ZEIRA, MORDECHAI

Zeira, Mordechai: translation

(1905-68)

Israeli composer. He was born in Kiev in the Ukraine, and went to Palestine after having been arrested as a member of a Zionist youth organization. He initially found employment as a construction worker and fisherman, but in 1927 he moved to Tel Aviv and joined the Ohel Theatre. Later he worked for the Palestine Electric Corporation. He wrote numerous songs, which were in part influenced by Eastern European cantorial and Hasidic idioms.