The Chizbatron ( he, צ'יזבטרון) was an Israeli musical ensemble under the auspices of the

Israel Defense Force The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

(IDF). It operated during the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

, serving within the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach ...

History

The Chizbatron troupe was founded in January 1948. One of the founders was

Haim Hefer Haim Hefer ( he, חיים חפר 29 October 1925 – 18 September 2012) was a Polish-born Israeli songwriter, poet and writer. He wrote for numerous composers and musical artists, as well as for military bands. Several of his songs, including "H ...

, who served as its chief songwriter. Hefer based the band off of

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

s and song and dance ensembles, favoring the role they played during

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The concept applied by entertainment units in the

Yishuv Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the s ...

were also drawn. This gave him the grounds to ask for permission from Palmach commander Yigal Alon for a budget of 10

British pounds Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...

to purchase

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

s for means to establish such a band. Russian-born composer

Sasha Argov Alexander "Sasha" Argov ( he, סשה ארגוב, born Alexander Abramovich; Moscow, 26 October 1914 – Tel Aviv, 27 September 1995) was a prominent Israeli composer. Life and career Argov was born Alexander Abramovich in Moscow, Russia in 1914 ...

was appointed as the first band director. Its first performance was held on 2 February 1948 to training cadets in Dalia. The band often toured by means of a truck or a

jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...

, and often performed on the front line in different battle conditions. The poem ''

Hareut Hareut (''friendship'', ''fellowship'', ''comradeship'' in English, here esp. ''brotherhood in arms'') is a Hebrew language, Hebrew poem written by Haim Gouri and set to music by Sasha Argov. The song was written a year after the outbreak of the ...

'' was originally performed by the troupe. In the summer of 1949 the band was dismantled by order of the IDF

Education and Youth Corps The Israeli Education and Youth Corps ( he, חיל החינוך והנוער, ''Heil HaHinuh VeHaNo'ar'') is the IDF Manpower Directorate corps responsible for the education of soldiers and commanders in Israel's military. It is designed to instruc ...

. The Chizbatron staged four productions during its existence, with a fifth being produced while it was a civilian theater.

References

{{Authority control 1948 establishments in Israel Chizbatron Military units and formations established in 1948

History

See also

References