim Cemetery in Beit Shemesh.
