Notes from Cantor Avima

Arik Einstein was one of the most beloved Israeli artists. He recorded over 500 songs and released, was featured in and collaborated on over 44 albums, far more than any other Israeli musician. He was humble, modest and a shy performer who preferred the studio to the live concert stage. His last live performance was in the 1980's, but he continued releasing albums into the 2000's. He passed away in 2013. When he died suddenly of a thoracic aortic aneurysm, his music was played for 48 hours straight. 

As with many of the most well known Israeli singers/songwriters, Arik Einstein got his musical start in the Nahal Brigade Army Band. His first solo album was released in 1959, but it was a song that was recorded in 1967, "Zemer Nugeh/A Sad Melody" with a band called "The High Windows" that brought him to the forefront. The poem was written by the famous Israeli Poet, Rahel Bluwstein. The story is told that on January 18, 2003, this became the first Israeli song to be played in space. It was the song that Colonel Ilan Ramon and his wife chose to have played to wake up the astronauts that morning.

"Will you hear my voice so far away from me, Will you hear my voice wherever you are? A strong voice praying silently over      time  sending a blessing. This country is big and has many roads, We meet for a moment and separate forever. A man tries, but his legs fail, He will never find what he has lost. My final days are very close, near is the day of good-bye tears, I will wait for you until my life ends, Like Rachel waited for her lover." Here is the song: Zemer Nugeh/A Sad Melody

Einstein left the group "The High Windows" after about a year. He particularly was unhappy that the group performed mostly in Europe and particularly in France and he felt that performing Hebrew songs for an audience that could not appreciate the nuance of the Hebrew language did not make sense. In 1970 he recorded a song which will be familiar to many of you: "Ani V'Atah/You and I". Einstein wrote the lyrics and one of his many collaborators, Miki Gavrielov wrote the music.   This optimistic song has been compared to John Lennon's "Imagine". The lyrics are:  "You and I will change the world, You and I by then all will follow,  Others have said it before me, but it doesn't matter, You and I will change the world." Ani V'Atah/You and I

This next song, "Atur Mitzchech/Your Forehead is Adorned" was voted as "the best Israeli song ever" several times. According to an article by Rachel Neiman, in which she writes about Israel's most romantic songs, the original poem was written in the 1950's by an actor/poet named Avraham Halfi. It describes Halfi's "unfulfilled passion for the wife of his friend." The identity of the object of his passion was not revealed until 2011 when the song was played at her funeral and the poem was engraved on her tombstone. Her name was Zahava Berlinsky. Arik Einstein found the poem on his father's bookshelf and it was set to music by Yoni Rechter. Here it is performed in 1977: "Atur Mitzchech/Your Forehead is Adorned in Black and Gold"  

At the same time that Arik Einstein was prolifically writing original songs, he also released a whole series of albums called "Eretz Yisrael H'yshana v'ha'Tovah/Israel, the Old and Good Land". These were collections of some of Israel's songs in a variety of genres  - songs of the homeland from the beginning of Jewish settlement to the ballroom style songs from the 1950s – using modern arrangements in collaboration with a variety of Israeli musical artists.  Here is just one song from just one of those albums, it is a lullaby that I loved as a child. Layla, Layla

In 2011, when Gilead Shalit was released from 5 years of captivity, he wrote this song: "The fear you might never return killed our hearts, But now that you are here, it is OK to love, it's OK to hug tightly and to breathe deeply, It's Great to have you HERE." I hope that soon, another Israeli singer/song writer can write a similar song after our current hostages are returned home. Now That You Are Here in honor of Gilead Shalit