Even as a child, he showed interest in cantorial music, preferring to listen to greats such as Yossele Rosenblatt rather than play with toys.
[3] He attended Yeshiva Torah Vodaath, where he received weekly leave to go to the radio studio for his show, so long as he returned in time for the next study session.
Part of Shenker's job was to write musical notation for Taub, including early drafts of unrecorded compositions.
[8] Neginah eventually recorded a total of ten albums, including the most important songs in the traditional Modzitz repertoire, as well as Rabbi Taub's later works and many of Shenker's own 500-plus compositions.
[2] Shenker's personal tape library of over 600 cassettes and reel is held at the Institute for Preservation and Documentation of Modzitz Music[4] Though Hasidic songs starting in the late 20th century began to absorb American popular music styles, Shenker's songs are fully rooted in ancient Hasidic tradition, and show little American influence.
[2] On the other hand, his influence extended outwards, to the Klezmer scene (secular Ashkenazi music), and to recordings by Itzhak Perlman, Andy Statman, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
[3][10] Two songs in particular became global Sabbath meal standards (even in Sephardic homes, unusual for Ashkenazi material):[3] Eishes Chayil (1946) on Friday nights, and variations of his Mizmor LeDovid (Psalm 23, 1953) on Saturday afternoons.
[1] Statman described the melodies as powerful enough to purify and to reach the stars, and Shenker's mastery of music color and ornamentation as incredible.
[6] For his shloshim (ritual event on the 30th day of passing), Cantor Chaim Dovid Berson of New York's Jewish Center and musicians Shim Craimer and Yitzy Spinner performed some of Shenker's work.
On February 27, 2022, Ben Zion Schenker was posthumously inducted with the inaugural class of the Jewish Music Hall of Fame.