JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

Banat
the *Habimah acting school and took part in numerous stage
productions.
Banai always had a penchant for the comic side of
his profession and in the 1960s joined forces with Rivka Michaeli
in a program of humorous sketches and songs called
Yaldut Kashah (“Difficult Childhood”). The songs from the
show were later released on record. In 1968 Banai collaborated
with Eli Gurelitzki in a comic-musical production, directed
by Nissim *Aloni, called Ḥakhamim ba-Layla (“Smart
Alecks”) for which he wrote some of the sketches and two
songs. A record of songs from this show, too, was subsequently
released.
During the 1960s Banai spent some time in Paris and
was later among the leading performers of French music,
which was popular in Israel during the 1950s and 1960s. Banai
performed translated versions of French hits in several of
his productions, including Tel Aviv ka-Ketanah (“Little Tel
Aviv”) and Yossiakhzakyuna, and in 1969 he presented an
entire show based on the music of popular French crooner
Georges Brassens. In the early 1970s Banai released records
that included the works of Belgian-born singer Jacques Brel
and French singers Barbara and Georges Moustaki. Around
this time he also put out several albums of original Hebrew
compositions.
In 1973 Banai, Michaeli, and Aloni reunited for the comic
production Nissuin Nussakh Gerushin (“Divorce-Style Marriage”)
which spawned two successful albums. It was around
this time that Banai joined forces with one of Israel’s top songstresses,
Naomi *Shemer, with Banai providing the lyrics for
Shemer’s music to “Sefirat Mellai” (“Stock Taking”).
In 1979 Banai created his most successful one-man show,
Ani ve-Shimon u-Moise ha-Kattan (“Me, Shimon and Little
Moise”), based on Banai’s childhood in Jerusalem. The
show closed with Naomi Shemer’s composition Al Kol Elleh
(“For All These”) which quickly took on anthemic popularity.
Throughout the 1980s Banai continued making popular
albums, including teaming up with leading pop-rock figures
such as Matti *Caspi and Yoni Rechter. In 1990 he recorded
a song entitled “Eyfo Ani ve-Eyfo Hem” (“Where Am
I and Where Are They”), written by his rock star son Yuval.
Throughout this period Banai continued to be active in serious
theater, participating in the Cameri Theater’s Gam Hu be-
Aẓilim (1989), Mareh me-al ha-Gesher (1990) for the Habimah
Theater, and the 1999 production of Melekhet Ḥayyim for the
Beit Lessin theater.
In 2000 Banai was awarded the Israel Prize in recognition
of his contribution to the entertainment industry.
Other entertainers in the Banai clan include Yossi’s
younger brother GAVRI, who was a member of the country’s
leading comic team, *Ha-Gashash ha-Ḥiver, from its establishment
in 1963.
Yossi’s son, YUVAL (1962– ), was a founder-member of
rock band Mashina in 1984, following a stint as the soloist of
short-lived rock band Shelom ha-Ẓibbur. Mashina soon found
success and became the country’s top rock act for much of its
lifetime up to 1995. Yuval and Mashina were heavily influenced
by British punk rock and American funk and started out performing
cover versions of punk, funk, and blues numbers in
small venues in and around Tel Aviv. There was also something
revolutionary and anti-establishment about the band.
The debut album, Mashina 1, included several hits, such as
“Rakkevet Layla le-Kahir” (“Night Train to Cairo”), with lyrics
written by Yuval’s cousin Ehud, and “Ha-Tottakh Meẓalẓel
Pa’amayim” (“The Cannon Rings Twice”), the latter about a
soldier who can’t get the sounds of artillery out of his head
after returning from battle. Mashina’s material often touched
on political and social issues, and its music had mass appeal
as the band continued to fill the country’s largest venues and
its albums sold consistently well. The group disbanded in 1995,
after a sell-out tour, reuniting in 2003. In the interim, Yuval
released three solo albums and toured with Mashina members
Iggi Dayan and Shlomi Brakha.
Yuval’s cousin EHUD BANAI (1953– ), the son of Yossi’s
brother Ya’akov, took cello lessons from the age of 10 and was
inspired by the hits of Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, and The
Beatles. He began developing his guitar-playing skills as an
IDF soldier and honed his craft entertaining on the streets of
London after his release from the army. After his return home
he started writing songs and worked as a stagehand for his
uncle Gavri’s Ha-Gashash ha-Ḥiver comedy team. Over the
next few years Ehud wrote a number of hit songs and in 1982
tried, unsuccessfully, to start his own band together with vocalist
Avi Mattos. At this time, his on-stage efforts received a
welcome boost when he was hired to play guitar and provide
backup vocals for his uncle Yossi’s production Kemo Ẓipporim
(“Like Birds”) which was based on gypsy music. Ehud’s first
breakthrough came in 1985 when he recorded the hit single
“Ir Miklat” (“City of Refuge”) and the following year he established
his Plittim (Refugees) band. Two years later, at the
age of 34, Ehud finally got a recording contract and released
his first album, Ehud Banai ve ha-Plittim, which was a smash
hit. Ehud Banai became one of Israel’s most popular rock artists,
including a generous amount of ethnic material in his
records and performances. He had put out seven albums by
2005, the last, the eagerly awaited Anneh Lee, being his first
in six years and selling well.
Other successful members of the Banai “dynasty” include
rock guitarist-vocalist MEIR (1961– ); his younger brother,
rock, dance, electronic music pianist-vocalist EVYATAR
(1973– ); and actress-comedienne ORNA (1969– ).
[Barry Davis (2nd ed.)]
BANAT, region in the southwestern part of Romania which
for many years was regarded as belonging administratively
to Transylvania, though it also benefited from an independent
administration in the framework of the medieval Transylvanian
principality. It was inhabited for many centuries by
Romanians, Hungarians, Germans (Swabians), Serbs, and
Jews. The languages spoken there were German and Hungarian
as the official languages and other vernacular languages.
106 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3