Arik Einstein

Einstein was born Arie Einstein in Tel Aviv on January 3, 1939, the only child of Dvora and Yaakov Einstein.[4] His father was an actor at the Ohel Theatre, and Arik attended the A.D. Gordon School.[4] As a teenager, he participated in the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement and competed in athletics and basketball for Hapoel Tel Aviv.[4] His father supported his musical ambitions and encouraged him to audition for the Israel Defense Forces’ Nahal Brigade entertainment corps.[1]

Before establishing himself as a performer, Einstein distinguished himself as a young athlete, winning Israeli youth championships in both high jump and shot put.[6][7] He also won a bronze medal in high jump at the 1957 Maccabiah.[6] His sporting activities included playing basketball for Hapoel Tel Aviv’s youth team, where he acquired the nickname “Arayot” for his technical ability.[6] These achievements preceded the military entertainment service that became the starting point of his professional musical career.[6]

Einstein entered the Nahal Entertainment Troupe in 1957, initially as an actor and subsequently as a singer.[6] Poor eyesight helped direct him toward service in the army band rather than another military assignment.[8] His notable troupe performances included “Ruach Stav” (“Autumn Wind”), “Ya Yar-e’ach,” and “Dina Barzilai,” with “Ruach Stav” establishing him as one of the troupe’s prominent performers.[6] He later recalled having mispronounced a word in “Ruach Stav,” singing a form meaning “the donkey brays” instead of “the girl,” and expressed surprise that nobody had corrected him.[9]

After completing military service, he performed in the satirical Sambation Theatre in 1959 and began taking roles in stage productions and films.[2] He also joined Batzel Yarok, or Green Onion, an entertainment troupe.[2][7] His early theatrical appearances included productions of Little Tel Aviv and Irma La Douce.[2] Music, acting, and comedy thus all formed part of his work before his emergence as a leading recording artist.[2]

One of his earliest recordings was “The Small Hours of the Night,” recorded in 1959 when he was 20, shortly after leaving the Nahal troupe and while associated with Sambation.[9] Its lyricist, Yossi Gamzu, later remembered it as Einstein’s first hit after his military entertainment service.[9] An early four-song solo release included that song alongside “White City,” “Desert Inn,” and “She Was 17.”[6] Einstein returned to “The Small Hours of the Night” in a new recording in 1977.[9]

In 1964, Einstein joined Benny Amdursky and Yehoram Gaon in the Yarkon Bridge Trio; Israel Gurion subsequently replaced Gaon.[6] Active from 1964 to 1966, the trio recorded popular songs including “Ahavat Po’alei Binyan” and “Ayelet Ahavim.”[6] Its success made it one of the leading acts of the Israeli pop scene during those years.[2] Einstein also won first place at the Festival of Hebrew Song and Choral Singing in consecutive years, performing “Ayelet Ha-chen” in 1965 and “Leil Stav” in 1966.[6] These festival victories helped establish him as a household name.[2]

Einstein’s full-length solo album Shar Bishvilech (“Singing for You”) appeared in 1966 and included “Al Tivki Yalda” and “Halayla Hazeh.”[6] Alongside his developing recording career, he continued acting: his film debut was in Nini, in which he appeared with his father.[2] In 1964, he appeared in Ephraim Kishon’s Sallah Shabati, a comedy about the difficulties encountered by Jewish immigrants from Arab countries.[2] His work during this period therefore extended across popular song, musical ensembles, theater, and cinema.[2]

In 1967, Einstein formed the High Windows with Shmulik Kraus and Josie Katz.[4] The trio’s sole studio album appeared in April, six weeks before the Six-Day War, and included songs such as “Yehezkel,” “Einach Yechola,” “Kol Hashavua Lach,” and “Zemer Noge.”[4][8] Einstein also contributed lyrics, including those for “Az Ma” and “Kol Hashavua Lach.”[4] The record connected Israeli popular music with international pop and rock, and its songs became enduring parts of the Israeli rock repertoire.[4][10]

The High Windows dissolved after approximately a year amid creative disagreements.[8] Among the issues was Einstein’s objection to distributing translated versions of the songs, which he believed lost the full effect of their lyrics.[8] The group’s brief existence nevertheless had a long commercial afterlife: a remastered reissue of its album achieved platinum sales in Israel in 2007.[8] “Yehezkel” remained among the songs closely associated with Einstein’s work in the trio.[4][8]

