Name	Hebrew
Nativename	|pronunciation = standard Israeli: - ,standard Israeli (Sephardi): ,Iraqi: , Yemenite: ,Ashkenazi:
Region	Israel Global (as a liturgical language for Judaism), in West Bank, and Gaza
Speakers	Total Speakers < 9,000,000 First Language 5,200,000 (2009);Second Language 2,500,000 (2009) Home Language 200,000 (approx.) in the United States speak Hebrew at home
Rank	77
Familycolor	Afro-Asiatic
Fam2	Semitic
Fam3	Central Semitic
Fam4	Northwest Semitic
Fam5	Canaanite
Script	Hebrew alphabet
Nation	Judaism
Agency	Academy of the Hebrew Language ()
Iso1	he |iso2=heb
Lc1	heb |ld1=Modern Hebrew
Lc2	hbo |ld2=Ancient Hebrew |ll2=Biblical Hebrew language
Lingua	12-AAB-a

Hebrew (, , ) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages that originated among diaspora Jews exist. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by most of the seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over two thousand years. It is one of the official languages of Israel, along with Arabic. Ancient Hebrew is also the liturgical tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Palestinian Arabic is their vernacular, though today about 700 Samaritans remain. As a foreign language it is studied mostly by Jews and students of Judaism and Israel, archaeologists and linguists specializing in the Middle East and its civilizations, by theologians, and in Christian seminaries.

The core of the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible), and most of the rest of the Hebrew Bible, is written in Classical Hebrew, and much of its present form is specifically the dialect of Biblical Hebrew that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BC, around the time of the Babylonian exile. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as (), "The Holy Language", since ancient times.

The modern word "Hebrew" is derived from the word "ivri" (plural "ivrim") one of several names for the Jewish people. It is traditionally understood to be an adjective based on the name of Abraham's ancestor, Eber ("ever" עבר in Hebrew) mentioned in Genesis 10:21. This name is possibly based upon the root "`avar" () meaning "to cross over" and homiletical interpretations of the term "ivrim" link it to this verb. In the Bible, "Hebrew" is called () because Judah () was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation, late 8th century BCE (Is 36, 2 Kings 18). In Isaiah 19:18, it is also called the "Language of Canaan" (.

History

Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages.

Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah during the 10th to 7th centuries BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a spoken vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile, when the predominant language in the region was Old Aramaic.

Hebrew was extinct as a spoken language by Late Antiquity, but it survived as a literary language and as the liturgical language of Judaism, evolving various dialects of literary Medieval Hebrew, until its revival as a spoken language in the late 19th century.

Oldest Hebrew inscriptions

The earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered was found at Khirbet Qeiyafa in July 2008 by Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel. A 3,000-year-old pottery shard bearing five lines of faded characters was found in the ruins of an ancient town south of Jerusalem. Garfinkel noted that the find suggests Biblical accounts of the ancient Israelite kingdom of David could have been based on written texts.

The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, the traditional time of the reign of David and Solomon. Classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar (named after the city in whose proximity it was found) is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks and Etruscans later became the Roman script. The Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it.

lintel, from the tomb of a royal steward found in Siloam, dates to the 7th century BCE.]] Numerous older tablets have been found in the region with similar scripts written in other Semitic languages, for example Protosinaitic. It is believed that the original shapes of the script go back to Egyptian hieroglyphs, though the phonetic values are instead inspired by the acrophonic principle. The common ancestor of Hebrew and Phoenician is called Canaanite, and was the first to use a Semitic alphabet distinct from Egyptian. One ancient document is the famous Moabite Stone written in the Moabite dialect; the Siloam Inscription, found near Jerusalem, is an early example of Hebrew. Less ancient samples of Archaic Hebrew include the ostraka found near Lachish which describe events preceding the final capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian captivity of 586 BCE.

Classical Hebrew

In its widest sense, Classical Hebrew means the spoken language of ancient Israel flourishing between the 10th century BCE and the turn of the 4th century CE. It comprises several evolving and overlapping dialects. The phases of Classical Hebrew are often named after important literary works associated with them.

Archaic Biblical Hebrew from the 10th to the 6th century BCE, corresponding to the Monarchic Period until the Babylonian Exile and represented by certain texts in the Hebrew Bible (Tanach), notably the Song of Moses (Exodus 15) and the Song of Deborah (Judges 5). Also called Old Hebrew or Paleo-Hebrew. It was written in a form of the Canaanite script. (A script descended from this is still used by the Samaritans, see Samaritan Hebrew language.)

Standard Biblical Hebrew around the 8th to 6th centuries BCE, corresponding to the late Monarchic period and the Babylonian Exile. It is represented by the bulk of the Hebrew Bible that attains much of its present form around this time. Also called Classical Biblical Hebrew (or Classical Hebrew in the narrowest sense).

Late Biblical Hebrew, from the 5th to the 3rd centuries BCE, that corresponds to the Persian Period and is represented by certain texts in the Hebrew Bible, notably the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Basically similar to Classical Biblical Hebrew, apart from a few foreign words adopted for mainly governmental terms, and some syntactical innovations such as the use of the particle shel (of, belonging to). It adopted the Imperial Aramaic script.

Israelian Hebrew is a proposed northern dialect of biblical Hebrew, attested in all eras of the language, in some cases competing with late biblical Hebrew as an explanation for non-standard linguistic features of biblical texts.

Dead Sea Scroll Hebrew from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE, corresponding to the Hellenistic and Roman Periods before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and represented by the Qumran Scrolls that form most (but not all) of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Commonly abbreviated as DSS Hebrew, also called Qumran Hebrew. The Imperial Aramaic script of the earlier scrolls in the 3rd century BCE evolved into the Hebrew square script of the later scrolls in the 1st century CE, also known as ketav Ashuri (Assyrian script), still in use today.

Mishnaic Hebrew from the 1st to the 3rd or 4th century CE, corresponding to the Roman Period after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and represented by the bulk of the Mishnah and Tosefta within the Talmud and by the Dead Sea Scrolls, notably the Bar Kokhba Letters and the Copper Scroll. Also called Tannaitic Hebrew or Early Rabbinic Hebrew.

Sometimes the above phases of spoken Classical Hebrew are simplified into "Biblical Hebrew" (including several dialects from the 10th century BCE to 2nd century BCE and extant in certain Dead Sea Scrolls) and "Mishnaic Hebrew" (including several dialects from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE and extant in certain other Dead Sea Scrolls). However, today, most Hebrew linguists classify Dead Sea Scroll Hebrew as a set of dialects evolving out of Late Biblical Hebrew and into Mishnaic Hebrew, thus including elements from both but remaining distinct from either. By the start of the Byzantine Period in the 4th century CE, Classical Hebrew ceases as a regularly spoken language, roughly a century after the publication of the Mishnah, apparently declining since the aftermath of the catastrophic Bar Kokhba War around 135 CE.

Around the 6th century BCE, the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered the ancient Kingdom of Judah, destroying much of Jerusalem and exiling its population far to the East in Babylon. During the Babylonian captivity, many Israelites were enslaved within the Babylonian Empire and learned the closely related Semitic language of their captors, Aramaic. The Babylonians had taken mainly the governing classes of Israel while leaving behind in Israel presumably more-compliant farmers and laborers to work the land. Thus for a significant period, the Jewish elite became influenced by Aramaic. (see below, Aramaic spoken among Israelites).

After Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon, he released the Jewish people from captivity. "The King of Kings" or Great King of Persia, later gave the Israelites permission to return. As a result, a local version of Aramaic came to be spoken in Israel alongside Hebrew, also the Assyrian empire before that caused Israel to speak a variant of Aramaic for trade, in Israel-Judea these languages co-mingled. The Greek Era saw a brief ban on the Hebrew language until the period of the Hasmoneans. By the beginning of the Common Era, Aramaic was the primary colloquial language of Samarian, Babylonian and Galileen Jews, western and intellectual Jews spoke Greek, but a form of so-called Rabbinic Hebrew continued to be used as a vernacular in Judea until it was displaced by Aramaic, probably in the 3rd century CE, certain Sadducee, Pharisee, Scribe, Hermit, Zealot and Priest classes maintained an insistence on Hebrew, all Jews maintained their identity with Hebrew songs, and simple easy to remember quotes from the Hebrew texts. scholarly opinions on the exact dating of that shift have changed very much. In the early half of the 20th century, most scholars followed Geiger and Dalman in thinking that Aramaic became a spoken language in the land of Israel as early as by the start of Israel's Hellenistic Period in the 4th century BCE, and that as a corollary Hebrew ceased to function as a spoken language around the same time. Segal, Klausner, and Ben Yehuda are notable exceptions to this view. During the latter half of the 20th century, accumulating archaeological evidence and especially linguistic analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls has disproven that view. The Dead Sea Scrolls, uncovered in 1946-1948 near Qumran revealed ancient Jewish texts overwhelmingly in Hebrew, not Aramaic. The Qumran scrolls indicate that Hebrew texts were readily understandable to the average Israelite, and that the language had evolved since Biblical times as spoken languages do. Recent scholarship recognizes that reports of Jews speaking in Aramaic indicates a multi-lingual society, not necessarily the primary language spoken. Alongside Aramaic, Hebrew co-existed within Israel as a spoken language. Most scholars now date the demise of Hebrew as a spoken language to the end of the Roman Period, or about 200 CE. It continued on as a literary language down through Byzantine Period from the 4th century CE. Many Hebrew linguists even postulate the survival of Hebrew as a spoken language until the Byzantine Period, but some historians do not accept this.

The exact roles of Aramaic and Hebrew remain hotly debated. A trilingual scenario has been proposed for the land of Israel. Hebrew functioned as the local mother tongue with powerful ties to Israel's history, origins, and golden age and as the language of Israel's religion; Aramaic functioned as the international language with the rest of the Mideast; and eventually Greek functioned as another international language with the eastern areas of the Roman Empire. Communities of Jews (and non-Jews) are known, who immigrated to Judea from these other lands and continued to speak Aramaic or Greek. According to another summary, Greek was the language of government, Hebrew the language of prayer, study and religious texts, and Aramaic was the language of legal contracts and trade. In addition, it has been surmised that Koine Greek was the primary vehicle of communication in coastal cities and among the upper class of Jerusalem, and Aramaic was prevalent in the lower class of Jerusalem, but not in the surrounding countryside. After the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt, Judaeans were forced to disperse and many relocated to Galilee, so most remaining native speakers of Hebrew at that last stage would have been found in the north.

The Christian New Testament contains some clearly Aramaic place names and quotes. Although the language of such Semitic glosses (and in general the language spoken by Jews in scenes from the New Testament) is usually referred to as "Hebrew"/"Jewish" in the text, this term often seems to refer to Aramaic instead and is rendered accordingly in recent translations. Nonetheless, many glosses can be interpreted as Hebrew as well; and it has been argued that Hebrew, rather than Aramaic, lay behind the composition of the Gospel of Matthew. See the Hebrew Gospel or Matthaei Authenticum and Aramaic of Jesus for more details on Hebrew and Aramaic in the gospels. A Jew familiar with the two languages would note that the older place names such as Bethlehem are clearly pure Hebrew, and many had already been named after Roman and Greek rulers.

