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Brakha Tsfira THREAD:
Brakha Tsfira was a seminal figure in the world of Israeli song and among its most colorful and influential personalities in the pre-State period. Few records remain of her family, her date of birth, or her childhood.
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Brakha Tsfira was a seminal figure in the world of Israeli song and among its most colorful and influential personalities in the pre-State period. Few records remain of her family, her date of birth, or her childhood.
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What is known that her father, Yosef Tsfira, emmigrated from Yemen in 1887, and settled in the Yemenite neighborhood of Nahalat Tsvi in Jerusalem. He then married Na'ama Amrani (also from Yemen), Brakha Tsfira’s mother.
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Brakha was born in 1910 in Jerusalem. Her mother, Na’ama, died while giving birth to her and her father, Yosef, was overcome by Typhus when she was only 3. After the death of her parents, she was brought to live with her uncle in Jerusalem, but fled from his house at age 5.
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She was then placed with a family in the Bukharan Quarter of Jerusalem. After 3 years she was moved again, due to the family leaving the city, and was place in the Yemin Moshe neighbourhood where most residents were Sephardic Jews from Salonika.
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Each of the families that participated in Tsfira’s upbringing led a similarly traditional lifestyle; as a result, she grew up surrounded by the melodies, poems (piyyutim), and songs for festivals and family celebrations. This was ultimately reflected in her music.
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In 1924, Tzefira was sent to study in Me’ir Shefeyah near Zikhron Ya’akov, directed at the time by Moshe Calwary. His wife Hadassah, Brakha's beloved teacher, encouraged her musical talents, and proposed that Tsfira should sing Shabbat songs in front of the students.
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Her success in Shefeyah motivated her teachers to send Tzefira to additional music studies. She moved to Jerusalem in order to study at the Kedma School, directed at the time by Sidney Siel.
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After several months, she left the school, as her teachers at Kedma recommended that she should study acting instead. She moved to Tel Aviv and was accepted to the Palestine Theater, founded by Menehem Gnessin, as well as to his acting school.
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The theater was closed the same year and Tzefira joined the satirical theater Hakumkum, where she performed until 1929. While performing with Hakumkum, she also appeared as a solo singer and as a choir conductor on various occasions.
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During this period, Tsfira lived in the Neveh Zedek quarter of Tel Aviv, where she became familiar with Yemenite Jewish traditions, in particular the community’s songs, which captivated her. As a result, she began studying the Yemenite singing tradition with Yehiel Adaki.
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Upon the recommendation of Alexander Diki, a Russian director at the Habimah theater, and with the support of Meir Dizengoff, the mayor of Tel Aviv, Tsfira traveled to Berlin to continue her studies in acting and music at the studio of Max Reinhardt.
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It was there she’d meet her first husband Nahum Nardi:
“I sang Bialik’s ‘Yesh Li Gan’ and ‘Bein Nahar Prat’ for him, and Sephardi piyyutim … and other songs that I was used to singing from Shefeyah. He was a quick study with an excellent ear and a light touch at the piano.”
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“I sang Bialik’s ‘Yesh Li Gan’ and ‘Bein Nahar Prat’ for him, and Sephardi piyyutim … and other songs that I was used to singing from Shefeyah. He was a quick study with an excellent ear and a light touch at the piano.”
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In the summer of 1939 Tsfira appeared for the first time in concert with the Palestine Symphony Orchestra (later the Israel Philharmonic), performing only four songs. In 1942, however, the Orchestra held a special concert in Tel Aviv with Tsfira as soloist.
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This was a historic occasion from several standpoints, since it marked the first time that a performer appeared on stage with the Orchestra singing Oriental and Ladino songs.
After eight years relations between Tsfira and Nardi deteriorated and they divorced.
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After eight years relations between Tsfira and Nardi deteriorated and they divorced.
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Tsfira later married Ben-Ami Zilber and their son, Ariel, became an extremely well known songwriter/composer/singer.
During the 1950s public interest in Tsfira declined. She again went abroad, and returned in 1957. After her return she began to perform in smaller halls.
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During the 1950s public interest in Tsfira declined. She again went abroad, and returned in 1957. After her return she began to perform in smaller halls.
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She claimed that, in connection to an accident of her son Ariel in 1959, her vocal cords had become damaged without repair. Nevertheless, she continued to perform occasionally. She also studied drawing, in Israel and later in Paris, and had some exhibitions.
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During the sixties she continued to perform on occasion, and her last show was in the mid seventies, at the Tel Aviv Museum. Her husband Ben Ami Zilber died in 1984, and that deeply affected her, as well as her daughter's (from the marriage with Nahum) death in 1989.
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Brakha Tzefira died in 1990. Her death was not mentioned in the news or on the radio, but the weekend newspapers wrote about it. She was buried in the Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv.
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The Tel Aviv municipality posted a commemorative plaque in her honor in 2008. The Israel Philatelic Federation issued a stamp in her honor in 2012. Streets in Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva were named for her in honour.
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It is absolutely impossible to mention all of the accomplishments and details of her life without turning this into a 100+ tweet thread so if you are interested in more info I recommend these two links:
1) https://www.jewish-music.huji.ac.il/content/brakha-tzefira
2) https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/zefira-brachah
1) https://www.jewish-music.huji.ac.il/content/brakha-tzefira
2) https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/zefira-brachah
