A Person Who Has Made A Difference:

by Liron, Lihi and Eitan

Joined Nov 2019
Published Books 1

Introduction by liron katorza

Throughout history, there have been people who have influenced the way we live. Arik Einstein is one of them.

I chose to prepare this research project on Arik Einstein for several reasons. To begin with, my favorite genre in music is “Israel Songs”, especially the songs which were written in in the 1960s and in the 1970s. Arik Einstein is, in my opinion, one of the symbols of that beautiful and special period. Moreover, it is a well-known fact that Arik Einstein is one of the most appreciated and admired figures in our culture. I truly believe that his songs have left a significant mart on all of us, no matter who you are and where you came from. Last but not list, Arik Einstein is one of my favorite singers and I would like to know more about him. I am especially looking forward to interviewing one of his close friends or his family.

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There are a number of things that I already know about Arik Einstein. Firstly, I know that he was a member of the iconic band “The High Windows”. This band was a late 1960s pop group whose members were Arik Einstein, Shmulik Kraus and Josie Katz. This group had unforgettable songs like “Einech Yechola”, “Ahava Rishona”, “Zemer Nogeh” and the most classic song “Habuba Zehava”. In addition, I know that Arik Einstein was not only a singer, but also an actor and comedian who acted in many films. Two of his most memorable films were “Mezizim” with his close friend Uri Zohar and “Cvalim” with Moni Mushonov. Furthermore, I know that he passed away at the end of 2013 and I remember that his tragic death took us all by surprise.

I expect to learn new and interesting things about Arik Einstein.

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First and foremost, I expect to find out why in the last twenty years of his life Arik Einstein hardly left his home and refused all his friends’ requests to act and why he decided to stop performing in front of a live audience. Also, I want to learn about his special and unique relationship with Uri Zohar who, unlike Arik Einstein, quit the show business and became a Rabbi. Finally, I would like to discover the cause of his sudden death.

Arik Einstein has left his mark on the word. I am looking forward to finding out more about him.

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Introduction by Lihi Tuchman

Throughout history, there have been people who have influenced the way we live. Arik Einstein is one of these people.

I chose to prepare this research project on Arik Einstein for several reasons. To begin with, I would like to learn how the Israeli music was influenced by Arik Einstein. Moreover, I want to understand what was extremely special about him and why he had so many fans. It is hard to find an Israeli person who doesn’t own one of Arik Einstein’s discs. Last but not least, people wouldn’t have quoted lines from his movies if he hadn’t been the iconic figure he was.

There are a number of things that I already know about Arik

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Einstein. Firstly, I know that he had an influence on the development of the Israeli people in Israel. In addition, I know that he was one of the most famous fans of Hapoel Tel Aviv in football and of the Israeli sports.

I expect to learn new and interesting things about Arik Einstein. First and foremost, I expect to find out more about him as an actor because although he didn’t have a lot of acting roles, he influenced through the movies he played in. Also, I want to learn about his inspiration and get to know his work more. Finally, I would like to discover what values he tried to convey using his music and how he did it.

Arik Einstein has left his mark on the world. I am looking forward to finding out more about him.

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Introduction by Eitan Gazit

Throughout history, there have been people who have influenced the way we live. Arik Einstein is one of these people.

I chose to prepare this research project on Arik Einstein for several reasons. To begin with, he was a singer and a writer that I loved and appreciated very much. He has lots of beautiful songs. In addition, he is an interesting person who had an active life as an actor singer film writer comedian and so on. Moreover, he accompanied the country from her first years till today and had an influence on its development.

There are a number of things that I already know about him. Firstly, I know that in 1966, he joined “The High Windows with Shmulik Kraus and Josie Katz. In addition, I know that he was born with the name: “Arieh Lieb Einstein”. Lastly, I know that he had more than 500 songs!

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I expect to learn new and interesting things about Arik. First and foremost, I expect to find out what motivated him to do everything he did in his career. Also I want to learn what else he did in his life. Finally, I would like to discover about the friends who made musical collaborations with him.

Arik Einstein has left his mark on the world. I am looking forward to finding out more about him.