His collaboration with the younger musician Shalom Hanoch began in the late 1960s.[4] Their 1968 album Mazal Gdi (“Capricorn”) consisted of Hanoch compositions and included “Layla,” “Kehay Kehay,” and “Ruach Ruach.”[4] The album succeeded on radio, although the performances that followed it did not enjoy comparable success.[4] Hanoch became one of several younger collaborators with whom Einstein developed new musical directions, alongside musicians such as Miki Gavrielov, Yitzhak Klepter, Shem-Tov Levi, and Yoni Rechter.[4][2]

In 1969, Einstein recorded Puzi, also rendered Poozy, working with the rock group the Churchills.[4] The album included “Kama Ham,” “K’she’at Bocha At Lo Yafa,” and “Prague,” bringing distorted guitars and a louder, more forceful vocal delivery into his recorded work.[4] The Churchills supplied half of the album’s instrumental performances and subsequently released three albums with Einstein as singer.[8] Puzi marked a decisive part of his move into Hebrew-language rock, followed by further collaboration with Hanoch and their wider circle.[4][2]

Einstein and Hanoch appeared as themselves in the 1970 film Shablul, which depicted work on their album of the same name.[4] The film interspersed musical material with comedy sketches and involved collaborators including Uri Zohar, Josie Katz, and Shmulik Kraus.[2] The album and film brought international pop-rock influences together with Israeli settings and colloquial Hebrew.[4] Songs on the album included “Kach Lecha Isha,” “Avshalom,” and “Lama Li Lakachat Lalev.”[4] Its music also incorporated Beatles-like psychedelic effects and humor.[11]

The creative circle surrounding these projects included Einstein, Hanoch, Zohar, and Tzvi Shissel.[4] Their television work included Lul, also transliterated Lool, a combination of comic sketches and musical performances.[8][2] The program comprised four episodes, with screenings in July and September 1970, and was later released as a feature-length film in 1988.[8][2] Its performance-oriented format included singers presenting established Israeli songs as well as comedy.[8] Einstein’s film and television work would remain an important counterpart to his recording career.[7]

In 1971, Einstein began a major collaboration with Miki Gavrielov on the album commonly translated as At Avigdor’s Lawn.[12] Its songs included “Ani Ve’ata,” “Ani Ohev Lishon,” and “Kafe Turki.”[12] “Ani Ve’ata” expressed the possibility of changing the world through the actions of “you and I.”[3] That year Einstein also recorded a children’s-song album with guitarist Rob Huxley, extending his repertoire beyond the rock material of the preceding years.[2]

Einstein starred with Uri Zohar in Metzitzim (“Peeping Toms”) in 1972.[12] His films with Zohar depicted the bohemian life of northern Tel Aviv, while his broader screen work also included Big Eyes.[7] In the same year, he released Yasmin, which included “Kama Tov Sheba’at Habayta” and “Ima Adama,” although the album initially met with limited success.[12] Several of his screen productions, including work associated with the Lul circle, later became cult favorites.[7]

A shift toward older Hebrew material became particularly evident with Eretz Yisrael Hayeshana Vehatova (“Good Old Land of Israel”) in 1973.[12] The album featured his versions of songs including “Ruach Stav,” “Ruti,” and “Laila Laila.”[12] Over the following decade, he released nostalgia-oriented recordings and continued working with Levi, Klepter, Rechter, and Gavrielov.[2] The series known as “The Old and Good Land of Israel” renewed older Hebrew songs across different musical genres; Einstein explained that he made these records because he enjoyed singing the songs.[8]

This return to established repertoire did not end his recording of new material.[12] Sa La’at, released in 1974, included its title song and “Yeladim Shel Hachayim” and reflected the atmosphere in Israel after the Yom Kippur War.[12] “Hofim” (“Beaches”), from 1976, belonged to his sequence of recordings celebrating traditional Israeli music and the land.[13] The 1978 soundtrack Sus Etz (“Wooden Horse”) was another important release in this period.[10] His repertoire increasingly accommodated both contemporary songwriting and renewed interpretations of earlier Hebrew songs.[8][12]

Einstein’s last public performance took place on August 29, 1981, at Caesarea, concluding the tour for Chamoosh Bemishkafayim.[7] He later explained that the lights, attention, and pressure before going onstage had become stressful and embarrassing, and that performing was affecting his health.[5] Although he stopped giving concerts, he continued to enjoy recording and creating music in the studio.[8] His withdrawal from live performance preceded the serious road accident he suffered the following year.[5][14]

