Shotei Hanevua, or “The Fools of Prophecy”, was an Israeli musical group selected as Israel’s “Band of the Year” in 2005.  The band described its music as a fusion of dub reggae with hip-hop and dance music, with an eastern Mediterranean flavor. The band toured the United States in 2005, performing at major colleges and universities.  The group broke up on August 12, 2007.

In this centenary year for Tel Aviv, the first Hebrew speaking city, an anthology of English stories captures many facets of the city that many know infinitely less well than they do Jerusalem.  The stories range in quality, and some of it’s a matter of taste, but for an English language window into the world of Tel Aviv that you’ve probably missed thus far, this charming book is a great place to get started.

Idan Raichel has a unique approach to music: he fuses electronic, Middle Eastern, Ethiopian, and traditional Hebrew music and texts together to create a sound that is all his own.  To date he has released three studio albums and a Greatest Hits album.  His first and fourth albums include musicians from various backgrounds, including Ethiopian Jews, Arabs, and South African singers, to name a few.  His second album only has one guest singer, but is still an exemplary work of art.  Raichel’s first two albums both reached 3x platinum, and his most recent album, Within My Walls, acheived gold status.  Click here to visit his Website.

‘Shirat haTanach’ is a five-disc collection of over one hundred biblically-inspired songs, released by the Israel Broadcasting Authority and Hatav Hashmini records.   Assorted popular Israeli artists participated in the production of this album, which encompasses the varied history of Jewish Israeli music.

Shuli Rand, the award-winning star of the movie “Ushpizin”, released his album “Good Point” in 2008.  Rand’s music has a strong Jewish core blended with Israeli rock and other genres.  The songs in this album are based on Rebbe Nachman’s teachings.  Good Point reached gold certification this year.

Yonatan Raz’el is an Orthodox singer whose music transcends all boundaries to reach out to people from all walks of life.  His first album, All in All (or Sakh Hakol), was released in 2007.  That same year, Raz’el was named Jewish Vocalist of the Year by YNet; his songs have been played on Army Radio here in Israel.

An Academy Award nominee, and the winner of numerous Israeli and international prizes, this is a mostly animated film that had Israel in its grip for some time.  It addresses the long term memory of soldiers who fought in the first Lebanon War and are still dealing with the pain of the Sabra and Shatila massacres, for which Israel felt at least partially responsible.  A masterful work of art.  Watch it, and you’ll understand why many Israelis wondered whether it wasn’t actually fortunate that it didn’t win.  Is this a movie that we have to receive even more international attention, Israelis wondered.  See what you think.

This is the movie that brought the first Lebanon war to Israeli screens.  There is simply no film that does a better job of explaining why Israelis have become war-weary, cynical about the utility of additional military expeditions.  It’s not a terribly gory movie.  But it’s tense, and sad.  And a feeling of futility pervades.  Watch this film, and you’ll never see the work of young Israeli soldiers in quite the same way.

Miri, thirty-seven years old, is a twice-widowed, El Al flight attendant. She has her life carefully organized and moderated, until she discovered an abandoned Chinese boy whose foreign worker mother has been deported by Israel immigration authorities.  Miri decides to reunite the family, and embarks on an amusing and touching journey.  A lovely window into “normal” Israel people, and slice of Israeli life that we don’t often see in the world of film.

A film about the Haredi community, this wonderful film (by David Volach) is a fabulous lens into that world, showing with sensitivity and deftness the struggle with faith that a Haredi rabbi and his wife face when they are confronted by a devastating tragedy.  It’s a universal movie in that way, but it’s also a wonderful way of getting insight into the Haredi world, its customs and beliefs.  Unforgettable.