Mishnah and Talmud

The term generally refers to the Hebrew dialects found in the Talmud , excepting quotations from the Hebrew Bible. The dialects organize into Mishnaic Hebrew (also called Tannaitic Hebrew, Early Rabbinic Hebrew, or Mishnaic Hebrew I), which was a spoken language, and Amoraic Hebrew (also called Late Rabbinic Hebrew or Mishnaic Hebrew II), which was a literary language. The earlier section of the Talmud is the Mishnah that was published around 200 CE, though many of the stories take place much earlier, and was written in the earlier Mishnaic dialect. The dialect is also found in certain Dead Sea Scrolls. Mishnaic Hebrew is considered to be one of the dialects of Classical Hebrew that functioned as a living language in the land of Israel. A transitional form of the language occurs in the other works of Tannaitic literature dating from the century beginning with the completion of the Mishnah. These include the halachic Midrashim (Sifra, Sifre, Mechilta etc.) and the expanded collection of Mishnah-related material known as the Tosefta . The Talmud contains excerpts from these works, as well as further Tannaitic material not attested elsewhere; the generic term for these passages is Baraitot. The dialect of all these works is very similar to Mishnaic Hebrew.

About a century after the publication of the Mishnah, Mishnaic Hebrew fell into disuse as a spoken language. The later section of the Talmud, the Gemara , generally comments on the Mishnah and Baraitot in two forms of Aramaic. Nevertheless, Hebrew survived as a liturgical and literary language in the form of later Amoraic Hebrew, which sometimes occurs in the text of the Gemara, all are constantly quoting the Hebrew Law of Moses.

Because as early as the Torah's transcription the Scribe has been the highest position in Judaism, Hebrew was always regarded as the language of Israel's religion, history and national pride, and after it faded as a spoken language, it continued to be used as a lingua franca among scholars and Jews traveling in foreign countries throughout history. After the 2nd century CE when the Roman Empire exiled most of the Jewish population of Jerusalem following the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Israelites adapted to the societies in which they found themselves, yet letters, contracts, commerce, science, philosophy, medicine, poetry, and laws continued to be written mostly in Hebrew, which adapted by borrowing and inventing terms, and Masorite Scribes eventually realized vowels were required around 200CE.

Medieval Hebrew

: 10th century Hebrew Bible with Masoretic pointing (Joshua 1:1).]]

After the Talmud, various regional literary dialects of Medieval Hebrew evolved. The most important is Tiberian Hebrew or Masoretic Hebrew, a local dialect of Tiberias in Galilee that became the standard for vocalizing the Hebrew Bible and thus still influences all other regional dialects of Hebrew. This Tiberian Hebrew from the 7th to 10th century CE is sometimes called "Biblical Hebrew" because it is used to pronounce the Hebrew Bible; however properly it should be distinguished from the historical Biblical Hebrew of the 6th century BCE, whose original pronunciation must be reconstructed. Tiberian Hebrew incorporates the remarkable scholarship of the Masoretes (from masoret meaning "tradition"), who added vowel points and grammar points to the Hebrew letters to preserve much earlier features of Hebrew, for use in chanting the Hebrew Bible. The Masoretes inherited a biblical text whose letters were considered too sacred to be altered, so their markings were in the form of pointing in and around the letters. The Syriac script, precursor to the Arabic script, also developed vowel pointing systems around this time. The Aleppo Codex, a Hebrew Bible with the Masoretic pointing, was written in the 10th century likely in Tiberias and survives to this day. It is perhaps the most important Hebrew manuscript in existence. In the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain important work was done by grammarians in explaining the grammar and vocabulary of Biblical Hebrew; much of this was based on the work of the grammarians of Classical Arabic. Important Hebrew grammarians were Judah ben David Hayyuj, Jonah ibn Janah and later (in Provence) David Kimhi. A great deal of poetry was written, by poets such as Dunash ben Labrat, Solomon ibn Gabirol, Judah ha-Levi and the two Ibn Ezras, in a "purified" Hebrew based on the work of these grammarians, and in Arabic quantitative or strophic meters. This literary Hebrew was later used by Italian Jewish poets. The Humanist, Philosopher and member of the Platonic Academy in Florence, Pico della Mirandola, (1463–1494) already proficient in Latin and Greek,studied Hebrew and Arabic in Padua with Elia del Medigo, a Jewish Averroist, and read Aramaic manuscripts with him as well. Del Medigo also translated Judaic manuscripts from Hebrew into Latin for Pico, as he would continue to do for a number of years.

The need to express scientific and philosophical concepts from Classical Greek and Medieval Arabic motivated Medieval Hebrew to borrow terminology and grammar from these other languages, or to coin equivalent terms from existing Hebrew roots, giving rise to a distinct style of philosophical Hebrew. This is used in the translations made by the Ibn Tibbon family. (Original Jewish philosophical works were usually written in Arabic.) Another important influence was Maimonides, who developed a simple style based on Mishnaic Hebrew for use in his law code, the Mishneh Torah. Subsequent rabbinic literature is written in a blend between this style and the Aramaized Rabbinic Hebrew of the Talmud.

Hebrew persevered along the ages as the main language for written purposes by all Jewish communities around the world for a large range of uses - not only liturgy, but also poetry, philosophy, science and medicine, commerce, daily correspondence and contracts. There have been, of course, many deviations from this generalization such as Bar Kokhba's letters to his lieutenants, which were mostly in Aramaic, and Maimonides' writings, which were mostly in Arabic; but overall, Hebrew did not cease to be used for such purposes. This meant not only that well-educated Jews in all parts of the world could correspond in a mutually intelligible language, and that books and legal documents published or written in any part of the world could be read by Jews in all other parts, but that an educated Jew could travel and converse with Jews in distant places, just as priests and other educated Christians could once conversed in Latin.

Revival

Hebrew has been 'revived' several times as a literary language, and most significantly by the Haskalah (Enlightenment) movement of early and mid-19th century Germany. Near the end of that century the Jewish activist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, owing to the ideology of the national revival (Shivat Tziyon, later Zionism), began reviving Hebrew as a modern spoken language. Eventually, as a result of the local movement he created, but more significantly as a result of the new groups of immigrants known under the name of the Second Aliyah, it replaced a score of languages spoken by Jews at that time. Those languages were Jewish dialects such as the Judeo-Spanish language (also called Judezmo or Ladino), Yiddish, Judeo-Arabic, and Bukharian language, or local languages spoken in the Jewish diaspora such as Russian, Persian, and Arabic.

The major result of the literary work of the Hebrew intellectuals along the 19th century was a lexical modernization of Hebrew. New words and expressions were adapted as neologisms from the large corpus of Hebrew writings since the Hebrew Bible, or borrowed from Turkish and Arabic (mainly by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda) and older Aramaic and Latin. Many new words were either borrowed from or coined after European languages, especially English, Russian, German, and French. Modern Hebrew became an official language in British-ruled Palestine in 1921 (along with English and Arabic), and then in 1948 became an official language of the newly declared State of Israel. Hebrew is the most widely spoken language in Israel today.

In the Modern Period, from the 19th century onward, the literary Hebrew tradition as pronounced in Jerusalem revived as the spoken language of modern Israel, called variously Israeli Hebrew, Modern Israeli Hebrew, Modern Hebrew, New Hebrew, Israeli Standard Hebrew, Standard Hebrew, and so on. Israeli Hebrew exhibits many features of Sephardic Hebrew from its local Jerusalemite tradition but adapts it with numerous neologisms, borrowed terms (often technical) from European languages and adopted terms (often colloquial) from Arabic.

The literary and narrative use of Hebrew was revived beginning with the Haskalah (Enlightenment) movement. The first secular periodical in Hebrew, Hameassef (The Gatherer), was published by Maskilim literati in Königsberg (today's Kaliningrad) from 1783 onwards. In the mid-19th century, publications of several Eastern European Hebrew-language newspapers (e.g. HaMagid, founded in Lyck, Prussia, in 1856) multiplied. Prominent poets were Chaim Nachman Bialik and Shaul Tchernichovsky; there were also novels written in the language.

The revival of the Hebrew language as a mother tongue was initiated in the late 19th century by the efforts of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda. He joined the Jewish national movement and in 1881 immigrated to Palestine, then a part of the Ottoman Empire. Motivated by the surrounding ideals of renovation and rejection of the diaspora "shtetl" lifestyle, Ben-Yehuda set out to develop tools for making the literary and liturgical language into everyday spoken language. However, his brand of Hebrew followed norms that had been replaced in Eastern Europe by different grammar and style, in the writings of people like Achad Ha-Am and others. His organizational efforts and involvement with the establishment of schools and the writing of textbooks pushed the vernacularization activity into a gradually accepted movement. It was not, however, until the 1904-1914 Second Aliyah that Hebrew had caught real momentum in Ottoman Palestine with the more highly organized enterprises set forth by the new group of immigrants. When the British Mandate of Palestine recognized Hebrew as one of the country's three official languages (English, Arabic, and Hebrew, in 1922), its new formal status contributed to its diffusion. A constructed modern language with a truly Semitic vocabulary and written appearance, although often European in phonology, was to take its place among the current languages of the nations.

While many saw his work as fanciful or even blasphemous (because Hebrew was the holy language of the Torah and therefore some thought that it should not be used to discuss everyday matters), many soon understood the need for a common language amongst Jews of the Palestine Mandate who at the turn of the 20th century were arriving in large numbers from diverse countries and speaking different languages. A Committee of the Hebrew Language was established. Later it became the Academy of the Hebrew Language, an organization that still exists today. The results of his and the Committee's work were published in a dictionary (The Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew). The seeds of Ben-Yehuda's work fell on fertile ground, and by the beginning of the 20th century, Hebrew was well on its way to becoming the main language of the Jewish population of both Ottoman and British Palestine. At the time, members of the Old Yishuv and a very few Hasidic sects, most notably those under the auspices of Satmar, refused to speak Hebrew and only spoke Yiddish. However, while this ideological stance persists in certain quarters, almost all members of these groups have learned modern Hebrew in order to interact with outsiders.

Modern Hebrew grammar

Hebrew grammar is partly analytic, expressing such forms as dative, ablative, and accusative using prepositional particles rather than grammatical cases. However, inflection plays a decisive role in the formation of the verbs and nouns. E.g. nouns have a construct state, called "smikhut", to denote the relationship of "belonging to": this is the converse of the genitive case of more inflected languages. Words in smikhut are often combined with hyphens. In modern speech, the use of the construct is sometimes interchangeable with the preposition "shel", meaning "of". There are many cases, however, where older declined forms are retained (especially in idiomatic expressions and the like), and "person"-enclitics are widely used to "decline" prepositions.

Phonology

Consonants

The Hebrew word for consonants is (). The following table lists the Hebrew consonants and their pronunciation in IPA transcription:

Begadkefat

The pairs ~, ~, and ~ were historically allophonic – as seen still today in some word derivations, such as ערב ← ערביים ("evening" → "twilight"), מלך ← מלכה ("king" → "queen"), אלף ← אלפית ("a thousand" → "a thousandth") – as a consequence of the phenomenon of spirantization known as "begadkefat".