On August 23, 1982, a bus struck the Renault in which Einstein was traveling with Sima Eliyahu, Nurit Bornstein, and the artist Rivka Rubinstein.[14] Rubinstein was killed, and rescuers had to cut through the car’s doors to free Einstein from the back seat.[14] He sustained a serious head injury, broken ribs, and an eye injury requiring a retinal transplant.[14] His partner Sima was also injured, and Einstein spent an extended period in hospital.[15] He subsequently recovered, gave interviews less frequently, and became increasingly withdrawn from public appearances.[14][15]

His collaboration with Klepter produced Yoshev Al Hagader (“Sitting on the Fence”) in 1982.[10] Klepter composed all its songs and received equal credit as a partner.[10] During his recovery from the accident, Einstein began gathering material for Shavir (“Fragile”), their second and final full-album collaboration.[14] Released in 1983, it was unusual in that Einstein wrote all the lyrics.[14] The title song entered the Reshet Gimel charts in August 1983, approximately a year after the crash.[14] Einstein called Shavir “a very, very beloved record” and, despite its weaker commercial performance, “one of my most beautiful” albums.[14]

Studio work continued with a broad circle of musicians through the 1980s.[15] The 1986 album Ohev Lihyot Babayit was made with Gavrielov, who invited musician Adi Renert to participate.[16][15] Renert later recalled Einstein singing while the instrumentalists played; hearing the voice through his headphones, he initially mistook it for an existing recording.[16] He remembered Einstein’s manner as funny, easygoing, unpretentious, and professional.[16] During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Einstein also made several children’s-song albums with Levi and Rechter and the videos Kemo Gedolim (“Like Grownups”) and Kemo Gedolim 2.[2]

In 1992, Einstein reunited with Shablul producer Zvi Shissel for Kevallim (“Cables”), a parody of cable television.[2] It included a duet with Yehudit Ravitz and comic routines with Moni Moshonov.[2] His recording career slowed during the 1990s, and newer releases attracted a less enthusiastic public response even as listeners continued to value his older work.[10] He increasingly restricted his social life to family and friends.[10] His personal life included three marriages, twice to Alona Shochet, and four children.[1]

Einstein’s 1995 album Yesh Bi Ahava was made with Shem-Tov Levi.[15] After Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination that year, Einstein released “Zeh Pitom Nafal Aleha” (“It Suddenly Fell Upon Her”), expressing grief and empathy for Rabin’s widow, Leah.[13] His rendition of “Livkot Lecha” (“Cry for You”) also acquired particular significance after the assassination.[1] Later collaborations included Muscat, his 1999 reunion album with Hanoch, “Yoman Masa” with Aviv Geffen in 2000, and “Politika” with Micha Shitrit in 2001.[15] He also recorded a new version of Meir Ariel’s “Aggadat Desheh” with Hanoch in 2001.[2]

Einstein received an ACUM lifetime-achievement award in 2005 for songwriting and comedy-sketch writing, but did not attend the ceremony.[2][15] A special lifetime-achievement award for his contribution to Israeli music followed at the Israeli music-channel awards in 2006.[17] He again remained absent, while Yehudit Ravitz and Peter Roth performed one of his songs in tribute.[17] He was selected as the “Singer of the Sixtieth” for Israel’s 60th anniversary in 2008 and repeatedly declined the Israel Prize.[15]

Kol Ha Tov Shebaolam (“All the Good Things in the World”), released in 2007, was his last released album.[8] He remained Israel’s most-played artist on radio in 2010, and in 2012 Yedioth Ahronoth named him the best Israeli singer of all time.[1][15] His 2012 duet with Shlomo Artzi, “Chozerim Habayta,” appeared on Artzi’s album Osher Express.[15] In his final weeks, Einstein and Guy Bukati were developing an album of poems by Avraham Halfi; two days before his death, he visited Bukati’s home studio to record a new song.[15] Sketches of three late songs were released posthumously.[15]

Einstein died on November 26, 2013, aged 74, after collapsing at his Tel Aviv home with an abdominal aortic aneurysm and being taken to Ichilov Hospital.[15] He had continued recording and was preparing a regular Maariv column; its first installment was published posthumously.[15] At his death, his family included four children, 18 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.[15] Thousands gathered in Rabin Square before his burial in Tel Aviv’s old Trumpeldor Cemetery, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and numerous figures from Israeli cultural life attending the farewell.[18]

