Ori Weisberg
Unpacked, Apr. 25, 2023
“Everyone leaves his father’s home, everyone nearly sacrifices his child, deep within is a little Sodom that he wishes to erase already, and angels will rescue him.”
Calling Israel a “Jewish State,” with nearly 75% of its population being Jewish, might suggest Israelis share a great deal in common. But Jewish Israelis are very diverse, culturally and politically and religiously.
Although Israel’s diverse population poses challenges to forging a unified national identity, one place where many Israeli Jews come together to bridge these divides is through music that uses traditional sources like biblical quotes and piyyutim (religious poems) sung in synagogues.
Such music draws people of all religious orientations from secular to Orthodox, and from all backgrounds, including Ashkenazi, Sephardic and Mizrahi.
To introduce you to this musical style, here are seven Israeli artists who are bridging the religious-secular divide with the best music samples. This is not a bad start for your Israeli music playlist.
Arik Einstein, founding figure of Israeli pop