In Modern Hebrew, however, all six sounds are sometimes phonemic; compare e.g. פִּסְפֵּס "striped" and פִסְפֵס "missed", הִתְחַבֵּר "connected" and הִתְחַבֵר "befriended" or לככב "to star", whose common pronunciation preserves the manner of articulation of each kaf in the word it is derived from: כּוֹכָב "a star" (first plosive, then fricative), as opposed to the prescribed pronunciation , which regards the variation in pronunciation of kaf ←→ as allophonic and determines its manner of articulation according to historical phonological principles.

This phonemic divergence might be due to a number of factors: #mergers involving formerly distinct sounds (historical pronunciation of vav merging with fricative bet, becoming , historical pronunciation of kuf merging with plosive kaf, becoming , and historical pronunciation of het merging with fricative kaf, becoming ), #loss of consonant gemination, which formerly distinguished the stop members of the pairs from the fricatives when intervocalic – e.g. in the inflections קפץ ← קיפץ , historically ("jumped" → "hopped"), שבר ← שיבר , historically ("broke" → "shattered"), שכן ← שיכן , historically ("resided" → "housed"), #the introduction of syllable-initial (e.g. פברק "fabricated") and non-syllable-initial (e.g. הפנט "hypnotized") and (e.g. ג׳וב "job") through foreign borrowings.

Varieties of ayin

is historically pronounced as a voiced pharyngeal fricative. Most modern Ashkenazi Jews do not differentiate between and ; however, many Mizrahi Jews distinguish these phonemes, as well as Jews from any background wishing to speak Hebrew in its pure form. Georgian Jews pronounce it as a glottalized q. Western European Sephardim and Dutch Ashkenazim traditionally pronounce it (like ng in sing) a pronunciation which can also be found in the Italian tradition and, historically, in south-west Germany. (The remnants of this pronunciation are found throughout the Ashkenazi world, in the name "Yankl" and "Yanki", diminutive forms of Jacob, Heb. .)

Historical sound changes

Standard (non-Oriental) Israeli Hebrew (SIH) has undergone a number of splits and mergers in its development from Biblical Hebrew. BH had two allophones, and ; the allophone has merged with into SIH Whereas BH has become SIH , the phoneme has been re-introduced into modern Israeli Hebrew in some loanwords, the pronunciation of whose source contains , and their derivations (see Hebrew Vav → Vav as consonant) BH had two allophones, and ; the allophone has merged with into SIH , while the allophone has merged with into SIH BH and have merged into SIH BH and have usually merged into SIH , but this distinction may also be upheld in educated speech of many Sephardim and some Ashkenazim BH had two allophones, and ; the incorporation of loanwords into Modern Hebrew has probably resulted in a split, so that and are separate phonemes.

Dagesh

Hebrew also has dagesh, a phonological process of consonant strengthening that is indicated in fully pointed texts by a dot placed in the center of a consonant. There are two kinds of strengthenings: light (kal, known also as dagesh lene) and heavy (hazak or dagesh forte). The light version applies to the phonemes (historically, also , and ), causing them to be pronounced as stops rather than fricatives, and operates when the dagesh occurs in the beginning of a word or after a consonant (i.e. a silent shva). The heavy dagesh occurs after vowels and applies to all consonants except gutturals and , originally causing them to be pronounced as geminate (doubled) consonants; it also selects the stop allophone of , , , etc. (In Modern Hebrew, gemination has disappeared, and hence the heavy dagesh has a phonological effect only on , affecting them the same as the light dagesh.) Traditional Hebrew grammar distinguishes two sub-categories of the heavy dagesh according to their historical origin: structural heavy (hazak tavniti) and complementing heavy (hazak mashlim). Structural heavy dagesh corresponds to consonant doubling that was inherited from Proto-Semitic, and occurs in certain verb conjugations and noun patterns (mishkalim and binyanim; see the section on grammar below). Complementing heavy dagesh corresponds to consonant doubling that arose within Hebrew as a result of consonant assimilation, most commonly of an to a following consonant (e.g. Biblical Hebrew "you (m. sg.)" vs. Classical Arabic ).

Vowels

The Hebrew word for vowels is (תְּנוּעוֹת). The orthographic representations for these vowels are called Niqqud. Israeli Hebrew has 5 vowel phonemes, represented by the following Niqqud-signs: {|class=wikitable style="text-align:center" |- !rowspan=2|phoneme !rowspan=2| inModern Hebrew !rowspan=2|approximate pronunciationin English !colspan=3|orthographic representation |- !"long" *!!"short" *!!"very short" / "interrupted" * |- |||||(as in "spa") || ( ָ ) || ( ַ ) || ( ֲ ) |- | || ||(as in "bed") || ( ֵי ) or ( ֵ ) || ( ֶ ) || ( ֱ ), sometimes ( ְ ) |- | || ||(as in "ski") || ( ִי ) || ( ִ ) ||  |- | || ||(as in "more")|| ( וֹ ) or ( ֹ ) || ( ָ ) || ( ֳ ) |- | || ||(as in "flu" but with no diphthongization) || () || ( ֻ ) ||  |- |colspan=6|* The severalfold orthographic representation of each phoneme attests to the broader phonemic range of vowels in earlier forms of Hebrew. Some linguists still regard the Hebrew grammatical entity of Shva na—marked as Shva (ְ)—as representing a sixth phoneme, . However, the phonetic realisation of any Shva in modern Hebrew is never a Schwa (the mid central vowel denoted as ) or any vowel otherwise phonetically distinguishable from the other phonemes, but is rather always either identical to those of the phoneme or is mute, therefore there is no consensus in this matter. |}

In Biblical Hebrew, each vowel had three forms: short, long and interrupted (). However, there is no audible distinction between the three in modern Israeli Hebrew, except that is often pronounced as in Ashkenazi Hebrew.

Shva

The Niqqud sign "Shva" represents four grammatical entities: resting (nach / נָח), moving (na' / נָע), floating (merahef / מְרַחֵף) and "bleating" or "bellowing" ('ga'ya' / גַּעְיָּה). In earlier forms of Hebrew, these entities were phonologically and phonetically distinguishable. However, in Modern Hebrew these distinctions are not observed. For example, the (first) Shva Nach in the word קִמַּטְתְ (fem. you crumpled) is pronounced () even though it should be mute, whereas the Shva Na in זְמַן (time), which theoretically should be pronounced, is usually mute (). Sometimes the shva is pronounced like a tsere when accented, as in the prefix "ve" meaning "and".

Stress

Hebrew has two frequent kinds of lexical stress, on the last syllable (; מלרע) and on the penultimate syllable (the one preceding the last, ; מלעיל), of which the first is more frequent. Contrary to the prescribed standard, some words exhibit a stress on the antepenultimate syllable or even further back. This occurs often in loanwords, e.g. פּוֹלִיטִיקָה , "politics", and sometimes in native Hebrew words, e.g. אֵיכְשֶׁהוּ , "somehow"; אֵיפֹשֶׁהוּ , "somewhere". Colloquial stress is also often shifted from the last syllable to the penultimate, contrary to the prescribed standard, e.g. כּוֹבַע, normative stress , colloquial stress "hat"; שׁוֹבָךְ normative stress , colloquial stress , "dovecote". This is also common in the colloquial pronunciation of many personal names, for example דָּוִד normative stress , colloquial stress , "David".

Specific rules correlate the location or absence of stress in a syllable with the written representation of vowel length and whether or not the syllable ends with a vowel or a consonant. Since spoken Israeli Hebrew does not distinguish between long and short vowels, these rules are not evident in speech. They usually cannot be inferred from written text either, since usually vowel diacritics are omitted. The result is that nowadays stress has phonemic value, as the following table illustrates: acoustically, the following word pairs differ only in the location of the stress; orthographically they differ also in the written representation of the length of the vowels, however if vowel diacritics are omitted (as is usually the case in Modern Israeli Hebrew) they are written identically:

{|class=wikitable |- !rowspan=2|common spelling(Ktiv Hasar Niqqud) !colspan=3|-stressed !colspan=3|-stressed |- !spelling with vowel diacritics !pronunciation !translation !spelling with vowel diacritics !pronunciation !translation |- |ילד||יֶלֶד||||boy||יֵלֵד||||will give birth |- |אוכל||אֹכֶל||||food||אוֹכֵל||||eating (masculine singular participle) |- |בוקר||בֹּקֶר||||morning||בּוֹקֵר||||cowboy |}

Little ambiguity exists, however, due to context and syntactic features; compare e.g. the English word "conduct" in its nominal and verbal forms.

Morphology

Triliteral roots

Like all Semitic languages, the Hebrew language exhibits a pattern of stems consisting typically of "triliteral", or 3-consonant consonantal roots (2- and 4-consonant roots also exist), from which nouns, adjectives, and verbs are formed in various ways: e.g. by inserting vowels, doubling consonants, lengthening vowels, and/or adding prefixes, suffixes, or infixes.

Many of the Hebrew triliteral roots are shared with the other Semitic languages. This fact eases Hebrew learning for persons with a large vocabulary in another Semitic language, and eases learning of other Semitic languages by Hebrew speakers.

One-letter prefixes

Hebrew uses a number of one-letter prefixes that are added to words for various purposes. These are called "Letters of Use" (Hebrew: אותיות השימוש, Otiyot HaShimush). Such items include: the definite article ha- () (="the"); prepositions be- () (="in"), le- () (="to"), mi- () (="from"; a shortened version of the preposition min'); conjunctions ve- () (="and"), she- () (="that"), ke-'' () (="as", "like").

The vowel accompanying each of these letters may differ from those listed above, depending on the first letter or vowel following it. The rules governing these changes, hardly observed in colloquial speech as most speakers tend to employ the regular form, may be heard in more formal circumstances. For example, if a preposition is put before a word which begins with a moving Shva, then the preposition takes the vowel (and the initial consonant may be weakened): colloquial be-kfar (="in a village") corresponds to the more formal bi-khfar.

The definite article may be inserted between a preposition or a conjunction and the word it refers to, creating composite words like mé-ha-kfar (="from the village"). The latter also demonstrates the change in the vowel of mi-. With be and le, the definite article is assimilated into the prefix, which then becomes ba or la. Thus *be-ha-matos becomes ba-matos (="in the plane"). Note that this does not happen to mé (the form of "min" or "mi-" used before the letter "he"), therefore mé-ha-matos is a valid form, which means "from the airplane".

:* indicates that the given example is grammatically non standard.

Syntax

Like most other languages, the vocabulary of the Hebrew language is divided into verbs, nouns, adjectives, and so on, and its sentences structure can be analyzed by terms like object, subject, and so on. However, persons who speak only Indo-European languages (e.g. English, French, Hindi) may find the structure of Hebrew sentences quite surprising. Hebrew sentences do not have to include verbs. The verb To Be does not exist in present tense in Hebrew. Unlike the verb To Have, none of the possession terms in Hebrew is a verb. There is no word that is supposed to come before every singular noun. Moreover, many sentences can have a few correct orders of words.

