David zehavi biography

ZEHAVI, DAVID (1910–1977), Israeli composer born in Jaffa to parents who had arrived from Romania in 1899. At age 14 Zehavi joined a group of Ha-No'ar ha-Oved, which set up a new agricultural community, kibbutz Na'an (1930). There, in addition to farming, he conducted sing-along sessions. He was the first composer born in Ereẓ Israel, and as such he ranks among the founding fathers of the Israeli folk song together with *Admon, *Ze'ira, *Nardi, and others. In 1927 he composed his first published song, "Orḥah ba-Midbar" ("Caravan in the Desert"), whose opening line "Yamin u-Semol" ("From right to left …") is often quoted as the title. He composed some 400 songs altogether; 250 of them appeared in print. Many of his songs are considered to be among the best in Hebrew song, such as "Halikhah le-Kesaria" (or "Eli Eli Shelo Yiggamer le-Olam" ("On the Road to Caesarea," or "My God, My God, Let It Never End"), "He-Ḥalil" ("The Flute"), the Palmaḥ song "Hen Efshar" ("How Can It Be Possible"), "Yesusum Midbar" ("Let the Desert Rejoice"), "Niggunum," "Male

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