Ehud Manor (

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 ...

: אהוד מנור; born Ehud Weiner; July 13, 1941 – April 12, 2005) was an Israeli lyricist, translator, poet and radio and TV personality. He is widely considered to have been Israel's most prolific lyricist of all time, having written or translated over 1,000 songs. In 1998, he was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

for his exceptional contributions to

Israeli music The music of Israel is a combination of Jewish and non-Jewish music traditions that have come together over the course of a century to create a distinctive musical culture. For almost 150 years, musicians have sought original stylistic elements ...

Biography

Ehud Weiner (later Manor) was born in

Binyamina Binyamina-Giv'at Ada ( he, בִּנְיָמִינָה-גִּבְעַת עָדָה) is a town in the Haifa District of Israel. It is the result of the 2003 merger between the two local councils of Binyamina and Giv'at Ada. In its population was . ...

. He had two brothers, Ze'ev and Yehuda. He graduated from the

Hebrew Reali School , motto_translation = ''Walk Humbly'' , address = Hertzel 16 , city = Haifa , zipcode = 3312103 , country = Israel , coordinates = , other_name ...

in Haifa in 1959. He was married to actress Ofra Fuchs for 40 years; together, they had three children: Gali, Libby and Yehuda (Yadi), who was named after Manor's late brother, a fallen soldier in the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...

in 1968. Ehud's other brother, Ze'ev, committed suicide in 2003 as a result of financial trouble. Ehud Manor, who had been a heavy smoker earlier in his life, was diagnosed with lung cancer in the early 2000s. Although he recovered, the cancer treatment weakened his heart, and he died suddenly on April 12, 2005, aged 63, of cardiac arrest.

Music and songwriting career

Ehud Manor began working for Israel radio in the 1960s as a musical editor. He changed his surname to Manor as it was customary at the time for radio announcers to adopt Hebrew names. During his career, he wrote lyrics for over 1,250

songs, including "Ein Li Eretz Acheret" (I Have No Other Country), "Brit Olam" (Everlasting Covenant), "

Ba-Shanah ha-Ba'ah "BaShana HaBa'a" ( he, בשנה הבאה, "Next Year") is a 1970 Israeli song with music by Nurit Hirsch and lyrics by Ehud Manor. The song was first performed by the duo Ilan & Ilanit. The same melody was arranged and sung by Iranian singer A ...

" (Next Year) which became an international standard, "Zo Yalduti HaShniya" (This Is My Second Childhood), and "Ahi HaTza'ir Yehuda" (My Younger Brother Yehuda). The latter was written in memory of his brother, who was killed during his military service in 1968. Ehud Manor wrote the lyrics to several Israeli

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

entries, including the 1978 winner "

Abanibi "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" ( he, label=Hebrew script, א-ב-ני-בי; bet-language language game for the word ''aní'', meaning "I" in Hebrew) was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978, performed for by Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta. Description ...

", the 1975 entry "

At Va'Ani AT or at may refer to: Geography Austria * Austria (ISO 2-letter country code) * .at, Internet country code top-level domain United States * Atchison County, Kansas (county code) * The Appalachian Trail (A.T.), a 2,180+ mile long mountaino ...

(You and Me)" with its singer

Shlomo Artzi Shlomo Artzi ( he, שלמה ארצי) is an Israeli folk rock musician, composer, music producer, radio broadcaster columnist and singer-songwriter. He was born on November 26, 1949, in Moshav Alonei Abba. In the course of his career, he has so ...

, the 1983 entry "

Khay KHAY (100.7 FM, "100.7 KHAY") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Ventura, California and broadcasts to the Oxnard—Ventura area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a country music format featuring programming from Na ...

" (Alive) and the 1992 song " Ze Rak Sport" (It's Just Sports). Dan Hadani collection (990044328080205171)

Several of his songs commemorate his fond memories of his childhood in

, the most famous of which is "Yemey Binyamina" (The Binyamina Days). Several streets and roundabouts in his native town are named after him and his songs.

Literary career

Also a successful translator, Manor translated more than 600 works into Hebrew, including such

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

hits as ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

'', ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

,'' and ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

''. In addition, he translated

Barney Barney may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barney (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Barney (surname), a list of people Film and television * the title character of ''Barney & Friends'', an American live actio ...

songs into Hebrew for the Israeli coproduction "Hachaverim Shel Barney". Other famous Manor translations were the 1977 musical program "Eretz Tropit Yafa" (lit. "A Beautiful Tropical Country", the theme of which was a translation of

Jorge Ben Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes (born March 22, 1939) is a Brazilian popular musician, performing under the stage name Jorge Ben Jor since the 1980s, though commonly known by his former stage name Jorge Ben (). His characteristic style fuses samba ...

's " País Tropical") which consisted of his translations of famous Brazilian songs, several of which became huge hits in Israel; and the 1982 Israeli television show "Red River Valley" in which he translated famous

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

songs, one of which – "John Biryon" (lit. "John the Strongman", a translation of

Jimmy Dean Jimmy Ray Dean (August 10, 1928 – June 13, 2010) was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. He was the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand as well as the spokesman for its TV commercials. He became ...

's "

Big Bad John "Big Bad John" is a country song originally performed by Jimmy Dean, who wrote and composed it. It was released in September 1961 and by the beginning of November it had gone to number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It won Dean the 1962 Gr ...

") – also became a huge hit.

Awards and recognition

Memorial plaque to Ehud Manor in Tel Aviv

In 1998, Manor was awarded the

for Hebrew song. The prize committee noted that "For the past 30 years, he has expressed our mood through the hundreds of songs he has written together with the finest composers. The man who declared that he had no other country is the laureate of the Israel Prize.". The words of the committee refer to one of his most famous songs, ''Ein Li Eretz Acheret'' (''I Have No Other Country''), which is considered a patriotic classic in Israel – the lyrics outline a man who loves Israel and the Hebrew language, despite criticism he has toward his country. Shortly before he died, Manor was chosen to receive an honorary doctorate from

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

in recognition of his prolific activity in the field of Hebrew music. Manor's songs are the most played on Israeli radio. In October 28, 2019,

U.S. House Speaker The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U ...

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

recited a passage from ''I Have No Other Country'' during a

J Street J Street ( he, ג'יי סטריט) is a nonprofit liberal advocacy group based in the United States whose stated aim is to promote American leadership to end the Arab–Israeli and Israeli–Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatica ...

gala. On January 13, 2021, she again recited lines from the song urging her "Republican colleagues to finally open their eyes" regarding president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

. On June 24, 2022, she once again recited lines from the song following the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

's ruling in

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', , is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. The court's decision overruled both ''R ...

, which overruled two important cases (

Roe v Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...

and Planned Parenthood v. Casey) regarding

Abortion in the United States Abortion in the United States and its territories is a divisive issue in American politics and culture wars, with widely different abortion laws in U.S. states. Since 1976, the Republican Party has generally sought to restrict abortion ac ...

. She learned about the song from

Isaac Herzog Isaac "Bougie" Herzog ( he, יצחק "בוז׳י" הרצוג, Yitskhak "Buzhi" Hertsog; born 22 September 1960) is an Israeli politician who has been serving as the 11th president of Israel since 2021. He is the first president to be born in ...

, then the leader of the

Israeli Labor Party The Israeli Labor Party ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית, ), commonly known as HaAvoda ( he, הָעֲבוֹדָה, , The Labor), is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel. The pa ...

in December 2016.

References

External links