From Scotland to Cedarhurst: songs with dedication

The first thing you notice when you talk to singer Sholom Jacobs is the accent.
I couldn’t quite place it. Perhaps English? A bit South African maybe?
I was wrong on both counts. The son of Chabad shluchim, Jacobs, 33, was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, where he began his musical career as a child singing in shul, school choirs and concerts ran by his father. Jacobs left Scotland at 16, spending three years learning in an Israeli yeshiva before finally settling in New York.
While Jacobs’ home is in Cedarhurst, his music has taken him to many exotic destinations. Not only has Jacobs served as the chazzan for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur at Chabad of Long Island, he has also taken the amud on the Yomim Noraim in Glasgow at the Giffnok and Newlands Hebrew Congregation, the largest Orthodox synagogue in Scotland, where he was accompanied by a ten man choir. Jacobs has performed in conventional and off the beaten path venues, including numerous concerts in Poland and England.
“I try to bring music to places that can’t afford the big shows,” Jacobs said. “A lot of places don’t have fifteen to twenty thousand dollars for a concert, but for just a fraction of the cost we can bring beautiful Jewish music to people who can’t afford the big names.”
Jacobs’ first album, a collaborative effort with fellow musician Aryeh Pearlman came about after the pair did a kumzitz together in England.
“I had been working on a solo album for a while,” Jacobs said. “Aryeh and I had been singing together for years. We sang at a hotel in England and someone suggested we do a duet album. We released Pi Shnayim, a collection of Yossi Green songs with music by Moshe Laufer, in 2005.”
Two years later, Jacobs released another album, titled A Gut Yohr. Arranged by Avram Zamist, it features selections highlighting the music of Shabbos and the Yomim Tovim.
Jacobs, producer of the album as well as one of the vocalists, described it as “songs of our past, with the voices of our future,” and in fact, several singers in the album have since made Jewish music albums, including Eitan Katz, Jonathan Shlagbaum and Yumi Lowy.
This past year found Jacobs, not only traveling all across the United States performing at Shabbatons and concerts, but in Scotland and Poland as well. In fact, this was the third time that Jacobs, together with Zamist, has gone back to Poland to perform. Jacobs has never gone to visit any of the former concentration camps in Poland, saying he prefers to inspire the living. He estimates that there are approximately six to eight thousand Jews living in Poland.
Jacobs and Zamist are already working on a Chanukah tour for next winter and so far, it looks like the Jewish community of either Argentina or Russia will be hearing the music.
“Having worked and performed with Sholom for over 10 years, I can truly say that he is one of the most dedicated, professional artists I have ever worked with,” Zamist said. “Whether performing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin or Krakow, Poland, Sholom brings an energy that audiences simply fall in love with. His unique and warm voice adds to his performances and recordings alike.” 
Jacobs is now hard at work on his third album under the direction of producer and Cedarhurst neighbor Avi Newmark. The album, which aims to inspire, features a number of moving English songs: one about an autistic child, another in honor of Jacobs’ parents and all the Chabad shluchim in remote locations and the third song is dedicated in memory of nine-year-old Levi Yitzchak Wolowik, son of the Five Towns shluchim, who passed away unexpectedly two years ago.
Jacobs is hoping to see the album in stores sometime around next Chanukah.

Sandy Eller is a freelance writer who has written for various newspapers, magazines and websites in addition to having written song lyrics and scripts for several full scale productions. She can be contacted at sandyeller1@gmail.com.