Sheya Mendlowitz had an unusual knack for recognizing the talent in a singer or the potential of a song

I was just getting started in the Jewish music business, when I was trying to recall who wrote the song, “Ki Lecha Tov Lehodos” and on which album it originally appeared before it made the rounds. So I called Rabbi Eli Teitelbaum, as he was extremely knowledgeable about all things music, and he directed me to a certain eighth-grade boy who was in Yeshiva Torah Temimah at that time. “If anyone would know,” he told me, “it’s him. His name is Sheya Mendlowitz.”

That evening, I called the Mendlowitz house, asked for Sheya, and posed my question to him. He replied smoothly, “Clei Zemer Orchestra, Side A, Song 1.” He wouldn’t let me hang up until he told me who composed the song (Abie Rotenberg), who sang it (Abie, Mendy Gold, and Label Sharfman), and who the choir members were, too. That was my very first interaction with the young Sheya Mendlowitz a”h.

Several years later, when Suki and I were working on our Greatest Wedding Collection Volume 2, I came across a singer by the name of Avraham Fried. We went into the studio to record the song, “Vehu Kechassan,” and he told me that he was working on a new album with a young producer named Sheya Mendlowitz called No Jew Will Be Left Behind. At that point, who but Sheya walks into the studio, and from that moment on, we became great friends. This friendship eventually led to our partnership on many projects, beginning with the HASC concerts and branching out to other endeavors.

Sheya, who passed away on 12 Cheshvan last year at age 61, had an unusual knack for recognizing the talent in a singer or the potential of a song. But it was more than that: MBD told me that ever since he and Sheya connected, there were never more than a few days in which they didn’t speak on the phone, whether music-related or just to have a good laugh or schmooze. Sheya also had a great talent for putting tunes and words together. When I was working on my Torah Allstar album, there was a lively Stoliner niggun that we wanted to use, but hadn’t found the right lyrics that would work. And then, in walked Sheya. He listened, snapped his fingers and said, “Moshe Emes V’Soraso Emes.” And, indeed, we all know how that turned out.

Abie Rotenberg remembers the days when every minute of studio time was expensive, when there was no schmoozing, no kibbitzing, just straight-up work, making use of every crucial moment. Not so with Sheya. He would bring donuts and encourage conversation and camaraderie between the performers. Because studio costs notwithstanding, creating positive energy would yield a better product. Abie says that when they were making Lev V’nefesh, that positive atmosphere permeated the studio and produced great results.

At one point, Sheya asked Abie Rotenberg to write a song for the children of HASC. When “Who Am I” was completed, Abie wanted MBD to sing it — but Sheya disagreed. “If you wrote the song, you’ll express it better than any other singer,” Sheya insisted as he pulled a kicking and screaming Abie to the HASC stage piano. Whoever remembers that historic performance will agree that Sheya called that one correctly.

Avi Piamenta, who together with his brother Yosi a”h made several albums with Sheya, describes him with one word: genius! It was Sheya who came up with their hit song “Asher Bara” — and he just knew from day one that it would be gigantic.

Avraham Fried says that not only did Sheya have a talent of picking winning songs, he also took songs that never really made it and turned them into big hits — songs like “Keil Hahodaos,” “Avraham Yagel,” “Hinei Ma Tov,” and many more. But what Avremel says he enjoyed most about Sheya was his sense of humor. It was impossible to be in a room with Sheya and not come out laughing. Even in the hospital, he had visitors laughing on the floor.

Rabbi Baruch Chait, who worked with Sheya on many different projects, tells me that every Thursday night after mishmar in his yeshivah, Maarava, he would have an hour drive back home. During the drive, he would put his phone on speaker and dial Sheya. Together, the two of them would discuss what was taught that night in mishmar, reminisce about the old Camp Sdei Chemed days, and discuss music-related stories. Rabbi Chait says he looked forward to that hour the entire week. In the year since Sheya’s passing, Rabbi Chait says the car rides are just not the same — and that void is shared everyone in Sheya’s life. We miss you, Sheya.

This coming Motzaei Shabbos, November 9, the Jewish Hall of Fame concert, featuring MBD, Avraham Fried, Rabbi Baruch Chait, Joey Newcomb, Yeedle, Shlomo Simcha, Yossi Green, Eli Schwebel, Meir Abittan, Yisroel Williger, Shloime Dachs and many more, will be a yahrtzeit tribute to Sheya Mendlowitz, together with a sefer Torah being given in his honor.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1035)