This week marks a series of special dates – Tu B'Shvat, the Festival of Trees, which falls on Thursday (February 13), International Valentine's Day (February 14), and also a particularly significant date for Hebrew lovers and fans of Hebrew culture: five years since the passing of the poet, songwriter, and researcher Prof. Yossi Gamzo.
◄ "On this and that" ○ Gamzo in an interview with Aliza Shkolnik • Watch
Valentine's Day in Paris
Gamzo, who was born on Valentine's Day in Paris in 1938 and died in Haifa in mid-February 2020, left behind a vast legacy of poems, hymns, and literary studies. He spent his final years in Haifa, where he was an active figure in the local creative community, giving lectures on Hebrew poetry, and participating in singing evenings where his beloved songs were sung.
Inalienable assets
Even if the name Yossi Gamzo is not familiar to everyone, his songs have become the soundtrack to many people's lives. His unforgettable songs include "Zohi Jaffa," "Siman Shaat Tzair," "Ifa Han Bhuttorot Hanen ami Koko Ve Sarfan," "HaKotel," "Li Velech" and many others, which are sung to this day and evoke nostalgia for the Israel of old.
But alongside his songwriter career, Gamzo was a renowned academic, earning the title of professor of Hebrew literature, and teaching at various universities around the world. He even won the ACUM Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hebrew Music, in recognition of his contribution to Israeli culture.
To mark the fifth anniversary of his death, you are invited to watch the special interview "On This and That," which aired on the community television station "Zman Haifa" hosted by Aliza Shkolnik.
Haifa was honored to host the man and the words among its streets. We will continue to remember his poems and his cultural contribution, which will remain here for generations to come.
A beautiful, important, and good article that was published recently.
Respect to the goddess and the cheek of the mouth
May the memory of Yossi Gamzo be blessed, remembered and loved for his diverse, rich work full of wisdom and humor! The spirit of the country is rooted in his poetry, and in his legacy in general… We remember him with longing and appreciation.. 🙏
Indeed, a man of music and culture of the highest order, the Land of Israel of old, where there was still a truly great world of culture and entertainment, songs of the Iron Sheep, before the world of culture of the last twenty to thirty years, which is essentially a rotten sub-level of Tik Tok, disgusting reality shows, crude sex photos and songs below all criticism. May his memory be blessed.