Jacqui Sussholz, a diamond dealer in Antwerp, Belgium wasn’t satisfied just being a successful businessman. He had dreams of being an entertainer. His 1990 3-CD album, “Yiddish is Forever” is based on his popular one-man show. It is filled with Yiddish humor and song.

The performance “bug” bit him when he was a young child and his grandmother gave him a violin. For a time, in his youth, he embraced Hassidism and the disciplines of a way of life that seeks contact with God through joy in song and dance, and this is reflected in the intensity of his singing. A multi-linguist, he has lived in at least five different countries, but always in his heart has been a fondness for Yiddish and Yiddish music. “These songs should be sung, not wailed”, he has said, “My style is soul with passion – I express the spirit of traditional songs, but in arrangements that are modern and exciting.”

Yiddish is Forever is a celebration of Yiddishkeit that makes you feel good to be Jewish. “And if you’re not Jewish?” Jacquie laughs, “It makes you feel good anyway!”