What’s your favorite Hebrew-language music? Particularly women singers, if you know of any…
The only ones I really know are Dana International and Divahn. I like both of them but they’re so different from each other, to say the least! 
I’m particularly looking for reccomendations towards Biblical-Hebrew language music (Psalms, etc) but I’ll try to listen to modern Hebrew, too.
Cran-- don’t know if this helps, but here you can hear REAL Biblical Hebrew chanted in the traditional fashion:
http://bible.ort.org/books/torahd5.asp
This is the Torah (aka 5 Books of Moses, aka Old Testament) chanted with the ancient cantillation (musical notes). Traditionally, this was never done by women, and the Orthodox still don’t allow it. The Reform and many Conservative congregations do these days though.
i listened to a couple. that was very nice. i hope i can learn how to say a verse. i think it would be real cool when i got to heaven to be able to speak to God in His own language. then again. i’ll probably be shaking in my shoes and just hoping i don’t wet myself.
Thanks both. 
You’ll have neither shoes nor urine, and of course, no tongue. Planning won’t be necessary.
Whaddaya mean, his own language? She speaks Irish! 
I mainly listen to Klezmer or modern Jewish experimental music based on Klezmer—some of it by ultra-orthodox performers I don’t normally have much in common with culturally—but that is not what you want, at least it is not what you asked for. I did manage to dig out a few things from my collection that might interest you though.
First, Ofra Haza’s Yemenite songs. She’s a modern pop diva but this album is drawn from the Yemenite Diwan, a stock of songs based on devotional poetry which could be in Hebrew, Arabic or Aramaic.
Second you have the Ruth Yaakov Ensemble. I recommend Shaatnez, Sephardic songs from the Balkans. She sings in Ladino, mainly a mixture of archaic Spanish and Hebrew but with borrowings from Balkan languages.
Finally, try Naguila, again Sephardic but by the Cantor of the Montpellier Synagogue, Andre Taieb. This is more orthodox devotional singing, but accompanied.
If I were feeling mischievous, I’d include the great Sephardic rembetika singer Rosa Eskanazi (her name is misleading, suggesting Eastern European origin). But this music is in slang Turkish-dialect Greek and is anything but devotional. Still, no collection is complete without it. (Oh dear, I just have been mischievous.)
OK, a bit of Hebrew, a bit of devotional singing that is deeply traditional and Jewish and a couple of divas I think you will like. All of it beautiful music.
This is my favorite response. Thank you.
On a related note, in my ongoing studies in the academic study of religion and in Hebrew I feel like I might one day try for an advance degree in Jewish studies…Jewish music, even, perhaps. That’s years off at this point, though…again, thanks!
Ofra Haza was the business. She’s been gone from us seven years, now, R.I.P.
The Klezmer Conservatory Band (based on Boston) has 10 or so recordings in the market. The 4 that I have are excellent.
Quote:I recommend Shaatnez, Sephardic songs from the Balkans. She sings in Ladino, mainly a mixture of archaic Spanish and Hebrew but with borrowings from Balkan languages.
Ha ha! A wonderful name, which bears explanation. Somewhere in the Torah, there’s a passage (Deut 22:11) which says:Do not wear shaatnez, wool and linen together.
To this day, some orthodox Jews will not wear clothing made with this blend of fibres.
To have a band named Shaatnez singing in Ladino, which is a mixture of several languages is delicious!
Isn’t Klezmer usually done in Yiddish, not Hebrew?
It seems that way of the Klezmer groups here in Chicago.
I was going to suggest La Mar Enfortuna, but its mostly Sephardic Ladino. The Cd is a project of two members of the band Elysian Fields.
http://myspace.com/lamarenfortuna
I thought you’d pick that one up, Paul. (OK, so I was being a bit more mischievous than I admitted.)
This thread had me listening to Yaakov and Haza again. What beautiful music.
Cran, your avatar today is just WRONG
I know…I’m experimenting with faces of controversial famous people. I like her face. It’s aesthetically very interesting to look at.
I agree… as long as she keeps her mouth shut!
And the hypothesis of your experiment is…? 
That certain well-known women will get complaints on C&F whereas others won’t. So far it’s proving true…
That certain well-known women will get complaints on C&F whereas others won’t. So far it’s proving true…
It depends on what the certain well-known women did to become well known…
dear cranberry: i don’t think that it would be “women’s” faces. we’d have similar pros and cons with men’s faces. the jackasses would distrub us and the nice men, we’d like.