Chava Alberstein ( he, חוה אלברשטיין, born 8 December 1946 in Poland) is an Israeli musician,

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

, composer, and musical arranger.

Biography

Born Ewa Alberstein in

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

, Poland, her name was Hebraized to Chava when she moved to Israel with her family in 1950. She grew up in Kiryat Haim. In 1964, when she was seventeen, Alberstein was invited to appear at the Hammam Nightclub in

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

. She sang four songs, accompanied by herself on guitar and her brother Alex on the clarinet.Chava Alberstein bio
The program was broadcast live on the radio. After a guest appearance on ''Moadon Hazemer'', recorded on

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Beit Alfa, she signed a recording contract with CBS. Early in her career, she appeared at the Amami Cinema in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

's Neve Sha'anan neighborhood. ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

'' columnist Neri Livneh described her as "a little slip of a thing in a blue youth movement shirt, her face covered by huge glasses". Alberstein was drafted into 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 ...

in 1965 and became one of many Israeli artists to rise to stardom by entertaining the troops.

Musical career

Alberstein has released more than sixty albums. She has recorded in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, English, and

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

. In 1980, she began to write and compose. Most of the songs on her album ''Mehagrim'' are her own work. Alberstein's husband was the filmmaker

Nadav Levitan Nadav Levitan ( he, נדב לויתן; 21 April 1945 – 9 January 2010) was an Israeli film director, screenwriter, writer, and songwriter. He directed nine films between 1981 and 1999. His film ''Stalin's Disciples'' (in Hebrew ''Stalin' ...

, who wrote the lyrics for her album ''End of the Holiday''. In 1986, Alberstein wrote music for her husband's film ''

Stalin's Disciples ''Stalin's Disciples'' ( he, ילדי סטאלין, in Hebrew Stalin's Children) is a 1986 Israeli film directed by Nadav Levitan that satirizes the utopian ideology of the Israeli kibbutz. Plot The death of Joseph Stalin in the 1950s leads ...

''. Levitan died in 2010. Alberstein's songs have been included in a number of multi-artist collections, among them '' Songs of The Vilna Ghetto'' and ''The Hidden Gate – Jewish Music Around the World''.

Critical acclaim

According to Israel's second largest daily newspaper, ''

Yedioth Ahronoth ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' ( he, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, ; lit. ''Latest News'') is a national daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Founded in 1939 in British Mandatory Palestine, ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' is the largest paid n ...

'', Alberstein is the most important female

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

in Israeli history:

Political views and controversy

Alberstein is a champion of liberal causes. Throughout her career, she has been an activist for human rights and Arab-Israeli unity. In 1989, her song "Had Gadya" (an altered version of the song traditionally sung at the

Passover seder The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of

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s,_was_banned_by_ Palestinian_ Palestinians_(_ar,_الفلسطينيون,_;__he,_פָלַסְטִינִים,_)_or_Palestinian_people_(_ar,_الشعب_الفلسطيني,_label=none,_),_also_referred_to_as_Palestinian_Arabs_(_ar,_الفلسطينيين_العرب,_label=non_...

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Biography

Musical career

Critical acclaim

Political views and controversy

Awards

Quotes

Discography

References

External links