Israel's culture is truly amazing and famous for its diversity. After all, a huge number of different peoples live on the territory of the country. But despite this, Israeli culture is based on national unity. It perfectly combines a great variety of traditions and cultural gifts of many generations of different peoples.
And despite the fact that the culture of Israel, briefly described in the article, compromises the traditions of different societies, the basis of the entire culture of the country is the heritage of the Jewish people. It will be difficult to find a second such country on the map, only Israel has not only a rich and specific culture, but also an influential Jewish power.
Country specifics
Where else will you find a state that has its own calendar, followed by only Israel. This calendar is unlike any other known today. In addition, Jews are proud of their holidays, many ancient books and their Hebrew language, which was only restored in the 20th century! Isn't it amazing?
Calendar
For many people, it will also be strange that the week in Israel starts on Sunday, and not on Monday, as we are all used to. These traditions are a homage to the ancient culture of Israel. The day off for the Jews is Saturday, and this is the holy day of Shabbat, on which all Israel stops working. On Shabbat, all shops, banks, pharmacies, hospitals and so on are closed. Therefore, Jews prefer to solve all matters before Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon with family and loved ones.
The foundation of Israeli culture
The most important components of Jewish culture are the Arab culture of the inhabitants of Palestine, the culture of the Russian people and other CIS countries, which was brought to Israel by repatriates who annually return to their historical homeland in large numbers. The Russian Center for Science and Culture in Israel is actively growing and developing.
In addition to two important components, Armenian, Georgian, French and other cultures give a special charm to the culture of the country. The mixture of traditions of these peoples makes Israel such an unusual and colorful country.
State languages
Israel has two official languages - Hebrew and Arabic. Public transport stop announcements, signs and street names are broadcast in both languages. A feature of the culture of Israel is Hebrew proverbs that everyone knows from young to old.
Cultural Heritage
In addition to the colorful culture, Israel boasts a great historical heritage, monuments and museums. On its territorythere are seven objects that are included in the UNESCO list and are the heritage of not only the country, but the entire world community.
The cultural and historical heritage of Israel includes:
- The old city of the capital of Israel - Jerusalem. Listed by UNESCO in 1981.
- Ancient fortress Masada. Entered the UNESCO list in 2001.
- The old part of the city and the ancient port of Akko. Entered the UNESCO list in 2001.
- The white city in Tel Aviv, decorated in the Bauhaus style. Entered the UNESCO list in 2003.
- Mounds of Beersheba, Hatzor, Meggido, which are located on the site of biblical cities. Entered the UNESCO list in 2005.
- The Spice Road along the Incense Route - the ruins of the desert cities in the Negev. Entered the UNESCO list in 2005.
- The famous Bahai Gardens located in Haifa and Acre. Listed in 2008.
Despite the fact that these cultural monuments came under the protection of UNESCO relatively recently, they nevertheless have significant significance in world culture.
About the culture of the country
Of course, the ancient heritage of Israel is of great importance in world history and culture. However, modern achievements deserve attention. Despite the fact that the actual capital of the country is Jerusalem, Tel Aviv is clearly recognized as the cultural capital.
Tel Aviv is a modern and young city located on the Mediterranean coast. Especially popular not only in Israel, but throughout the world are musicians who performclassical and jazz music, as well as avant-garde artists, sculptors and writers. Israel is one of the most reading countries and ranks first in terms of circulation and sales of various books. International theater and music competitions are often held in the country, and international book fairs are especially popular.
The driving force behind the development of modern Israeli culture is its diversity, heterogeneity and dynamics. In short, the culture of ancient Israel is based on the traditions of representatives of 100 countries of the world. The 3 main cultural areas - Palestinian, Russian and Orthodox Jews - have their own newspapers and cultural assets. Already from this it follows that the Israeli culture is considered very specific. Newspapers and news are published in dozens of languages and exist in every city. Immigrants from 5 continents managed to get along in such a small country.
Tel Aviv is Israel's secular capital, and Jerusalem is home to most of the major cultural institutions.
Cinema
Despite the fact that Israel releases approximately 25 feature-length films a year, which is very few on a global scale and quite a lot for such a small state, interest in Israeli cinema is growing, especially in recent times. The most popular genre of cinema produced by Israelis is pluralistic realism, or, more simply, cinema about everything that is happening around us at the moment. Israel has its own film awards:
- Ophir Awardestablished in 1990 and named after the famous actor Shaike Ophir.
- The Volzhin (Hajjaje) Prize, an award that has been presented since 1989 at the annual Jerusalem International Film Festival, is named after businessman Jack Volzhin. Since 2010, it has received a new name "Hajjaj Prize" in honor of the American producer.
The most popular film of recent years is "W altz with Bashir", which won many international awards. And Lebanon, the film that won the Golden Lion award. The culture and traditions of Israel deserve respect.
Literature
A special contribution to the cultural heritage of Israel was made by authors who created their works in Hebrew. The literature of Israel is represented by poetry and prose in Hebrew, and only a small percentage of books are translated into other languages. Most often it is Arabic, English and Russian. Israeli law regulates the issue of publishing and without fail, two copies of absolutely all published books must be sent to the Jewish National and University Library of the IEU - Jerusalem University. Since 2004, audio and video recordings have been included with copies of books.
All outstanding writers of Israel in 85% of cases publish their works only in Hebrew. An invaluable contribution to the folk literature of Israel was made by Chaim Nachman Bialik, the great Jewish poet and prose writer, he played an important role in the development of literary Hebrew. Shmuel Yosef Agnon is a Nobel laureate. It is also worth noting such writers,like Moshe Shamir, Khanhokh Bartov.
Israel also hosts Hebrew Book Week every year, and it consists of book fairs, public readings, speeches by writers, as well as the presentation of the Israeli literary award - the Sapir Prize.
Theater
The theater of Israel is distinguished by its specificity and originality, because theatrical culture also skillfully combines not only world theater and the customs of different peoples of the world, but also unexpected experiments and subtle Israeli flavor.
Israel has six drama theaters that operate on a professional basis. There are even more amateur ones. The most popular theater, which has the status of a national one, is Habima, which was founded back in Moscow in 1917. He began his work in Israel in 1931 in Tel Aviv.
Modern Israeli life is shown by the Chamber Theater, which is very popular among Israelis.
Among modern theaters, the most popular are such as "Khan", "Gesher", Khaifa Municipal Theatre. Theatrical life in Israel plays an important role in the formation and development of Israeli culture.
Israeli theaters are touring all over the world, their goal is to tell about the culture of the country, which directors and actors are great at.
Folk dances
Folk dances play an important role in the cultural life of Israel, this kind of art is especially appreciated in this country, and considerable attention is always paid to its development. These traditions are still valid today. The country is famous for a huge number of dance groups that take prizes all over the world. Such groups include the Bat-Sheva and Bat-Dor ballet troupes, "Kol Dmama", which means "Sound and Silence" in translation. The originality of this dance group lies in the fact that it includes deaf artists. The existence of this dance group enables deaf artists to feel the music and move in the dance.
The richness of Israel's culture is museums, monuments, parks, theaters, cities and so on. It is impossible to know this country from and to, every day gives something new and incredible. Israel museums alone are visited by about ten million tourists annually from all over the world.