Across more than four decades, Einstein released dozens of albums and hundreds of songs, both solo and with groups.[4][1] His work brought musical innovation together with homage to older Hebrew repertoire and included settings of poets, children’s music, rock recordings, comedy, and political songs.[4][2] Long-running collaborations with Hanoch, Gavrielov, Klepter, Levi, and Rechter helped him move between new songwriting and renewed versions of established songs.[4][2]

His recordings helped establish Israeli rock while retaining a close relationship with older Hebrew music.[1][11] Puzi introduced a forceful guitar-based sound into his repertoire, while Shablul joined rock experimentation, humor, and everyday Hebrew expression.[4][11] The recordings issued under “The Old and Good Land of Israel” made renewed versions of older Hebrew songs another major strand of his work.[8] A broader history of Israeli music places him among the singers who developed Naomi Shemer’s musical approach by combining a distinctly Israeli message with a modern, folk-influenced popular idiom.[19]

Einstein’s songs became associated with Israeli public and private life across generations.[4][1] “Ani Ve’ata,” “Oof Gozal,” and “Livkot Lecha” were among the recordings closely identified with his place in Israeli popular culture.[1] “Oof Gozal” (“Fly Away, Little Bird”), another collaboration with Gavrielov, addresses a parent’s conflicting feelings as children leave home.[13] His repertoire thus encompassed personal relationships and family life alongside hopes for collective change and responses to national grief.[3][1]

The poetry settings were a distinctive component of this legacy.[4] In the Jewish Review of Books, an essay characterizes his performances of Avraham Halfi’s poems as “silky renderings” and judges them among the most popular Israeli recordings ever.[20] It singles out “Atur Mitzchekh Zahav Shachor” (“Your Brow Is Crowned with Black Gold”), set to music by Yoni Rechter.[20] Einstein was still working on Halfi material with Bukati shortly before his death, returning at the end of his career to a poet already closely associated with his recorded voice.[15]

“Ani Ve’ata” also helped connect American Jewish youth with Israel.[21] It was sung at Reform movement summer camps, youth groups, and creative services, becoming part of communal Jewish musical life beyond Israel.[21] Israeli pop songs more broadly were a mainstay of American Jewish camping in the early 1970s, when song leaders listened to Israeli rock and brought it into camps and youth programs.[22] In a retrospective essay, Jeffrey K. Salkin argued that this earlier connection between Israeli popular music and American Jewish youth culture had subsequently weakened.[22]

The song continued to provide a language of hope decades after its release.[23] In a 2024 personal reflection published by Stanford University’s Berman Archive, a writer described responding to “Ani Ve’ata” after October 7 and recalled its promise that “You and I, we’ll change the world.”[23] The writer understood the song as having offered Israelis hope through successive wars and conflicts.[23] This later response extended the song’s history of use in settings ranging from Israeli popular culture to American Jewish camps and services.[21][23]

Einstein’s death prompted public tributes that emphasized how deeply his music had entered Israeli life.[1] At the memorial gathering, Netanyahu said: “His songs accompanied us at all the stations of our lives — in our loves and disappointments, our ups and downs.”[1] President Shimon Peres described the songs as “the soundtrack of an entire nation.”[3] The scale of the public farewell contrasted with Einstein’s long withdrawal from concert stages and his preference for a private life centered on recording, family, and friends.[10][18]

Commemoration extended beyond the funeral and memorial ceremony.[24] Streets, parks, and public institutions in different parts of Israel have been named after him.[24] His recordings, collaborations, and screen performances preserved several intertwined strands of Israeli culture: military-troupe entertainment, the emergence of Hebrew rock, comic film and television, children’s music, poetry settings, and the renewal of older songs.[4][7] His continued radio prominence and major lifetime honors reflected the sustained public presence of that work even after he had ceased to appear before audiences.[8][15]

In August 2002, Einstein sued his longtime producer and manager Michael Tapuach, alleging that their relationship had not been governed by a direct agreement and that he had received less revenue than was due. Tapuach disputed the claims in a court filing, and the conflict developed into a public exchange of accusations. Einstein later linked the personal hurt of that period to his recording of “Tof Boded,” a song he described as dealing with betrayal and humiliation.[15]