Israeli songwriter and poet Yoram Taharlev, who wrote the lyrics to close to a thousand songs, died Thursday at his home at the age of 83.
Among Taharlev’s most notable songs were “Yeshnan Banot” (There Were Girls) and “Givat Hatahmoshet” (Ammunition Hill). More than 100 of his songs were written for army musical entertainment troupes.
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Born at Kibbutz Yagur in 1938, by the 1980s he had made the transition to writing books, including “Ahavat Hayai” (Love of my Life) and “Matzah Isha Matzah Tov” (which Taharlev’s website translated as “A Good Woman”). Taharlev explained that he began writing books because he felt deeply disconnected from Israeli music.
In recent decades, he produced a show called “Rise and Faint,” which he characterized as intelligent stand-up comedy.
In a 2010 interview with Haaretz, he said, “I would have liked young singers to sing my songs, but I don’t know today’s singers too well. I have very much stayed away from the field.”
He noted two young singers, Aya Korem and Keren Peles, who had caught his attention however. “There’s humor there and a new approach to things,” he remarked. “Let’s say that with Keren Peles, most subjects revolve around a man and a woman and there are also things about the family and things that touch my heart, and that are well-written. That’s what interests me.”
“I was sorry to hear about Yoram Taharlev’s death,” Culture and Sports Minister Chili Tropper said Thursday, describing him as “a poet and songwriter who deeply influenced Israeli culture for years.”
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Tropper called Taharlev’s work “among the foundation stones of Israeli culture,” and said it expressed “deep Jewish roots, a strong connection to the country and to the elements of Israeli identity along with wit and humor.” Taharlev’s work was “known in every home and deeply implanted in the hearts of a huge number of Israelis, and will continue to be even after his death,” he added.
