“The task was to portray the frenzy of the weekday in contrast to the menuchah and kedushah of Shabbos”
“Sometimes when things are common, we take them for granted,” Shwekey reflects on his attachment to the theme. “Yet Hashem told Moshe Rabbeinu that Shabbos is the greatest gift in the world. Today we are so reliant on technology and gadgetry, that if it weren’t for Shabbos we would never be able to have true tranquility and connection to who we really are. About 15 years ago, I went to a very great person in Eretz Yisrael and asked him for a brachah. He told me the greatest blessing you can get in your life is if you start Shabbos early even by a few minutes.”
Fellow composer Hershy Weinberger had already been enlisted and had the germ of an idea playing around with the words “Baruch Hashem it’s Shabbos” — and with such infectious enthusiasm, Waldner got on board.
Their teamwork paid off. This Erev Shabbos Nachamu marks the release of Shwekey’s new single, “BARUCH HASHEM IT’S SHABBOS,” accompanied by a creative music video that showcases some superb video techniques and innovations.
The theme of the song is the moment when the world stops and lets us off: sundown on Friday, when every Jew can step off the hamster wheel of the daily grind and head into another realm. Shabbos not only takes us there, but actually transforms who we are, so that blue-collar, white-collar, oily hands or floury apron or busy key-tapping fingers suddenly become suit-or-beketshe clad, shtreimel-or-hat crowned nobility. Our minds, occupied on weekdays with the minutiae of numbers and logistics and measurements, become meditative and mellowed, absorbed in prayer, Torah, and uplifting song.
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