==Writing system== Modern Hebrew is written from right to left using the Hebrew alphabet, which is an abjad, or consonant-only script of 22 letters. The ancient paleo-Hebrew alphabet is similar to those used for Canaanite and Phoenician. Modern scripts are based on the "square" letter form, known as Ashurit (Assyrian), which was developed from the Aramaic script. A cursive Hebrew script is used in handwriting: the letters tend to be more circular in form when written in cursive, and sometimes vary markedly from their printed equivalents. The medieval version of the cursive script forms the basis of another style, known as Rashi script. When necessary, vowels are indicated by diacritic marks above or below the letter representing the syllabic onset, or by use of matres lectionis, which are consonantal letters used as vowels. Further diacritics are used to indicate variations in the pronunciation of the consonants (e.g. bet/vet, shin/sin); and, in some contexts, to indicate the punctuation, accentuation and musical rendition of Biblical texts (see [

Modern Israeli Hebrew

Standard Hebrew, as developed by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, was based on Mishnaic spelling and Sephardi Hebrew pronunciation. However, the earliest speakers of Modern Hebrew had Yiddish as their native tongue and often brought into Hebrew idioms and literal translations from Yiddish.

The pronunciation of modern Israeli Hebrew is based mostly on the Sephardic Hebrew pronunciation. However, the language has adapted to Ashkenazi Hebrew phonology in some respects, mainly the following:

the elimination of pharyngeal articulation in the letters chet () and ayin () by many speakers. the conversion of () from an alveolar flap to a voiced uvular fricative or trill , by most of the speakers. see Guttural R the pronunciation (by many speakers) of tzere as in some contexts (sifrey and teysha instead of Sephardic sifré and tésha') the gradual elimination of vocal Shva (zman instead of Sephardic zĕman)

in popular speech, penultimate stress in proper names (Dvóra instead of Dĕvorá; Yehúda instead of Yĕhudá)

similarly in popular speech, penultimate stress in verb forms with a second person plural suffix (katávtem "you wrote" instead of kĕtavtém).

Loan words

Modern Israeli Hebrew has borrowed many words from Aramaic, Yiddish, Ladino, Arabic (spoken Arabic, mainly Judeo Arabic and Palestinian Arabic), German, Latin, Greek, Polish, Russian, English and other languages.

Classification

The vast majority of scholars see Modern Hebrew as a direct continuation of Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew, though they concede that it has acquired some European vocabulary and syntactical features, in much the same way as Modern Standard Arabic (or even more so, dialects such as Moroccan Arabic). There are two minor dissenting views, which have not been accepted by most scholars, and are in fact subject to much criticism. They are: Paul Wexler claims that modern Hebrew is not a Semitic language at all, but a dialect of "Judaeo-Sorbian". He argues that the underlying structure of the language is Slavic, but "re-lexified" to absorb much of the vocabulary and inflexional system of Hebrew in much the same way as a creole. This view forms part of a larger complex of theories, such as that Ashkenazi Jews are predominantly descended from Slavic and Turkic tribes rather than from the ancient Israelites, none of which are accepted by mainstream scholarship. Ghil'ad Zuckermann compromises between Wexler and the majority view: according to him, "Israeli" (his term for Israeli Hebrew) is a Semito-European hybrid language, which is the continuation not only of literary Hebrew but also of Yiddish, as well as Polish, Russian, German, English, Ladino, Arabic and other languages spoken by Hebrew revivalists. Thus, "Yiddish is a primary contributor to Israeli Hebrew because it was the mother tongue of the vast majority of revivalists and first pioneers in Eretz Yisrael at the crucial period of the beginning of Israeli Hebrew". According to Zuckermann, although the revivalists wished to speak Hebrew, with Semitic grammar and pronunciation, they could not avoid the Ashkenazi mindset arising from their European background. He argues that their attempt to deny their European roots, negate diasporism and avoid hybridity (as reflected in Yiddish) failed. "Had the revivalists been Arabic-speaking or Berber-speaking Jews (e.g. from Morocco), Israeli Hebrew would have been a totally different language – both genetically and typologically, much more Semitic. The impact of the founder population on Israeli Hebrew is incomparable with that of later immigrants."

So far, neither view has gained significant acceptance among mainstream linguists, and both have been criticized by some as being based less on linguistic evidence than post- or anti-Zionist political motivations. However, some linguists, for example American Yiddish scholar Dovid Katz, have employed Zuckermann's glottonym "Israeli" and accept his notion of hybridity. Few would dispute that Hebrew has acquired some European features as a result of having been learned by immigrants as a second language at a crucial formative stage. The identity of the European substrate/adstrate has varied: in the time of the Mandate and the early State, the principal contributor was Yiddish, while today it is American English. There has also been some influence, on vocabulary rather than structure, from Arabic, both in the form of Palestinian Arabic and, during the large scale immigrations of Mizrahi Jews during the 1950-60s, the Yemenite and North African dialects. Some Russian influence may also be observed, both during the founding period and as a result of the wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union following its collapse in 1991.

Modern dialects and accents

Hebrew has two dialects; a Jewish one and a Samaritan one. In the beginning of the 20th century, the Samaritan dialect nearly became extinct, along with the Samaritan population itself. It is now generally used only for Samaritan religion purposes.

According to the Academy of the Hebrew Language, in 1880s (the time of the beginning of the Zionist movement and the Hebrew revival) there were mainly three groups of Hebrew regional accents: The Ashkenazi (German), The Sephardi (Hispanic/Mediterranean) and that of Jewish communities who had little influence from those two groups of Jews, mostly in Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen. Ben-Yehuda decided that the standard accent would be the Sephardi one, but eventually, the standard accent became something in between the Ashkenazi and Sephardi one.

In the 2010s most Hebrew speakers have that standard accent. Most of the other Hebrew speakers have an accent with more Sephardi/Iraqi/Yemenite influence since they try to keep on with non-Ashkenazi tradition, and since they try to avoid the ambiguity that the standard accent forces by making various consonants sound alike. This accent can be called Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) accent. A third group has an accent with more Ashkenazi influence. It includes mostly a minority group within the Hasidic Ashkenazi Jews.

Phonologically, standard Hebrew accent may most accurately be described as an amalgam of pronunciations preserving Sephardic vowel sounds and some Ashkenazic consonant sounds with Yiddish-style influence, its recurring feature being simplification of differences among a wide array of pronunciations. This simplifying tendency also accounts for the collapse of the Ashkenazic and allophones of () into the single phone . Most Sephardic and Mizrahi accents share this feature, though some (such as those of Iraq and Yemen) differentiate between these two pronunciations as and . Within Israel, however, the pronunciation of Hebrew more often reflects the diasporic origin of the individual speaker, rather than the specific recommendations of the Academy. For this reason, over half the population pronounces as (a uvular trill, as in Yiddish) or as (a voiced uvular fricative, as in Standard German and French), rather than as , an alveolar trill, as in Spanish and Italian.

There are mixed views on the status of the two accents. On the one hand, prominent Israelis of Sephardic or Oriental origin are admired for the purity of their speech and Yemenite Jews are often employed as newsreaders. On the other hand, the speech of middle-class Ashkenazim is regarded as having a certain Central European sophistication, and many speakers of Mizrahi origin have moved nearer to this version of Standard Hebrew, in some cases even adopting the uvular resh.

; Main differences between the accents:

Yiddish influence on the consonants In Ashkenazi and standard accents:

The is instead of its original Semitic sound .

is pronounced as a guttural R instead of a rolled R .

disappearance of the Semitic sound , that in Standard and Ashkenazi Hebrew sounds just like the ^{with a dot inside} .

In the Ashkenazi accent, and by many of the speakers of Israeli Hebrew: the sounds just like , and the like the merging into or becoming silent. These changes are not part of standard Hebrew and occur in the speech of many speakers, but not all.

In Yemenite accent, when the is a consonant, it is pronounced as a and not as a . sounds:

In the Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and standard accents the and the ^{with a dot inside} had lost their original difference and merged into .

In Ashkenazi accent the ^{without a dot inside} (th) sounds like while in all the others it sounds like a regular .

Stress: in the Ashkenazi accent many more words are pronounced with a stress on the beginning of the word.

Vowels:

In the Ashkenazi and Yemenite accents many more (Kamats) are pronounced instead of .

In the Ashkenazi accent many more (Tsere) are pronounced like in the English word “ate” instead of .

Hebrew language instruction in the Soviet Union

The Soviet authorities considered the use of Hebrew "reactionary" since it was associated with both Judaism and Zionism, and the teaching of Hebrew at primary and secondary schools was officially banned by the Narkompros (Commissariat of Education) as early as 1919, as part of an overall agenda aiming to secularize education (the language itself didn't cease to be studied at universities for historical and linguistic purposes). The official ordinance stated that Yiddish, being the spoken language of the Russian Jews, should be treated as their only national language, while Hebrew was to be treated as a foreign language. Hebrew books and periodicals ceased to be published and were seized from the libraries, although liturgical texts were still published until the 1930s. Despite numerous protests, A policy of suppression of the teaching of Hebrew operated from the 1930s on. Later in the 1980s in the USSR, Hebrew studies reappeared due to people struggling for permission to go to Israel (refuseniks). Several of the teachers were imprisoned, for example, Ephraim Kholmyansky, Yevgeny Korostyshevsky and others responsible for a Hebrew learning network connecting many cities of USSR.

Hebrew in Judaism

According to some Jewish traditions, Hebrew was the language of the creation. Likewise, Hebrew is considered to be the one language spoken by the united mankind before the dispersion connected with the Tower of Babel. According to Jewish esoteric teachings, the Hebrew letters are the lifeforce of all things created, determining their essence.

Liturgical use

Hebrew has always been used as the language of prayer and study, and the following pronunciation systems are found.

Ashkenazi Hebrew, originating in Central and Eastern Europe, is still widely used in Ashkenazi Jewish religious services and studies in Israel and abroad, particularly in the Haredi and other Orthodox communities. It was influenced by the Yiddish language.

Sephardi Hebrew is the traditional pronunciation of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews and Sephardi Jews in the countries of the former Ottoman Empire. This pronunciation, in the form used by the Jerusalem Sephardic community, is the basis of the Hebrew phonology of Israeli native speakers. It was influenced by the Judezmo language.

Mizrahi (Oriental) Hebrew is actually a collection of dialects spoken liturgically by Jews in various parts of the Arab and Islamic world. It was possibly influenced by the Aramaic and Arabic languages, and in some cases by Sephardi Hebrew, although some linguists maintain that it is the direct heir of Biblical Hebrew and thus represents the true dialect of Hebrew. The same claim is sometimes made for Yemenite Hebrew or Temanit, which differs from other Mizrahi dialects by having a radically different vowel system, and distinguishing between different diacritically marked consonants that are pronounced identically in other dialects (for example gimel and "ghimel".)

These pronunciations are still used in synagogue ritual and religious study, in Israel and elsewhere, mostly by people who are not native speakers of Hebrew, though some traditionalist Israelis are bi-dialectal.

Many synagogues in the diaspora, even though Ashkenazi by rite and by ethnic composition, have adopted the "Sephardic" pronunciation in deference to Israeli Hebrew. However, in many British and American schools and synagogues, this pronunciation retains several elements of its Ashkenazi substrate, especially the distinction between tsere and segol.

