Duo Datz

Orna Cohen and Moshe Datz first met in the 1980s while touring the United States with an ultra-Orthodox festival band.[1] They married in 1985, when Moshe was 23 and Orna was 20.[1] Their professional partnership as a performing duo took shape gradually: Moshe initially appeared as a solo performer, with Orna sometimes joining him on stage.[1]

The duo gained their first significant public exposure at the 1987 Kdam Eurovision — Israel's national Eurovision preselection contest — with the song "Cupid" (קופידון), which placed fourth.[1] That appearance is described as their breakthrough moment and the point at which they became widely known under the playful double moniker "Datz and Datzah."[1] In the years that followed, they toured Israel, tested new material on live audiences, performed covers, and set aside earnings to record an album in a professional studio.[1] Their active professional period as a duo is reported to have run from 1986 to 2006.[6]

Duo Datz won Israel's Eurovision preselection and traveled to Rome to compete in the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest.[2][3] Their entry, "Kan," was written and composed by Uzi Hitman.[2] At the time of the contest, Israel was competing not long after the Gulf War and amid the First Intifada, and Moshe Datz later recalled the pressure of that context: "At our press conferences, they were always asking us, 'What kind of door are you opening?' What neighbors are you open to? You're sitting on occupied lands." He added: "The whole time in my head was the thought that we have to bring Israel [to the stage]."[7]

Performed in Hebrew, "Kan" finished third with 139 points.[3] The song has been described as a ballad about living life to the fullest and making the most of each moment, with a message of hope and optimism.[3] Its chorus, translated by the Center for Israel Education as "Here I was born, here my children were born," anchors the song in a longing to put down roots in the land.[8] For the performance, the pair wore white and took the stage with a simple backdrop and a small choir, keeping the arrangement focused on the song's emotional impact.[3] Their costumes were also noted for evoking the folk dancers of the early Zionist pioneering period.[8]

During the voting segment of the broadcast, Orna and Moshe held signs reading "Todatz" and "Todatzah" — a pun combining the Hebrew word for "thank you" with their surname.[2] The National Library of Israel's catalog of the 1991 pre-Eurovision recording lists "Kan" as track eight among twelve songs on an album issued by Kol Yisrael.[9] "Kan" went on to become one of Israel's enduring "Shirei Eretz Yisrael" — songs of the Land of Israel — and is described as a lasting classic in Israeli culture.[8][1]

Following the third-place finish, the duo decided against re-entering the Kdam Eurovision competition, saying that after reaching what they regarded as the highest possible result with "Kan," they had more to lose than gain from competing again.[5] Moshe did, however, compose the 1995 Israeli Eurovision entry "Amen" for singer Liora, noting that the song had originally been intended for the duo.[5]

Before their 1991 Eurovision appearance, the duo had already released two albums, though they were not yet household names.[2] Their debut album was titled "Be'otah ha-mitah" ("In the Same Bed"); a 1995 CD drew its tracks from that first record and supplemented them with four additional songs: "Erev Shabbat," "Shabbat Shalom Yerushalayim," "Cupidon," and "Tiyul be-Madbir ha-Tsmachim."[10] That release credits Orna as singer, Moshe as singer, producer, and editor, and names Moshe Datz and Nahum Heiman as producers.[10]

A 1999 Hebrew-language album released by Hed Artzi runs 46 minutes and seven seconds.[11] It credits Dudi Rosenthal and Gadi Goldman as arrangers and Moshe Datz as producer, and includes tracks such as "Ani shar lakh," "Derekh arukha," and "Ha-ahavah mesanveret."[11] A 2001 compilation cataloged as "Best of Duo Datz" spans 72 minutes and includes "Kan" among its tracks, with guest appearances by Eden, Lior Farhi, Dekalon, Philip Kirkorov, and the Israeli Air Force band; editing and production are credited to Moshe Datz and Pini Dekel.[12]

Among the songs associated with the duo's broader repertoire are "All That Came Before" (כל מה שקדם), "Thus God Created Us" (כך אלוהים ברא אותנו), "He Will Be My Husband" (הוא יהיה לי בעל), "You Are in My Heart" (אתה בליבי), "Don't Give Up on Me" (אל תוותר לי), "Song of the Roads" (שיר דרכים), "A Song for You" (שיר למענך), and "Follow Me in the Desert" (לכי אחרי במדבר).[6][4] Moshe recounted that a record company initially refused to allow the duo to record "Follow Me in the Desert"; they recorded it without the company's knowledge, and it became a success.[6] Orna named "Don't Give Up on Me" as her personal favorite.[6]

Creators with whom the duo worked over their career include Hava Alberstein, Uzi Hitman, Rachel Shapira, Ehud Manor, Ariel Zilber, and Hemutal Ben-Ze'ev Efron.[4] The total number of albums released is reported differently across sources — one account lists approximately ten albums, some of which reached gold status, while another describes approximately six studio albums and two compilations.[6][4]

From the mid-1990s onward, Duo Datz built a parallel career as major performers in Israeli early-childhood entertainment.[1] Their first children's cassette, "I Want a Party" (בא לי מסיבה), was released in 1995, with songs written by Smadar Shir and music composed by Moshe Datz.[5] The duo went on to produce the children's series "Tif and Taf" (טיף וטף), whose cassettes and DVDs sold hundreds of thousands of copies.[1] One account places the total of children's cassettes sold at 650,000, not broken down by title.[5] The duo also released six videotapes for young children.[6]

Orna and Moshe Datz announced their divorce in 2006, after which they continued working separately.[1] Within roughly five years of the separation, they resumed performing together in the children's production "Tif and Taf."[1] Their professional reunion also included the production "Motek shel Festival"; by 2015 they were co-hosting the Channel 24 program "The Datzes" (הדצים).[13]

"Kan" remained a touchstone of their public legacy. The duo performed the song at Israel's 70th-anniversary Independence Day ceremony and later reprised it at a Eurovision event held in Israel.[5]

"Kan" has attracted varied readings since its release. The Center for Israel Education describes the song as highlighting the people's connection to the land and their individual and national accomplishments, placing it within the tradition of Israeli folk-inspired popular song.[8] Some interpretations have characterized "Kan" as nationalistic in its themes, while others emphasize its inclusive or hopeful register — including a reading of the Arabic greeting "ahlan" in the lyrics as a gesture of openness toward Israel's neighbors.[14][2] These readings reflect the range of meanings that commentators have found in the song rather than a single settled interpretation.