Culture of Israel

The culture of Israel, also called “Israeli culture", is inseparable from long history of Judaism and Jewish history which preceded it (i.e. dated earlier than the Israeli Declaration of Independence, on May 14, 1948). However, this article concerns only the cultural aspects of the modern Israeli state.

Background

With a population drawn from more than one hundred countries on six continents, Israeli society is rich in cultural diversity and artistic creativity. The arts are actively encouraged and supported by the government. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra performs throughout the country and frequently tours abroad. The Jerusalem Symphony, the orchestra of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, also tours frequently as do other musical ensembles. Almost every municipality has a chamber orchestra or ensemble, many boasting the talents of gifted performers recently arrived from the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Folk dancing, which draws upon the cultural heritage of many immigrant groups, is very popular. Israel also has several professional ballet and modern dance companies. There is great public interest in the theater; the repertoire covers the entire range of classical and contemporary drama in translation, as well as plays by Israeli authors. Of the three major repertory companies, the most famous, Habimah, was founded in 1917.

Artist colonies

Active artist colonies thrive in Safed, Jaffa, and Ein Hod, and Israeli painters and sculptors exhibit and sell their works worldwide. Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem have excellent art museums, and many towns and kibbutzim have smaller high-quality museums. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem houses the Dead Sea Scrolls along with an extensive collection of Jewish religious and folk art. The Museum of the Diaspora is located on the campus of Tel Aviv University. Israelis are avid newspaper readers. Israeli papers have an average daily circulation of 600,000 copies. Major daily papers are in Hebrew; others are in Arabic, English, French, Polish, Yiddish, Russian, Hungarian, and German.

Poetry and literature

Noted poets

Hayyim Nahman Bialik
Natan Alterman
Abraham Shlonsky
Leah Goldberg
Yehudah Amichai
Nathan Zach
David Avidan
Rachel (poet)
Dalia Rabikovich(died in 2005)
Neomi Shemer (1930-2004)
Rami Saari

Prose authors
Shmuel Yosef Agnon (winner of the Nobel prize for literature in 1966)
Aharon Appelfeld
David Grossman
Ram Oren
Amos Oz
Meir Shalev
A.B. Yehoshua
Dan Zalka

Fine Arts
Nahum Gutman
Yigal Tomarkin
Danny Karavan
Yaakov Agam
Reuven (painter)
Menashe Kadishman
Mordecai Ardon
Abraham Yakin
Hannah Yakin
Meir Pichhadze

Museums

More than 200 museums are operating in Israel with millions of visitors annually.

Jerusalem

Major museums in Jerusalem are:
The Israel Museum
The Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem,
The Ticho House.
The L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art.
The Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem.
The Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem.

Tel Aviv

Major museums in Tel Aviv are:
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art
The Eretz Israel Museum in Ramat Aviv.
Beit Hatefutsot (The Diaspora Museum), located on the Tel Aviv University campus.
Beit Hapalmach in Ramat Aviv.
Museum of the History of Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Independence Hall.

Haifa
Major museums in Haifa are:
The Haifa Museum
The Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art.
The National Maritime Museum.
The Hecht museum

Music

Israeli music is very versatile and combines elements of both western and eastern music. It tends to be very eclectic and contains a wide variety of influences from the Diaspora and more modern cultural importation: Hassidic songs, Asian and Arab pop, especially Yemenite singers, and hip hop or heavy metal.

The transsexual singer Dana International won the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest.

Film and theatre

Repertory theater companies

Habima
HaKameri
Beit Lessin
Gesher
HaKhan
Haifa Theater
Beer-Sheba Theater

Filmmakers

Boaz Davidson
Assi Dayan - Givat Halfon Eina Ona (Halfon Hill does not respond), The life according to Agfa, A Whale in Sharton beach
Eytan Fox - Yossi and Jagger
Amos Gitay - Kadosh, Kedma, Alila
Dover Kosashvili - Late Marriage
Elia Suleiman - Divine Intervention, Chronicle of a Disappearance and Cyber Palestine
Uri Zohar - Lul, Metzitzim (Peeping Toms), Hor Ba-Levana (A hole in the moon)

Animal rights in Israel

Israel is committed to animal rights. Israel has banned:
Dissection of animals in elementary and secondary schools.
Performances by trained animals in circuses.
Foie gras.