Dudu Elharar (also spelled Elharrar; ; born in 1945) is an Israeli singer, music producer, actor and television and radio presenter.

Biography

Elharar was born in 1945 in a Jewish family in Morocco. In 1950 the family made

Aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

to Israel. Elharar studied in a

Habad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups ...

yeshiva, but did not remain a hasid. After his service in the

Golani Brigade The 1st "Golani" Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת גּוֹלָנִי) is an Israeli military infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigade ...

of the

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

, Elharar worked as a water ski instructor in touristic town of

Eilat Eilat ( , ; he, אֵילַת ; ar, إِيلَات, Īlāt) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan ...

in Southern Israel and in the evenings he would sing in clubs. There he met the singer

Danny Litani Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to: People *Danny Altmann, British immunologist *Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer *Danny Baker (born 1957), English journalis ...

and they started playing concerts together all around the country. In 1968, Elharar joined the Cameri Theater troupe and played in many of its musical and dramatic productions, among them an adaptation of

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

and a musical based on Russian protest songs. In 1970, Elharar recorded his first song as a singer, composed by Litani with lyrics by Yehuda Amichai. Thus he became one of the pioneers of a movement that was popular in Israeli music in the 1970s – recording pop songs with lyrics by Hebrew poets. He recorded songs written by

Yaakov Shabtai Yaakov Shabtai ( he, יעקב שבתאי; March 8, 1934 – August 4, 1981) was an Israeli novelist, playwright, and translator. Biography Shabtai was born in 1934 in Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine. In 1957, after completing military service, he ...

, Yehuda Halevi, Haim Hefer, Meir Ariel and other famous poets and composed by

Shalom Hanoch Shalom Hanoch ( he, שלום חנוך) (born September 1, 1946) is an Israeli rock singer, lyricist and composer. He is considered to be the father of Israeli rock and modern Israeli music in general, both of which have been profoundly influe ...

Yochanan Zarai Yohanan, Yochanan and Johanan are various transliterations to the Latin alphabet of the Hebrew male given name ('), a shortened form of ('), meaning "YHWH is gracious". The name is ancient, recorded as the name of Johanan, high priest of the Sec ...

, Matti Caspi,

Shosh Reisman Shosh may refer to: * Shosh, Albania, a municipality in the Shkodër District, Shkodër County, northwestern Albania * Shosh, Nagorno-Karabakh (also Shushikend and Shushakend), a village in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh * Shosh Atari S ...

and others. Later during the 1970s, Elharar along with guitarist

Yosi Piamenta Yosi Piamenta ( he, יוסי פיאמנטה; 29 November 1951 – 23 August 2015) was an Orthodox Jewish singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for introducing the electric guitar to Jewish music. Piamenta played rock and roll tunes, often infus ...

also became one of the pioneers of the fusion of

Israeli rock Israeli rock ( he, רוק ישראלי, ''Rok Yisra'eli'') is rock music created by Israeli bands and singers. History 1960s Israel's initial attitude toward rock music was extremely negative. Israeli musicians of the time believed that it was a ...

with ethnic

Middle Eastern music The various nations of the region include the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, the Iranian traditions of Persia, the Jewish music of Israel and the diaspora, Armenian music, Kurdish music, Azeri Music, the varied traditions of Cypriot ...

. From 1975 to 1978, Elharar was one of the presenters of the popular Israeli children TV show Telepele (טלפלא, ''Tele-wonder''). After releasing a string of singles, Elharar released his first full-length album in 1976. In 1978, Elharar produced an album for the first time – Gidi Gov's debut. Later he produced several successful albums by Yehudit Ravitz, Yoni Rechter, Tuned Tone and the hugely popular children album Ha-Keves Ha-Shisha-asar (הכבש השישה עשר, ''The Sixteenth Sheep'') with lyrics by Yehonatan Geffen. While continuing his musical work, mostly as a producers, since the early 1980s Elharar was active in many social endeavors – volunteering for organization that help mentally ill people, prisoners, drug addicts and families who lost their loved ones in the Israeli wars. Elharar also had a long and fruitful artistic relationship with the songwriter Naomi Shemer. He produced many songs written by her and in 2000 he produced her comeback tour. Since 1998, Elharar presented a weekly program on the Israel Defense Forces Radio. In the program he played old Israeli songs and openly presented his right-wing worldview. In 2008 he was fired from the station.דודו אלהרר עוזב את גלי צה"ל, לי-אור אברבך, 12/10/2008
Elharar blamed the station for promoting left-wing politics, but the station commander Yitzhak Tunik refuted the claims.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elharar, Dudu 1945 births Living people Israeli Kahanists 20th-century Israeli male singers Israeli record producers Israeli male stage actors Israeli television presenters Israeli radio presenters Israeli soldiers Moroccan emigrants to Israel 20th-century Moroccan Jews