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Greetings!
As we start a new year with renewed energy, we hope to welcome 2015 with a song in our heart. We therefore dedicate this issue to Israeli music past and present. Music has a direct path to the heart and with its richness and diversity presents many teaching opportunities. We hope you take the time to explore the many resources we present to you, and share them with your students and community.
In this issue we bring you a glimpse into the transformation of Shirey Moledet (Songs for the Homeland), Israeli music resources available online, local musicians/educators, and upcoming music events.
We have many other resources, online and for rent, that we are eager to share with you. Please contact us with any requests or questions.
We hope you enjoy and use these resources and we encourage you to forward them to colleagues and friends.
Best wishes,
Ilan and Vavi
Israel Education Initiative
Jewish LearningWorks
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 Shirey Moledet
Songs for the Homeland
Israeli popular music has come a long way since the early days of Shirey Moledet (songs for the homeland). Dating from the 1920's and on, these songs were mostly written by people who were not born in Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel), but who adopted her as their homeland. Typically written and sung by immigrants, filled with verve and ideology, in solidarity and as a collective voice, they sing the homeland's praise, addressing her in the female form. "We Love You Moledet (Homeland)". These early Shirey Moledet helped forge a new identity for Jews in Eretz Yisrael and later helped shape the profile of the mythical Tzabar (Israeli born).
In the canon of this genre one song stands out - Morning Song (Shir Boker) written in 1935 by Natan Alterman and Daniel Samborsky. Lyrics in Hebrew and English
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Morning Song - Shiru Shir Havura
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Many songs written since then could fall under the category of Shirey Moledet, and yet it is fascinating to see what kind of transformation took place. Here are a few songs to check out and explore:
There's no Turning Back (Ein kvar derech chazara)
Yoram Teharlev, Yair Rosenblum, 1968
Written for the Navy Troupe
Lyrics in Hebrew and English
I Have No Other Country (Ein li eretz acheret)
Ehud Manor, Korin Alal, 1982
Sung by Gali Atari
Lyrics in Hebrew and English
All Your Wonders Are Not Over (Od lo tamu kol pla'a'yich)
Rami Kleinstein, 1985
Written for the Northern Army Division Entertainment Troupe
Lyrics in Hebrew and English
Here (Kan)
Uzi Chitman,1991
Sung by Orna and Moshe Satz
Received third place in the Eurovision Song Contest
Lyrics in Hebrew and English
Only Here (Rak po)
Hadag Nachash, 2004
If we place Shir Boker as one bookend of this genre, we might look at "Awake, Arise" (Uri, Ur) by Aviv Geffen as the other bookend. It is almost the opposite of Shir Boker in mood and intention, but has all the elements of Shir Moledet. It expresses love for the homeland and a longing for collective and national unity: "Awake, arise beloved homeland..."
Awake, Arise (Uri Ur)
Aviv Geffen, 2000
Lyrics in Hebrew and English
Born in 1973, Aviv Geffen became the voice of Israeli youth during the 90's.
The song was chosen as the song of the year by the music academy and was heralded as "a new Shir Moledet", and it is used in Israeli high school curricula as an example.
On November 4, 1995, the Israeli peace camp arranged a rally to support the peace process. Geffen was invited to sing in that rally, and unexpectedly decided to perform "Cry for You" (Livkot Lekha), which Geffen wrote and gave to Israeli singer Arik Einstein. The lyrics had prophetically preceded the tragic assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin later that night. "Cry for You" became a kind of national anthem, and was the song that symbolized the Candle Children movement (youth who populated the Rabin's mourning site by lighting candles).
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Aviv Geffen, Awake Arise, Caesarea 2012
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And so it seems that even Shirey Moledet came a long way since the early days!
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Israeli Music Resources
Web Resources
Films about Music/Musicians
Films available at the Jewish Community Library:
Ritah G'ahan Faruz
Rita G'ahan Faruz, one of Israel most beloved singer/songwriter and world renown, immigrated to Israel from Iran with her family when she was eight years old. On the eve of her forty-ninth birthday, with enormous tension between Tehran and Jerusalem looming in the background, she records her first album in Farsi.
Catalog link
Sarit Hadad - Hagiga - Live concert in Caesarea
Catalog link
Zohar
The story of Zohar Argov, a singer who became the idol of the Israeli masses, helped catapult Mizrachi music into mainstream, and whose complex personality led to complications and conflict in his life.
Catalog link
Rita - Ahava Gedolah in Concert
Catalog link
Dudu Fisher in Concert
Catalog link
Yohoram Gaon in Concert
Catalog link
Lelakek Ta'tut - Licking the Berry
Romantic comedy with love triangles, music, and the army.