See also

Cantillation

Cursive Hebrew

Hebraization of English

Hebrew acronyms

Hebrew alphabet

Hebrew literature

Hebrew phonology

Jewish languages

Romanization of Hebrew

Study of the Hebrew language

References

Bibliography

Hoffman, Joel M, In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language. New York: NYU Press. ISBN 0-8147-3654-8.

Izre'el, Shlomo, "The emergence of Spoken Israeli Hebrew", in: Benjamin Hary (ed.), The Corpus of Spoken Israeli Hebrew (CoSIH): Working Papers I (2001)

Kuzar, Ron, Hebrew and Zionism: A Discourse Analytic Cultural Study. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter 2001. ISBN 3-11-016993-2, ISBN 3-11-016992-4.

Laufer, Asher. "Hebrew", in: Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge University Press 1999. ISBN 0-521-65236-7, ISBN 0-521-63751-1.

Sáenz-Badillos, Angel, 1993 A History of the Hebrew Language (trans. John Elwolde). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-55634-1

External links

Ancient Hebrew Research Center Research and Learning Hebrew Resources

Fully Transliterated Modern Hebrew Course (with listing of verb roots and derived verbs)

Hebrew-English (Webster's Rosetta Edition)

Collection of Hebrew bilingual dictionaries

Morfix online dictionary

Early Hebrew Newspapers Thousands of pages of mid- to late-19th-century and early 20th-century newspapers written in Hebrew and readable on line.

[http://www.hebrew-language.com Categorized Hebrew language study resources on the Internet

Category:Fertile Crescent Category:Hebrew Bible topics Category:Languages of Israel Category:Semitic languages Category:VSO languages

Caption	Portman at the premiere of Black Swan during the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.
Birth name	Natalie Hershlag()
Birth date	June 09, 1981
Birth place	Jerusalem, Israel
Years active	1994–present
Occupation	Actress
Partner	Benjamin Millepied (2010-present)

Natalie Hershlag (; born 9 June 1981), better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an Israeli-American actress. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon (known in the United States as The Professional). During the 1990s, Portman had major roles in films like Beautiful Girls and Anywhere but Here, before being cast for the role as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. She completed her bachelor's degree in 2003.

In 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Portman's directorial debut, Eve, opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival's shorts competition in 2008.

In 2011, Portman was nominated for her third Golden Globe award for her performance in Black Swan. She is engaged to ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied. Her father, Avner Hershlag, is a fertility specialist. Her mother, Shelley Hershlag,

Portman's parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University, where her mother was selling tickets. They corresponded after her father returned to Israel, and were married when her mother visited a few years later. In 1984, when Portman was three years old, the family moved to the United States, where her father received his medical training. The family first lived in Washington, D.C., where Portman attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, but relocated to Connecticut in 1988, and then settled on Long Island, New York, in 1990. She attended Syosset High School in Syosset, Long Island. Portman has said that although she "really love[s] the States... my heart's in Jerusalem. That's where I feel at home." She is an only child and very close to her parents, Portman learned to speak Hebrew in addition to English and attended a Jewish elementary school, the Solomon Schechter Day School of Glen Cove, New York. She graduated from the public Syosset High School in 1999.

On June 5, 2003, Portman graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in psychology. "I don't care if [college] ruins my career," she told the New York Post, according to a Fox News article. "I'd rather be smart than a movie star." At Harvard, Portman was Alan Dershowitz's research assistant in a psychology lab. While attending Harvard, she was a resident of Lowell House and wrote a letter to the Harvard Crimson in response to an anti-Israeli essay.

Portman took graduate courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the spring of 2004.

Portman has professed an interest in foreign languages since childhood and has studied French, Japanese, and Arabic.

As a student, Portman co-authored two research papers that were published in professional scientific journals. Her 1998 high school paper, "A Simple Method To Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar," was entered in the Intel Science Talent Search, in which she was named a semifinalist. In 2002, she contributed to a study on memory called "Frontal Lobe Activation During Object Permanence" during her psychology studies at Harvard.

Due to her scientific publications, Portman is among a very small number of professional actors with a defined Erdős–Bacon number, a concept which reflects the "small world phenomenon" in academia and entertainment by measuring the "collaborative distance" between that person and Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős—and the number of links, through roles in films, by which the individual is separated from American actor Kevin Bacon.

Career

Early work

Portman started dancing lessons at age four but she turned down the offer to focus on acting. In a magazine interview, Portman said that she was "different from the other kids. I was more ambitious, I knew what I liked and what I wanted, and I worked very hard. I was a very serious kid."

Portman spent her school holidays attending theater camps. When she was 10, she auditioned for the off-Broadway show Ruthless!, a musical about a girl who is prepared to commit murder to get the lead in a school play. Portman and future pop star Britney Spears were chosen as the understudies for star Laura Bell Bundy. Léon opened on November 18, 1994, marking her feature film debut at age 13. That same year she appeared in the short film Developing, which aired on television.

1995–1999

During the mid-1990s, Portman had roles in the films Heat, Everyone Says I Love You, and Mars Attacks!, as well as a major role in Beautiful Girls. Critic Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon called Portman "astonishing" and said that "[u]nlike any number of actresses her age, she's neither too maudlin nor too plucky." In the late 1990s, Portman was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The first part, , opened in early 1999. During the summer break from June to September 2000, Portman filmed in Sydney, along with additional production in London.

In July 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Mike Nichols; she played the role of Nina alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. That same year, she was one of many celebrities who made cameo appearances in the 2001 comedy Zoolander. Portman was cast in a small role in the film Cold Mountain alongside Jude Law and Nicole Kidman.

The final Star Wars prequel, , was released on May 19, 2005. The film was the highest grossing domestic film of the year, and was voted Favorite Motion Picture at the People's Choice Awards. Also in 2005, Portman filmed Free Zone and director Miloš Forman's Goya's Ghosts. Forman had not seen any of her work but thought she looked like a Goya painting, so he requested a meeting.

2006–2009

Portman appeared on Saturday Night Live on March 4, 2006, hosting the show with musical guest Fall Out Boy and special guest star Dennis Haysbert. In a SNL Digital Short, she portrays herself as an angry gangsta rapper (with Andy Samberg as her Flavor Flav-esque partner in Viking garb) during a faux-interview with Chris Parnell, saying she cheated at Harvard University while high on marijuana and cocaine. The song, titled "Natalie's Rap," was released – alongside other sketches from the show – in 2009 on Incredibad, an album by the Lonely Island. In another sketch, she portrays a student named Rebecca Hershlag (her actual surname) attending a Bar Mitzvah, and in an installment of the recurring sketch The Needlers (also known as Sally and Dan, The Couple That Should Be Divorced), plays a fertility specialist (her father's profession).

V for Vendetta opened in early 2006. Portman portrayed Evey Hammond, a young woman who is saved from the secret police by the main character, V. Portman worked with a voice coach for the role, learning to speak with an English accent, and she famously had her head shaved.

Portman has commented on V for Vendetta's political relevance and mentioned that her character, who joins an underground anti-government group, is "often bad and does things that you don't like" and that "being from Israel was a reason I wanted to do this because terrorism and violence are such a daily part of my conversations since I was little." She said the film "doesn't make clear good or bad statements. It respects the audience enough to take away their own opinion".

Both Goya's Ghosts and Free Zone received limited releases in 2006. Portman starred in the children's film Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which began filming in April 2006 and was released in November 2007; she has said that she was "excited to do a kids' movie."

In 2006, she filmed Wong Kar-wai's road movie My Blueberry Nights. She won acclaim for her role as gambler Leslie, because "[f]or once she's not playing a waif or a child princess but a mature, full-bodied woman... but she's not coasting on her looks... She uses her appeal to simultaneously flirt with and taunt the gambler across the table." Portman voiced Bart Simpson's girlfriend Darcy in the episode "Little Big Girl" of The Simpsons' 18th season.

She appeared in Paul McCartney's music video "Dance Tonight" from his 2007 album Memory Almost Full, directed by Michel Gondry. Portman co-starred in the Wes Anderson short film Hotel Chevalier, opposite Jason Schwartzman, in which she performed her second nude scene (her first being Goya's Ghosts). In May 2008, Portman served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury,

In 2008, Portman at age 27 made her directorial debut at the Venice Film Festival. "Eve", a short movie about a young woman who is dragged along on her grandmother's romantic date, was screened out of competition. Portman said she had always had a fascination with the older generation, and drew inspiration for the character from her own grandmother.

2010–present

Portman played a veteran ballerina in Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, a role of which critic Kurt Loder wrote: "Portman gives one of her most compelling performances in this film, which is saying something." To prepare for the role, she went through five to eight hours of dance training each day for six months and lost 20 lb.

Portman's next film is No Strings Attached, which will be released on January 21, 2011. She has also been cast in the role of Jane Foster in Kenneth Branagh's upcoming film adaptation of Thor. Portman dropped out of the lead role of Elizabeth Bennet in the 2010 novel adaptation Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but she continues as producer.

Social and political causes

, presenting Black Swan]] Portman, who is an advocate for animal rights, has been a vegetarian since childhood. She became a vegan in 2009 after reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals. She does not eat animal products or wear fur, feathers, or leather. "All of my shoes are from Target and Stella McCartney," she has said. In 2007, she launched her own brand of vegan footwear.

In 2007, Portman traveled to Rwanda with Jack Hanna, to film the documentary Gorillas on the Brink. Later, at a naming ceremony, Portman christened a baby gorilla Gukina, which means "to play." Portman has been an advocate of environmental causes since childhood, when she joined an environmental song and dance troupe known as World Patrol Kids. She is also a member of the One Voice movement.

Portman has also supported antipoverty activities. In 2004 and 2005, she traveled to Uganda, Guatemala, and Ecuador as the Ambassador of Hope for FINCA International, an organization that promotes micro-lending to help finance women-owned businesses in developing countries. In an interview conducted backstage at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia and appearing on the PBS program Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, she discussed microfinance. Host Fareed Zakaria said that he was "generally wary of celebrities with fashionable causes," but included the segment with Portman because "she really knew her stuff."

In the "Voices" segment of the April 29, 2007, episode of the ABC Sunday morning program This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Portman discussed her work with FINCA and how it can benefit women and children in Third World countries. In fall 2007, she visited several university campuses, including Harvard, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, New York University, and Columbia, to inspire students with the power of microfinance and to encourage them to join the Village Banking Campaign to help families and communities lift themselves out of poverty.

In 2010, Portman's activist work and popularity with young people earned her a nomination for VH1's Do Something Awards, which is dedicated to honoring individuals who do good.

Portman is a supporter of the Democratic Party, and in the 2004 presidential race she campaigned for the Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry. In the 2008 presidential election, Portman supported Senator Hillary Clinton of New York in the Democratic primaries. She later campaigned for the eventual Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, during the general election. However, in a 2008 interview, she also said: "I even like John McCain. I disagree with his war stance — which is a really big deal — but I think he's a very moral person."

Personal life

In the May 2002 issue of Vogue, Portman called actor/musician Lukas Haas and musician Moby her close friends. After starring in the video for his song "Carmensita," she began a relationship with American folk singer Devendra Banhart, which ended in September 2008. She met ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied on the set of her film Black Swan, for which Millepied acted as choreographer. By at least New Year's Eve 2009, the two had begun dating. On December 27, 2010, a Portman representative told the press that Portman and Millepied were engaged and expecting a child.

