NEW YORK (VINnews/Sandy Eller) – A day after his tragic death in Meron, Shragee Gestetner is being remembered as someone who walked away from a promising career in the Jewish music world to focus on higher priorities.
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As reports bearing the names of the Lag B’Omer fatalities began circulating last night, Monsey resident Shragee Gestetner’s was among the first to surface.
The 33 year old father of six was originally from Montreal and attended the local Skverer yeshiva before moving on to learn in New Square, settling in Monsey after his marriage. A rising star in the Jewish music world who had headlined concerts, sang at weddings and also composed original music, Gestetner’s 2017 self-titled debut album was highly acclaimed but as the months passed, he realized that family was more important than fame.
“He told me he couldn’t do it anymore,” Gershy Moskowitz, who co-produced Gestetner’s album, told VIN News. “He saw that singing was taking away from his family and he wanted to be a father to his kids and a husband to his wife.”
After walking away from the spotlight, Gestetner began waking up at 4 AM every morning to learn and took upon himself not to speak from the moment he walked into shul each day. He founded a company called Vant, whose product line includes upholstered leather wall panels to take the place of conventional headboards which can be noisy and damage walls.
“He changed his life around like crazy,” said Moskowitz. “How many times did I call him to sing here and there and he would tell me ‘I’m not doing this anymore. I have the Torah and my family.’”
Moskowitz recalled his last conversation with Gestetner which took place in Monsey’s Evergreen just before Pesach.
“He told me he didn’t miss the days of going places for Pesach, saying if you can stay home with family, that’s the best thing you can do,” recalled Moskowitz.