Bat-Sheva Ofra Haza was an Israeli singer, songwriter and actress, commonly known in the Western world as "the Madonna of the East", or "the Israeli Madonna".
11 Facts About Ofra Haza
2.
In Israel, Ofra Haza was a highly influential cultural figure, referred to as one of the country's biggest cultural icons, who helped to popularize Mizrahi culture.
3.
Bat-Sheva Ofra Haza was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Mizrahi Jewish parents from Yemen who had immigrated to Israel in 1949 with eight children.
4.
Shoshana had been a professional singer in Yemen and often performed at family celebrations, with Ofra Haza recalling her mother singing to her children from an early age.
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The album consisted of songs that Ofra Haza had heard in childhood, using arrangements that combined authentic Middle Eastern percussion with classical instruments.
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In 1994, Ofra Haza released her first Hebrew album in seven years, Kol Haneshama.
7.
The song did not have any substantial chart success upon its release to radio but became an anthem after Ofra Haza performed it on the assembly in memorial to deceased Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a week after he was assassinated.
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Yitzhak Rabin 8.
In late 1999, Ofra Haza recorded new material for a new album that she worked on with Ron Aviv, a music producer from Petah Tikva.
9.
The revelation of Ofra Haza's illness caused much surprise among fans, along with debate about whether the media invaded her privacy by reporting it; Ofra Haza had hidden the disease even from the Tel Aviv hospital workers who first treated her in an emergency room two weeks prior.
10.
Later, it was revealed that her husband believed Ofra Haza became infected because of a blood transfusion she received in a Turkish hospital following a miscarriage.
11.
The book is partly Aloni's autobiography and partly a biography of Ofra Haza, and includes letters written by Aloni.