On the concept of the afterlife, Portman has said, "I don't believe in that. I believe this is it, and I believe it's the best way to live."

Filmography

Film and television

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | rowspan="2" | 1994 | Léon | Mathilda | (aka The Professional) |- | "Developing" | Nina | 23-minute short film |- | 1995 | Heat | Lauren Gustafson | |- | rowspan="3" | 1996 | Beautiful Girls | Marty | |- | Everyone Says I Love You | Laura Dandridge | |- | Mars Attacks! | Taffy Dale | |- | rowspan="2" | 1999 | | Padmé Amidala | |- | Anywhere but Here | Ann August | |- | 2000 | Where the Heart Is | Novalee Nation | |- | 2001 | Zoolander | Herself | cameo |- | 2002 | | Padmé Amidala | |- | 2003 | Cold Mountain | Sara | |- | rowspan="2" | 2004 | Garden State | Samantha | |- | Closer | Alice Ayres | |- | rowspan="2" | 2005 | | Padmé Amidala | |- | Free Zone | Rebecca | received a limited US theatrical release in April 2006 |- | rowspan="3" | 2006 | V for Vendetta | Evey Hammond | |- | Paris, je t'aime | Francine |Ensemble film with 22 segments. She appears in the segment directed by German writer-director Tom Tykwer. |- | Goya's Ghosts | Ines Bilbatua & Alicia | |- | rowspan="4" | 2007 | My Blueberry Nights | Leslie | |- | The Darjeeling Limited | Jack's Ex-Girlfriend | |- | "Hotel Chevalier" | Jack's Ex-Girlfriend | 13-minute short companion piece to The Darjeeling Limited |- | Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium | Molly Mahoney | |- | 2008 | The Other Boleyn Girl | Anne Boleyn | |- | rowspan="3" | 2009 | Love and Other Impossible Pursuits | Emilia Greenleaf | |- | New York, I Love You | Rifka | |- | Brothers | Grace Cahill | |- | rowspan="2" | 2010 | Hesher | Nicole | |- | Black Swan | Nina Sayers | |- | rowspan="3" | 2011 | No Strings Attached | Emma Kurtzman | Completed |- | Your Highness | Isabel | Completed |- | Thor 2004 – National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, Best Acting by an Ensemble: Closer (shared with Jude Law, Clive Owen, and Julia Roberts) 2004 – San Diego Film Critics Society, Best Supporting Actress: Closer 2005 – Golden Globe Awards, Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Closer 2007 – Saturn Awards, Best Actress: V for Vendetta 2010 – Boston Society of Film Critics, Best Actress: Black Swan 2010 – New York Film Critics Online, Best Actress: Black Swan 2010 – Online Film Critics Society, Best Actress: Black Swan 2011 – Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Best Actress: Black Swan

Nominations

1996 – Chicago Film Critics Association, Best Supporting Actress: Beautiful Girls; Most Promising Actress: Beautiful Girls

1999 – Golden Raspberry Award, Worst Screen Couple: (shared with Jake Lloyd)

2000 – Golden Globe Awards, Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Anywhere but Here

2000 – Saturn Awards, Best Young Actress: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

2000 – Teen Choice Awards, Choice Movie Actress: Where the Heart Is

2000 – Young Artist Awards, Best Young Actress: Anywhere but Here

2001 – Young Artist Awards, Best Young Actress: Where the Heart Is

2002 – Teen Choice Awards, Choice Chemistry: (shared with Hayden Christensen)

2003 – Golden Raspberry Awards, Worst Supporting Actress: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones; Worst Screen Couple: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (shared with Hayden Christensen)

2003 – Saturn Awards, Best Actress: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

2005 – Academy Awards, Best Supporting Actress: Closer

2005 – BAFTA Awards, Best Supporting Actress: Closer

2005 – Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Best Supporting Actress: Closer; Best Acting Ensemble: Closer (shared with Jude Law, Clive Owen, and Julia Roberts)

2005 – Irish Film and Television Awards, Best International Actress: Garden State

2005 – London Film Critics' Circle, Actress of the Year: Closer

2005 – MTV Movie Awards, Best Female Performance: Garden State; Best Kiss: Garden State (shared with Zach Braff)

2005 – Online Film Critics Society, Best Supporting Actress: Closer

2005 - People's Choice Awards, Favorite Leading Lady

2005 – Satellite Awards, Best Supporting Actress in a Drama: Closer; Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical: Garden State

2005 – Teen Choice Awards, Choice Movie Actress: Drama: Closer, Garden State; Choice Movie Actress: Action/Adventure: ; Choice Movie Liar, Garden State; Choice Movie Liplock: Garden State; Choice Movie Love Scene: Garden State

2005 – Vancouver Film Critics Circle, Best Supporting Actress: Closer, Garden State

2006 – Saturn Awards, Best Actress: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

2006 – Teen Choice Awards, Choice Movie Actress: Drama/Action Adventure: V for Vendetta

2009 – Chicago Film Critics Association, Best Supporting Actress: Brothers

2010 – Saturn Awards, Best Actress: Brothers

2010 – Satellite Awards, Best Actress in a Drama: Black Swan

2010 – Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association, Best Actress: Black Swan

2011 – Alliance of Women Film Journalists, Best Actress: Black Swan

2011 – Golden Globe Awards, Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama: Black Swan

2011 – Independent Spirit Awards, Best Female Lead: Black Swan

2011 – London Film Critics' Circle, Actress of the Year: Black Swan

2011 – Screen Actors Guild Awards, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Black Swan, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: Black Swan

2011 – Toronto Film Critics Association, Best Actress: Black Swan

2011 – Vancouver Film Critics Circle, Best Actress: Black Swan

References

External links

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Shai Gabso (; born July 20, 1984 in Rishon LeZion) is an Israeli singer. He rose to fame, as 2nd runner up of the first season of Kokhav Nolad ("A Star is Born", an Idol-like series show). He released Arim Roshi (Raise my head). The single "Arim Roshi" is often used as a poster song for the IDF and the war against Hezbollah.

External links

Official Website

Category:1984 births Category:Israeli male singers Category:Living people Category:Kokhav Nolad contestants Category:People from Rishon LeZion

Name	Ofra Haza
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Bat Sheva' Ofra Haza Bat Shoshana / Yefet Haza
Alias	Ofra Haza
Born	November 19, 1957
Died	February 23, 2000Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
Origin	Ha'tikva neighborhood, Tel Aviv, Israel
Instrument	Vocals, Piano
Genre	World, Pop, Ethnic electronica, Middle eastern
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, actress
Years active	1969–2000
Movies	"Shlager" (1979 Israel), "Suburban Girl" (1979 Israel), "Primal Justice" (1997 Israel), "Prince Of Egypt" (1999 USA)
Label	Hed ArziEastWest RecordsShanachie RecordsBMG AriolaAusfahrtSire/Warner Bros. Records
Url	Ofra.Haza.Co.IL}}

Ofra Haza ( November 19, 1957 – February 23, 2000) was an Israeli singer, actress and international recording artist. She was one of the most popular and appreciated female singers in Israel.

Haza was born the youngest of nine children in the poor Tel Aviv neighborhood of Hatikvah in 39 Boaz Street. At an early age she became a local, then national, success story, the subject of great pride for many Israelis.

Her voice has been described as mezzo-soprano, of near-flawless tonal quality, capable of lending itself to a variety of musical styles with apparent ease.

Inspired by a love of her Yemeni Jewish culture, the appeal of her musical art quickly spread to a wider Middle Eastern audience, somehow bridging the divide between Israel and the Arab countries. As her career progressed, the multi-lingual Haza was able to switch between traditional and more commercial singing styles without jeopardizing her credibility. The music, too, fused elements of Eastern and Western instrumentation, orchestration and dance-beat. Success was to follow in Europe and the Americas; during her singing career, she earned many platinum and gold discs.

Early career

At the age of twelve and one-half years, Haza joined a local theater troupe, and manager Bezalel Aloni spotted her exceptional singing talent. He staged many of his productions around Haza as the centrepiece and later on he became her longtime manager and mentor. At the age of 19, she was Israel's first pop princess and retrospectively, music journalists described her as "The Madonna of the East".

By the time she had completed her military service in 1979, Aloni's protégée had matured as a singer and was ready to launch a solo career.

Her first album, entitled Al Ahavot Shelanu (Our Love), was released in 1980 and yielded a string of popular radio hits, including "Hageshem" (The Rain), "Shir Ahava La'chayal" (Love Song For The Soldier), "Kmo Tzipor" (Like A Bird) and what ultimately became her signature song in her homeland, "Shir Ha'frecha" (The Bimbo Song). The latter was written for the film Shlagger (1979) in which Haza played a leading role. At first, radio stations across the country refused to play the song due to its explicit lyrics but it quickly climbed the charts and reached #1, where it stayed for five consecutive weeks.

A second album soon followed, Bo Nedaber (Let's Talk), which included the hugely popular hits "Tfila" (Prayer) and "Simanim Shel Ohavim" (Lovers Signs).

Her third album, Pituyim (Temptations) came out in 1982 and enjoyed equal success with such hits as "Gabriel" and "Kol Yom Matchila Shana" (A New Year Starts Everyday). With this album, more well-known writers agreed to write her songs, including Tzvika Pick and Nurit Hirsh.

In 1983, Haza's career jumped to a new level of success and popularity. At the Eurovision Song Contest, she came in a close second to the Luxembourg entry with the song "Chai" (Alive). Her popularity in Israel reached enormous heights. Her 1983 album, Chai, became her biggest-selling album to date and the title track was voted the #1 song of the year. Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History that Haza's performance of this song was highly symbolic as it contains the lyric "Israel Is Alive". As the contest was held in Munich, Germany, the scene of the 1972 Olympic's massacre, there was considerable patriotism involved with the Israeli entry. Additional hits from the album included "Amen Lamilim" (Amen For Words) and "Sof Hakayitz" (End Of Summer). Haza was voted "Female Vocalist Of The Year" four years in a row, from 1980 through 1983. Later that year, Haza released Shirey Moledet which consisted of her renditions of well-known Israeli folk songs. Public response was so overwhelming, she went on to release two more volumes (in 1985 and 1987).

Bait Ham (A Place For Me) was released in 1984 and included such hits as "Yad Beyad" (Hand In Hand), "Itcha Halayla" (With You Tonight) and the title track. The album quickly went gold. In December that year, Haza released what was to become the turning-point of her career, a collection of Yemenite songs, simply titled Yemenite Songs. Despite lukewarm radio airplay, the album went on to become a best-seller, quickly reaching platinum status. This LP was reissued in the United States by Shanachie Records under the title Fifty Gates of Wisdom.

The album Adama (Earth) followed in 1985 and saw the top writers in the country contribute to the album: Sasha Argov, Naomi Shemer, Ya'akov Orland and Ehud Manor, among others. The album produced the enormously popular hits, "Adama", "Goral Echad" (One Destiny) and "Mishehu Holech Tamid Iti" (Someone Always Walks With Me).

