Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Posthumous Album for Israeli Legend

Crossposted from Haaretz

Image by Daniel Tchetchik

Nearly six years after his death at the age of 73, the multitalented performer Yossi Banai remains an icon of Israeli culture. Next month will see the release of the album the writer, actor, singer and dramatist was working on when he died, in May 2006.

The album, “Old Songs,” consists of Banai’s words, set to music composed and performed by some of Israel’s best-known musicians. The first single, performed by Berry Sakharof, will reach radio stations on Wednesday.

Banai’s collaborators on the album included a son, Yuval Banai, and a nephew, Ehud Banai. “Old Songs” was completed after Banai’s family, including his widow, Aviva, gave their blessing to the Helicon recording company.

Read more at Haaretz.com

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.