Menachem Mendel

NRG has an article (Hebrew) about modern Israeli songs as musical midrash on traditional Jewish sources that includes links to sources. The article is based on source sheets found at Midreshet.

Posted on April 15th, 2013 under Israel, Israeli Culture, Israeli Music, Music. Comments Off

One of the most well-known songs associated with Yom ha-Zikaron (Israeli Memorial Day) is Haim Gouri’s Bab el-Wad, known by many through the singing of Yaffa Yarkoni. The song is a powerful and moving memorial for the soldiers who fought in order to bring supplies to Jerusalem during the War of Independence through Bab el-Wad [...]

Posted on April 14th, 2013 under Israel, Israeli Culture, Israeli History, Israeli Music, Liturgy, Zionism. Comments: 2

I was recently able to see the Israeli singer Mika Karny at one of her few appearances in America and it was an inspiring evening. She and her accompanying ensemble performed modern Israeli songs that are based on Shir ha-Shirim from their new album Kol Dodi. Karny has been invited to perform at the prestigious [...]

Posted on January 11th, 2013 under Israeli Culture, Israeli Music. Comments Off

Yesterday Arik Einstein, possibly the most influential figure in the history of Israeli music, celebrated his 74th birthday. The Israeli music critic Yoav Kutner has written a post (Heb) about Einstein and his influence on Israeli music. Here are a few of his performances from numerous different time periods of his life.

Posted on January 4th, 2013 under Israel, Israeli Culture, Israeli Music, Pre-Shabbat Song. Comments Off

In 1970 Naomi Shemer wrote a song about the Israeli fortifications on the Bar-Lev Line that was influenced by the traditional

Posted on December 14th, 2012 under Hanukkah, Israel, Israeli Culture, Israeli Music, Pre-Shabbat Song. Comments: 1

On Saturday night Israel Channel Two News had a segment about the religious singer Yonatan Razel. Yonatan is a very talented singer who manages to both learn in a kollel and compose and perform songs that appeal to large numbers of Israelis. He was originally trained in classical music and has won numerous awards from [...]

Posted on December 10th, 2012 under Israel, Israeli Culture, Israeli Music, Religion in Israel. Comments: 5

The Israeli singer Mika Karny, whom I have have written about before, will be performing a number of dates in the US. Below are a list of some of the dates and locations. More info can be found here. Don’t miss this great opportunity.

Posted on December 4th, 2012 under Israel, Israeli Culture, Israeli Music. Comments Off

Recently the Israeli singer Ehud Banai was interviewed in the Israeli newspaper Maariv. It was a long interview that touched upon culture, politics, and religion. One of Banai’s comments that caught my eye was when he justified his approach towards the holiness of territory by saying that Judaism is a religion of time and not [...]

Posted on August 28th, 2012 under Israeli Culture, Israeli Music, Jewish Thought, Religion in Israel. Comments: 2

The Hebrew poet and author Lea Goldberg was born 101 years ago today, May 29, 1911. Goldberg was born in Russia and eventually received a doctorate from the University of Bonn. Goldberg was born on May 29, 1911 in the city of Königsberg, Prussia. She spent her childhood years in Kovno, Lithuania. During World War [...]

Posted on May 29th, 2012 under Hebrew, Hebrew Literature, Israeli Culture, Israeli Music. Comments: 2