In 1986, Haza tried to update her sound and gathered with acclaimed producer Yizhar Ashdot to create what some consider to be her most interesting work, Yamim Nishbarim (Broken Days). The album had an edgy rock sound and the lyrics were deep and personal and written by Haza herself, a first. The album went gold and produced the hits "Kol Haklafim" (Open Your Cards), "Bo Ve-Nagen Oti" (Come and Play Me) and "Hake'ev Haze" (This Pain).

When asked about her musical roots in an interview on KCRW-FM radio (1993, Santa Monica), Haza spoke of her Yemenite Jewish parents, a childhood filled with music and singing and a passion for traditional Yemenite songs, picked up from her mother. Questioned about the theatre troupe, she spoke of poverty and the total neglect of successive governments for the Hatikvah region; and how, by way of protest, the community had rallied to create something positive and dramatic, which would make others sit up and take notice of a forgotten neighbourhood. Throughout the interview, Aloni can be heard in the background, adding information and correcting Haza about her age (by subtracting two years), when asked about her first album.

International artist

2000"]] Her greatest international recognition came with the single "Im Nin'Alu", taken from the album Shaday (1988), which won the New Music Award for Best International Album of the Year. The song topped the Eurochart (Europe's equivalent to the American Billboard charts) for two weeks in June that year and was on heavy rotation on MTV channels across the continent. For years to come, this song would be extensively re-released, re-mixed and sampled, for example on Coldcut's remix of Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full," and by DJ Cheb I Sabbah in La Kahena. The single made only a brief appearance in the UK top 40 singles chart, but became a dancefloor favorite across Europe and the USA, topping the German charts for nine weeks. Subsequent singles were also given the dance-beat / MTV-style video treatment, most notably, "Galbi", "Daw Da Hiya" and "Mata Hari", but none quite matched the runaway success of her first hit. "Im Nin' Alu" would go on to be featured on an in-game radio playlist of the video game , released in 2005 and featured on Panjabi MC's album "Indian Timing" in 2009.

Haza also received critical acclaim for the albums Fifty Gates of Wisdom (1988), Desert Wind (1989), Kirya (1992), Ofra Haza (1997) and for her collection of children's songs, L'Yeladim (1982).

Kirya (co-produced by Don Was) received a Grammy nomination.

In 1994, Haza released her first Hebrew album in seven years, Kol Haneshama (The Whole Soul). Though not an initial chart success, the album produced one of her biggest hits to date, "Le'orech Hayam" (Along The Sea). The song did not have any substantial chart success upon its release to radio but became an anthem after Haza performed it on the assembly in memorial to deceased Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a week after he was assassinated. Radio stations around the country started playing it and people took notice. Its lyrics became even more symbolic following Haza's own death in 2000.

Collaborations and performances

as the narrator]] Her collaborative work with internationally established acts included the single "Temple of Love (Touched by the Hand of Ofra Haza)", recorded with The Sisters of Mercy in 1992. Thomas Dolby co-produced Yemenite Songs and Desert Wind, where he was also a guest musician. Haza guested on Dolby's album Astronauts And Heretics (1992), singing on the track "That's Why People Fall In Love". She recorded "My Love Is for Real" with Paula Abdul in 1995 and on Sarah Brightman's album Harem, Haza's vocals were included on "Mysterious Days", thanks to an idea by Brightman's partner Frank Peterson (ex-Enigma), who produced both Harem (2003) and the album Ofra Haza (1997).

For the Kirya album, Iggy Pop, a friend of Don Was, performed the narration on "Daw Da Hiya" and Haza joined him and a host of other stars for the video and single release "Give Peace A Chance" in 1991. She also sang on the soundtracks of Colors (1988), Dick Tracy (1990), Wild Orchid (1990), Queen Margot (1994) and The Prince of Egypt (1998). In The Prince of Egypt, she voiced the small role of Yocheved, as well as singing "Deliver Us". When Hans Zimmer, who was working with Haza on the music for The Prince of Egypt, introduced her to the artists, they thought that she was so beautiful that they drew Yocheved, whom Haza voiced, to look like the singer. For The Prince of Egypt's soundtracks, Haza sang the song "Deliver Us" in 17 languages (including Czech — "Tak vyveď nás", Dutch — "Verlos ons, Heer", English — "Deliver Us", Finnish — "Johdata", French — "Délivre nous", German — "Erlöse uns", Greek — "Eleftheri", Hebrew — "Hoshia Na", Hungarian — "Szabadíts", Italian — "Ascoltaci", Norwegian — "Befri Oss", Polish — "Uwolnij Nas", Portuguese — "Liberte Nos", Spanish — "Libranos", Swedish — "Befria Oss"; about half of these were sung phonetically). On the soundtrack of The Governess (1998), Haza is the featured singer on seven of the twelve tracks and worked closely with film music composer Edward Shearmur. In 1999, she performed (together with late Pakistani artist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) the track "Forgiveness", on the contemporary symphony album The Prayer Cycle by Jonathan Elias. As a featured background vocalist, Haza's voice has been recorded, re-mixed or sampled for Black Dog's "Babylon" single, Eric B and Rakim's "Paid In Full (Coldcut Remix)" and for the M/A/R/R/S hit "Pump Up The Volume". The single "Love Song" has been re-mixed by DJs many times, its powerful vocal performance and comparatively sparse musical arrangement making it the perfect vehicle for a dance-rhythm accompaniment.

Covers of songs by other artists included the Carole King / James Taylor classic "You've Got a Friend", Madonna's "Open Your Heart", Gary Moore's "Separate Ways", and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir".

There were many distinguished live performances and Haza spoke with fond memories of her visits to Japan and Turkey. Notable too, was her performance at the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo, where she appeared alongside Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. "Paint Box" was written specially for the event. Her 1990 live recording, Ofra Haza At Montreux Jazz Festival was released in 1998.

Haza shared duets and concert performances with Glykeria, Yehudit Ravitz, Paul Anka, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Iggy Pop, Hoite, Buddha Bar, Ishtar, Gidi Gov, Whitney Houston, Tzvika Pick, Khaled, Prachim Yerushalaim, The Sisters of Mercy, Thomas Dolby, Stefan Waggershausen, Eric B and Rakim, Gila Miniha, Hans Zimmer, Hagashash Hachiver, Yaffa Yarkoni, Shoshana Damari and posthumously with Sarah Brightman.

At the fall of 1999, Haza recorded new material for a new album that she worked on with Ron Aviv, a music producer from Petah Tikva. At the time, she also worked with the Finnish violinist Linda Brava, who released a previously unreleased track called Tarab on her MySpace page on 14 May 2010. On the track, Haza sings in English, Arabic and Hebrew, while Brava plays the electric violin. The track might be the last recording of Haza, before she died.

Marriage

On 15 July 1997 Haza married businessman Doron Ashkenazi. They had no children together. Ashkenazi died of a suspected drug overdose on 7 April 2001, leaving a daughter from his previous marriage and a 14-year-old adopted son Shai Ashkenazi.

Death

Ofra Haza died on 23 February 2000 at the age of 42, of AIDS-related pneumonia. While the fact of her HIV infection is now generally acknowledged, the decision by the major Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz to report about it shortly after her death caused controversy in Israel.

After Haza's death was announced, Israeli radio stations played non-stop retrospectives of her music and Prime Minister Ehud Barak praised her work as a cultural emissary, commenting that she also represented the Israeli success story — "Ofra emerged from the Hatikvah slums to reach the peak of Israeli culture. She has left a mark on us all".

The disclosure that Haza had likely died as a result of AIDS added another layer to the public mourning. That a star with a reputation for clean living could be stricken caused shock among fans, debate about the media's potential invasion of her privacy, and speculation about how she had become infected, particularly blaming her husband.

Other reports indicate that she may have contracted the virus as a result of a blood transfusion in a Turkish hospital following a miscarriage.

She is buried in Yarkon Cemetery, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Legacy

Bezalel Aloni, Haza's manager and producer of 28 years, published a book Michtavim L'Ofra (Letters to Ofra) in 2007. The book is partially an autobiography of Aloni and partially a biography of Haza, which also consists of compiled letters written by Aloni.

On 22 March 2007, the Tel Aviv Jaffa Municipality and the Tel Aviv Development Fund renamed part of the public park in the Hatikva Quarter to Gan Ofra (Ofra's Park) on the seventh anniversary of her death, in honour of Haza. The park is placed at the end of Bo'az street where Haza's childhood home was built. The designated area features a children's playground, symbolizing her love for children and the old quarter where she grew up and always came back to.

Tributes

Touched By The Hand of Ofra Haza Fanzine (2008–2009) was a tribute fanzine.

Sharim Ofra (Singing Ofra) 2002 — A tribute concert to commemorate the life of Ofra Haza where Israeli singers sang Haza's songs.

Documentaries

Life & Death of Ofra Haza 2002 — Aired on the Israeli channel 2, 29 Januray 2002. This documentary in Hebrew focuses on Haza's entire life and career until her sad death.

Sodot (Secrets) 2005 — Aired on Israeli channel YES, this documentary in Hebrew and partly English is about Haza's life and attempts to answer questions surrounding her death.

Dokoceleb Ofra Haza 2007 — Aired on the Israeli entertainment station HOT, 22 February 2007. This documentary in Hebrew focuses on Haza's career, achievements and marriage.

Lost Treasure of Ofra Haza 2010 — Aired on the Israeli channel 10, 22 February 2010. This documentary in Hebrew and partly English focuses on Haza's inheritance.

Albums

1974 — Ahava Rishona (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)

1976 — Ve-hutz Mizeh Hakol Beseder (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)

1977 — Atik Noshan (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)

1979 — Shir HaShirim Besha'ashu'im (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)

1980 — Al Ahavot Shelanu

1981 — Bo Nedaber

1982 — Temptations

1982 — Li-yeladim (Children's Songs)

1983 — Hai

1983 — Shirei Moledet A

1984 — Bayt Ham

1984 — Shirei Teyman (a.k.a. Yemenite Songs or Fifty Gates of Wisdom)

1985 — Adamah

1985 — Shirei Moledet B

1986 — Yamim Nishbarim

1987 — Album HaZahav (The Golden Album)

1988 — Shaday

1988 — Yemenite Love

1989 — Desert Wind

1989 — Shirei Moledet A + B

1992 — Kirya

1993 — Oriental Nights

1994 — Kol Haneshama

1995 — The Golden Album (Double Compilation CD, Hed Arzi 2ANP15190))

1995 — Queen in Exile (Unreleased)

1997 — Ofra Haza

1998 — Ofra Haza At Montreux Jazz Festival (Live - recorded 1990)

1998 — Shirei Moledet 3

2000 — Greatest Hits vol.1/Bemanginat Halev (Melody Of The Heart)

2001 — Music History

2004 — Greatest Hits vol.2/Bemanginat Halev (Melody Of The Heart)

2008 — Forever Ofra Haza - Her Greatest Songs Remixed (incl. previously unreleased track)

Soundtracks

1988 — Colors

1990 — Dick Tracy

1990 — Wild Orchid

1994 — La Reine Margot (Queen Margot)

1998 — The Prince of Egypt

1998 — The Governess

1999 — The King And I (Hebrew version)

2000 —

See also

Mizrahi Music

References

External links

Ofra Haza Official Website

ofra haza in Internet Movie Database Website

ofra haza in "Jewish Women Encyclopedia"

ofra haza memorial page in Find a Grave Website

Category:1957 births Category:2000 deaths Category:AIDS-related deaths in Israel Category:Dance musicians Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1983 Category:Israeli columnists Category:Israeli Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:Israeli female singers Category:Israeli film actors Category:Israeli Jews Category:Israeli pop singers Category:Jewish musicians Category:Jewish singers Category:People from Tel Aviv Category:Sire Records artists Category:Yemenite Jews

Josef Hassid () (28 December 1923 - 7 November 1950) was a Polish violinist.

