Explainer: Eurovision Contest (6:12)
…event and Israel’s participation competing and hosting; examines why Tel-Aviv was chosen over Jerusalem to host the festival; and covers attempts by the BDS movement to generate controversy and protests….
Cultural Diversity in Israel’s Music Scene: Aveva Dese, a Rising Star
Aveva Dese, an Ethiopian-Israeli singer & songwriter, is a rising star in Israel’s music scene. Many of her songs are in Amharic (official language of Ethiopia) and represent a greater trend of Israeli musicians performing in various diasporic-Jewish languages spoken by members of their families and communities.
Jewish Liturgical Music from Muslim Lands: Piyyutim and Pop Culture in Israel
By Dr. Eli Sperling Representative of a greater resurgence of Judeo-Arabic music in Israel, the piyyut movement is continuing to spread throughout religious and secular segments of Israeli culture and society. Piyyut, the Hebrew word…
Eli Sperling — Evolution of Israeli Culture and Society (video, 1:02:00)
Upon its inception, Zionism needed more than political and financial solutions to actualize a Jewish home in Palestine. The architects of the Zionist enterprise evolved a cultural identity along with state structures. Its dynamism is still evolving from the diversity of its populations’ origins. see also his excellent Development of Israeli Culture (2018).
College Syllabus: “History of Modern Israel”
“History of Modern Israel” Kenneth W. Stein, Introductory Level (Seminar or General), Emory University, Spring 2016 This undergraduate lecture course focuses on the history, politics, society, economics and culture of modern Israel. It traces the…
College Syllabus: “The Struggle for Israeli Identity”
“The Struggle for Israeli Identity” Nahum Karlinsky, Graduate Seminar, Ben-Gurion University, Spring 2016 We start by outlining the construction of Israel’s collective identity during the state’s formative years. We then discuss the shattering of that…
Arts & Culture College
“Israeli Society and Politics” HIST 385 – junior/senior lecture Spring 2012 Semester – Yaron Ayalon View Syllabus The State of Israel was founded in 1948. For Jews, it was the fulfillment of a 2000-year long…
Arts & Culture Grades 9-12
Building the State Before the State: Keren Hayesod Posters, 1942 Participation in community requires certain obligations and duties. Holocaust Memory in Israel Remembering without vengeance
Arts & Culture Grades 6-8
Background/History of Hatikva The creation of State of Israel must be understood in the context of Jewish history Biblical Origins The choice to engage in the Brit (covenant) forms lasting attitudes toward our Jewish peoplehood,…
Arts & Culture Grades K-2
Israel Through Art Environment A. Geology of Israel influences artistic expression. B. Our homes have emotional connections which influence artistic expression. The Ethiopian Immigrant Experience The journey from Ethiopia to Israel was difficult and dangerous.
Arts and Culture Grades 3-5
Background/History of Hatikva The creation of State of Israel must be understood in the context of Jewish history Building the State Before the State: Keren Hayseed Posters, 1942 Participation in community requires certain obligations and…
Arts & Culture College Syllabi
Israeli Society and Politics”HIST 385 – junior/senior lectureSpring 2012 Semester – Yaron AyalonView SyllabusThe State of Israel was founded in 1948. For Jews, it was the fulfillment of a 2000-year long dream to return to…
Arts and Culture Grades 3-5
Background/History of HatikvaThe creation of the State of Israel must be understood in the context of Jewish history Building the State Before the State: Keren Hayseed Posters, 1942Participation in community requires certain obligations and duties….
1999 – Untitled, Adi Nes
This carefully staged photograph by Adi Nes (b.1966) references Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Last Supper. These soldiers, caught in the vortex of a conflict over which they have no control, put their lives on the…
1957 – In the Courtyard of the Third Temple, Naftali Bezem
Naftali Bezem (1924-2018) won the Dizengoff Prize for this work, now housed at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. He painted it in response to the murder of citizens living in Kfar Kassem in the…
1947 – Children of the Diaspora, Zeev Ben-Zvi
Israel’s first Holocaust memorial stands at Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, associated with one of the youth movements that led the resistance in the Warsaw ghetto. The kibbutz members built the monument themselves under the guidance of…
Jewish Cultural Life in Palestine, 1944-1945
Gerda Luft’s, “Cultural Life in Palestine,” is representative of the dozens of excellent analyses of Jewish life and politics in Palestine/Israel and the world located in the annual Palestine Yearbooks, later the Israel Yearbook, published from 1945 forward.
1906-1914 — Triple Arch Bezalel Rug: Abraham’s Tamarisk, Mount Sinai and Herzl’s Cypress
One of the first departments Boris Schatz (1866-1932) created at Bezalel was rug weaving. This rug, part of the collection of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, typifies that production with its unique design and…
1896 — Mattiyahu, Boris Schatz
Boris Schatz (1866-1932) is the father of Israeli art. Lithuanian born, he studied in Paris and was influenced by the Russian Jewish sculptor Mark Antokolsky. The drama and strength with which Schatz depicts the father…
Composer Andre Hajdu Dies
August 1, 2016 Andre Hajdu, a prolific composer and ethnomusicologist, dies at age 84 in Jerusalem. Hajdu was born in Hungary on March 5, 1932. After displaying an early aptitude for music and the arts,…
Actress Orna Porat Dies
August 6, 2015 Stage and screen actress Orna Porat dies at age 91 in Tel Aviv. She was born Irene Klein, a German Christian, near Cologne in 1924. She turned toward atheism and socialism in…
Filmmaker Avraham Heffner Dies
September 19, 2014 Actor, screenwriter, director and producer Avraham Heffner dies at age 79 in Tel Aviv. He was born in Haifa in 1935 and served in the Nahal army band during his time in…
Singer Arik Einstein Dies at 74
November 26, 2013 Arik Einstein, one of Israel’s most beloved singers and songwriters, dies of an aortic aneurysm in Tel Aviv at age 74. The national outpouring of grief includes a gathering of thousands of…
Musician Shmulik Kraus Dies
February 17, 2013 Shmulik Kraus dies from swine flu in Tel Aviv at age 77 after a long career as one of Israel’s most influential musicians. Kraus was born in Jerusalem on July 1, 1935,…