Catalog link
More Films:
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Black Over White - Tomer Heymann film Trailer
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Black Over White
The concert in Addis Ababa is not just another performance by the Idan Raichel Project, but a journey back to the homeland of two of the project's lead singers, Cabra Casay and Avi Vograss Vesa. The film raises questions about identity and seeks to reawaken the pain of immigration, which is still there even after so many years, rekindling the authenticity and bond to the place that will exist forever in their minds and hearts.
Written and directed by Tomer Heymann
More about the film
Aviv (F---ed Up Generation)
Directed by Tomer Heymann, this feature documentary follows the life of Aviv Geffen, a controversial Israeli singer whose liberal upbringing led him to refuse to serve in the Israeli military. Over the last six years, Geffen has become a spokesperson for the country's youth, and this film chronicles the rise of his career, his family roots, and how he finds the inspiration to write music.
Jericho's Echo
Jericho's Echo introduces us to some of the colorful characters of the little-known Israeli punk scene, and gives us insights into their lives through interviews, verite' scenes, and live musical footage.
More about the film
Knowledge is the Beginning
Daniel Barenboim established the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with the late Palestinian writer Edward Said in order to bring together young musicians from across the political divide in the Middle East, noting that "knowledge is just the beginning" of the tolerance and understanding they wanted to foster through music. The triumphant Ramallah concert heard here is evidence of that success.
More about the film
Channels of Rage
The film focuses on two young rap artists, Subliminal, an Israeli Jew, and Tamer Nafar, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, and focuses on their music, friendship, and their politicization as public figures. The film traces the relationship between Tamer and Subliminal, as the events of the Second Intifada unfold.
Provides an insight into the challenges of dialogue and coexistence even the best intentions cannot overcome.
Available in its entirety on YouTube
Extensive list of Israeli films about Music
from the Israel Film Center at JCC Manhattan
IMPORTANT: Some of the films contain language and situations that might not be appropriate for teens.
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Local Musicians/Educators
Shay Rachman
Music Together
Shay Rachman teaches Music classes for children (0-5) using a great mix of English & Hebrew. For the past two decades Music Together has been one of the leading music programs in the US performing as a standalone educational musical platform in collaboration with local schools. This internationally recognized early childhood program pioneered the concept of a research-based curriculum that strongly emphasizes adult involvement. Music Together has recently added a Hebrew Component.
Shay is a singer-songwriter, born on a Kibbutz in Northern Israel, with a B.A. in Music and Communications from the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and is currently living, playing, and teaching in Palo Alto, California.
Lior Ben-Hur
Musician and Educator 
Born and raised in Jerusalem, Lior Ben-Hur has traveled all over the world where he spent time learning, performing and sharing experiences with musicians and artists. His band, Sol Tevel performs regularly in San Francisco.
Lior Ben-Hur offers a variety of educational and musical programs for every age group. In the past 10 years Lior has worked with numerous Hebrew schools, day schools, congregations, Hillel houses and camps, and has experience working with kids, college students and adults.
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Local Events
Shlomo Gronich Piano Perforamnce
Shlomo Gronich is known as a multi-faceted artist - a composer of classical and folk music, a singer, an arranger and lyricist, as well as a composer of music for cinema, theater and dance.
Saturday, February 14
Palo Alto JCC
Asaf Avidan
 | | Asaf Avidan "Reckoning Song" |
While Asaf Avidan has drawn comparisons to Janis Joplin, Jeff Buckley and Nina Simone, he possesses a voice that is utterly singular. As London's The Independent recently put it, "If you haven't heard Avidan's music, prepare to be astounded."
Wednesday, February 18
Thursday, February 19
Doors: 7PM, Show: 8 PM (21+)
Bimbo's 365 Club, 1025 Columbus Ave, San Francisco
Diwan Saz West Coast Premier
 | | Diwan saz concert 2014 Jerusalem |
Direct from Israel, Diwan Saz is a Jewish-Muslim-Christian ensemble performing a rich variety of music from throughout the Middle East. Featuring virtuosic performances of piyutim, or Jewish liturgical poems, Turkish folk songs, Rumi-inspired compositions and Bedouin folksongs by a 14-year old prodigious singer.
Saturday, March 14 at 8:30 pm
First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison Street, Oakland
The Jewish Music Festival presents its 30th anniversary and final season February 26-March 22, 2015 in Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco Tickets on sale from January 10.
TICKETS: Tickets are $28 general admission / $24 seniors (65+), full-time students and JCC East Bay members.
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