Born 28 December 1923 in Suwałki, Poland, as Joseph or Józef Chasyd, second youngest of four children, he lost his mother when he was ten and was brought up by his father Owseij who took charge of his career. After lessons with a local violin teacher he studied from 1934 at the Chopin School of Music in Warsaw under Mieczyslaw Michalowicz (1876-1965) and Irena Dubiska (1899-1989). In 1935 he entered the first Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Warsaw, but suffered a memory lapse; he received an honorary diploma.

His father arranged for him to play for fellow Pole Bronislaw Huberman (1882-1947), who was much impressed and he arranged for Hassid to study under the Hungarian virtuoso Carl Flesch (1873-1944) at his summer course in 1937 at Spa, Belgium, where fellow students included Ivry Gitlis (b. 1922) and Ginette Neveu (1919-1949). He developed a tremendous passion for a young lady there, three years his senior, but the liaison was broken up by her family (possibly because they were not Jewish), which had a disturbing effect on him.

London studies & concerts

Hassid came to London with his father in 1938 at Flesch’s invitation, to continue studies with him. Flesch concentrated on his musical and interpretative development rather than technical skills. Musical celebrities who heard him play at Flesch’s house and were astonished at his ability included Joseph Szigeti (1892-1973), Jacques Thibaud (1880-1953), David Oistrakh (1908-1974) and Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962). In a passage supplementing his father’s memoirs Carl F. Flesch wrote that “Hassid was no doubt one of the strongest violin talents of his time. Indeed Fritz Kreisler, after hearing him at my father’s house, said: ‘A fiddler such as X (mentioning a very famous name) is born every 100 years; one like Hassid every 200 years.’ “ Kreisler loaned Hassid for the remainder of his career a violin of 1860 by the French maker J.B. Vuillaume (d. 1875), which was a great improvement on the instrument he had played up until then.

He gave a private recital with the pianist Ivor Newton on 9 March 1938 as “Yossef Hassid” at the home of Mr L.L. Gildesgame, 41 Clifton Hill, South Hampstead, where the guests included Sir Henry Wood. After giving a private recital at the home of Sir Philip Sassoon, Hassid made his public debut at a recital with Gerald Moore in the Wigmore Hall on 3 April 1940, billed as the “Polish Boy Violinist”, playing works by Corelli (La folia variations), Debussy, Schubert (Sonata in G), Bach (adagio & fugue from one of the unaccompanied Sonatas), Paganini (I palpiti) and others. The next day The Times said Hassid “showed imagination and musical insight” and that “his performance created a strong impression.” Many years later Moore commented that Hassid was “the greatest instrumental genius I’ve ever partnered. I don’t know how to explain his incandescence. He had technical perfection, marvellous intonation, glorious tone – but there was something above that which was quite incredible, a metaphysical quality. Sadly he had an unhappy love affair which literally drove him mad. But then maybe the unrest inside him made him play so fantastically.” (Interview in The Gramophone, April 1973.) Three weeks later on the evening of 25 April he made his orchestral debut at the Queen’s Hall in a Polish Relief Fund concert (broadcast on the BBC Home Service) playing the Tchaikovsky concerto with the LPO under Gregor(y) Fitelberg (during which he suffered a memory lapse). The concerto was preceded by two short items by Chabrier & Kondracki and followed by Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. The next day The Times reported that Hassid “showed some signs of nervousness at the outset”, but “the beauty of his tone was striking and the brilliance of the finale” earned him generous applause.

He also gave a few recital broadcasts on the BBC and played the Beethoven concerto during an afternoon concert in the Queen’s Hall with Sir Adrian Boult conducting the LPO on 5 January 1941. On the 8th The Times commented of Hassid “a technically accomplished performance, but he has not yet attained to the purity of style, especially in the matter of sustaining an even tone throughout a phrase that the music needs.” Hassid’s final concert was also at the Queen’s Hall, on the afternoon of 1 March 1941, where he played the Brahms concerto with the Sidney Beer Symphony Orchestra of about thirty players under Sidney Beer. The Times review (4 March) noted that the concerto was “the least satisfactory part of the concert, because neither the young violinist not the conductor seemed to have a determined view of Brahms to present to their hearers. The solo performance was scarcely more than that of a clever student who has worked hard to memorize the concerto but is still liable to be thrown off his stroke, even to the point of forgetting his notes occasionally. The rhythm throughout was indecisive and the last pages of the Finale became almost a race between soloist and orchestra.”

Illness & death

Although originally shy and introverted Hassid was described as a carefree, likeable young man when he first came to London, but by February 1941 it became apparent that he was suffering from a severe mental disorder with violent mood swings, often becoming sullen and withdrawn, turning against his violin, his father and his religion. An inability to recognise close friends rapidly led to complete withdrawal from the world at large. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and on 19 June, withdrawn and uncooperative, he was admitted to St Andrew’s Hospital in Northampton for insulin coma therapy and electroconvulsive therapy. Hassid’s agent, the impresario Harold Holt, wrote to the superintendent of St Andrew’s: “He is nothing short of a violinistic genius and of such exceptional quality that we want to make the greatest effort possible to cure him. I would particularly like to stress that he is most exceptional, and might have – had this illness not developed – been one of the greatest figures in the violinistic world.” His condition improved for a time and he left the hospital on 2 May 1942, but on 9 December that year he was certified insane and admitted to Moorcroft House, a private asylum in Hillingdon, Middx, three days later, for further treatment. On 13 July 1943 Hassid was transferred to an asylum in Epsom (Long Grove Hospital), morose, indifferent and evasive, either silent or laughing inanely. He remained there for the rest of his life. His father had died in 1949 and the following year after an unsuccessful brain operation (bilateral prefrontal leucotomy) on 20 October Hassid developed meningitis and died at 10.17 p.m. on 7 November 1950; he was not quite 27 years old. The hospital records show his height as 5ft 3¾in and his weight as 9 stone.

Recordings

Fred Gaisberg of EMI arranged for a test recording of Elgar’s La Capricieuse (Op.17) with accompanist Ivor Newton at the Abbey Road Studios on 9 Jan. 1939 when Hassid had just turned 15 and then Walter Legge produced a further eight recordings on 12 & 28 June and 29 Nov. 1940, this time accompanied by Gerald Moore. The delay was due to Hassid’s agent Harold Holt who thought he should continue his studies for another year. Some who heard Hassid perform live say that the records do not show him at his best. Even so, his performances of Joseph Achron’s Hebrew Melody, Sarasate’s Zapateado and Kreisler’s Caprice viennois in particular are superb and show virtuosity of the highest order in expressive phrasing. To quote from Bryan Crimp’s note with the Testament CD: “The moment Hassid puts bow to string he beguiles the ear via a captivating and uniquely individual sound . . ., a peerless technique and an arresting and frequently original interpretative approach. His technical security and cleanness of attack are awesome, his tone at once vibrant, virile and indescribably pure and sweet.” Hassid apparently thought that his vibrato sounded too fast on record, but this is probably just a matter of taste.

Based on notes with CD issues, Feinstein 1997, newspaper advertisements & reviews, etc.

Complete published recordings issued on CD:

Pearl GEMMCD9939 (1992)

Testament SBT1010 (1992)

Symposium SYMPCD1327 (2003)

(The Testament & Symposium CDs also include the test from 1939.)

Josef Hassid was one of several prodigies whose brilliant careers were short lived. Bruno Monsaingeon's The Art of Violin commemorates Hassid.

References

STRAD magazine 94.1983/84.8; 12/1997; 5/1998, p. 455

STRAD Index

Anthony Feinstein: “Psychology and the child prodigy: the mental illness of violin virtuoso Josef Hassid.” (History of Psychiatry, vol. 8, part 1, no. 29 [1 March 1997], pp. 55-60.)

External links

Hassid photo

Category:Polish classical violinists Category:1923 births Category:1950 deaths Category:People with schizophrenia Category:Jewish classical musicians Category:Polish Jews

Clara Rockmore (March 9, 1911May 10, 1998) was a virtuoso performer of the theremin, an electronic musical instrument.

Biography

Born as Clara Reisenberg in (present-day) Vilnius, Lithuania, Rockmore was a child prodigy on the violin and entered the Imperial conservatory of Saint Petersburg at the age of five. She studied violin under the virtuoso Leopold Auer, and remains to this day the youngest student ever to be admitted to the institution. Unfortunately, bone problems due to childhood malnutrition forced her to abandon violin performance past her teen years. That however led her to discover the newborn electronic instrument and become the most renowned female player of the theremin.

Rockmore had several gifts that enabled her to play the theremin so well. Her classical training gave her an advantage over the many theremin performers who lacked this background. She possessed absolute pitch from birth, helpful in playing an instrument that generates tones of any pitch throughout its entire range, including those that lie between the conventional notes. She had extremely precise, rapid control of her movements, important in playing an instrument that depends on the performer's motion and proximity rather than touch. She also had the advantage of working directly with Léon Theremin from the early days of the instrument's commercial development in the United States.

Rockmore, as the mature musician she was, saw the limitations of the original instrument and helped to develop the instrument to fulfill her needs, making several suggestions to improve the theremin as a performing instrument. Such suggestions, like a faster volume antenna, wider musical range, and control over the instrument's tone colour were incorporated by the inventor in later versions. She had a special theremin tailored by Léon Theremin himself to meet her unique requirements.

She developed a whole technique for playing the instrument, including a fingering system, which allowed her to accurately perform fast passages and large note leaps without the much known portamento on theremin.

Her older sister was the concert pianist Nadia Reisenberg.

She died in New York City on May 10, 1998, aged 87.

Albums

Film and video

References

Notes

External links

The Official Nadia Reisenberg Clara Rockmore Foundation Website

A Short Photo-biography of Clara Rockmore

In Clara's Words - An interview Clara Rockmore gave to Bob Moog in 1977.

In Clara’s Home – Her Last Years, and the Summer of 1997 - An essay, written by Steve J. Sherman, Clara Rockmore's great-nephew and Nadia Reisenberg's grandson, providing an in-depth account of Clara Rockmore’s life during her last decade, up until her death in 1998.

A MySpace page devoted to Clara Rockmore

Nadia Reisenberg / Clara Rockmore Foundation

Streamable NPR "All Songs Considered" show featuring 'Summertime' performed by Clara Rockmore

Clara Rockmore at ThereminWorld

Category:1911 births Category:1998 deaths Category:American Jews Category:Electronic musicians Category:Jewish musicians Category:Lithuanian Jews Category:Theremin players Category:Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni Category:People from New York City Category:People from Vilnius