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Biography

Arik Einstein was born as Arieh Lieb Einstein, on January 3^rd 1939, in Tel Aviv, Israel. He was the only son of Dvora and Ya’akov Einstein who was a theater actor. Arik was raised in Tel Aviv and while attending Ironi Dalet High School, he was a member of “Hashomer Hatzair” youth movement. Arik was an athlete and achieved achievements in the field. For example, he was the country’s champion for youth at high jumping, he was Israel’s junior high jump champion, which he had for ten years, and won the shot-put championship. Several years later, in 1956, he won Israel’s high jump championship. He was also a basketball player in Hapoel Tel Aviv’s youth group and because of his high technical ability he was called “Lions”.

In his military service he was supposed to be an actor but the

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A Person Who Has Made A Difference: by Liron, Lihi and Eitan - Ourboox.com

army wanted him to be in the Nahal band, and that was the start of his singing career. He became one of the outstanding members in the Nahal Band. Arik told the “Yorim Ve Sharim” program the events that led to him joining the band: ” a city boy, athlete, that was my world. Sports and theater, which I would go to a lot. I remember that my dad used to take me to the theater a lot. I saw all the “Kameri” shows in the 1950s. And when the time came to join the army, I had no idea what I wanted to do – and then my dad told me, ‘Try going to a military band.’ I thought I was signing up for the Nahal band. I thought ‘My dad is an actor; he’ll probably arrange some protection.’ I didn’t know auditions had to be passed. And the examiners were the veterans of the previous band. I was so excited. I didn’t know what I was doing there. They asked me: ‘Do you know how to sing?’ so I said, ‘Yes, I love to sing’. The problem

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was that I didn’t know any song by heart, so I sang ‘Oats in the Field’. Then Nechama Handel, who was one of the testers, walked away and said ‘sing louder!’. There is a legend that in Uri Zohar’s audition he sang a song and when the testers told him to step away and sing louder, he replied ‘Come closer!’. I was in shock. The band members were so energetic and I was a shy boy. Then I started rehearsing and it was unbelievable, I was a little embarrassed. I remember that Uri Zohar, who was a veteran, looked at me and said: ‘You sing like Israel Yitzhaki! Leave!’ and then someone else sang. I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t even be in shock.”

In 1959 Arik finished his military service in the IDF and joined the satirical theater “Sambation” and the band “Batzal Yarok”. In this band were people who became close friends with Arik like

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Uri Zohar, Haim Topol, Ilana Rubina, Yehoram Gaon, Zoharira Kharafai and others. A year later he released a first solo record which included four songs: “The Little Hours of the Night”, “She Was 17” etc.

In 1962 Einstein participated in the play “Irma La dos” in which he played one of the lead roles, the role of the fanatic pimp. The premiere’s show on “The Habima” was in front of thousands of soldiers and was very successful. The participation in this play earned Einstein considerable public appreciation. In 1964 he played in the film by Ephraim Kishon ” Salah Shabtai “, and won the singer’s festival two years in a row with the songs “Ayelet Chen” and “Autumn Night”.

From 1964 to 1966 he was a member of the “Yarkon Bridge

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Trio” and there Arik was more successful. This band also included Beni Amdursky and Yoram Gaon. During his membership in this Trio, the trio released two albums: “First Love” and “The New Show”.

In 1966 Einstein’s debut album, “Sing for You,” came out and had successful songs like “This Night”, “Don’t Cry Girl” and “The Rain Drums”. In the end of the same year the iconic band, The High Windows, was formed and its members were Arik Einstein, and Josie Kats and Shmulik Kraus who was the composer and vocal arranger. The group’s debut album, which came out in April 1967, six weeks before the Six-Day War, signaled a new direction in local rock and pop music, but remained together for only one year. Their songs, which became Israeli classics, include “Einech Yechola (You Can’t), Ahava Rishona (First Love),

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Zemer Nugeh (A Sad Song), Chayal Shel Shokolad (Chocolate Soldier), Kama Naim (How Pleasant) and more.

A few years later, in 1969, along with the “Churchillians”, he recorded what was considered the first Hebrew rock album – “Posey”. This album included the song “When You Cry You’re Not Beautiful”, which became the first Israeli video clip. Einstein and his friend Uri Zohar gathered around them many artists who later became famous like Shalom Hanoch, Jacob Rotblit, Zvi Schisel, Jonathan Gefen and others. They were called “havurat Lul” projects which included the movie “Shablul” that was directed by Boaz Davidzon (released in 1970), and the TV show “Lul”.

The songs in the three albums “Posey”, “Shablul” and

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“Plasticine” are considered to be the classic of Israeli rock to date, among them: “Absalom”, “When you cry you are not beautiful”, “Write in the newspaper”, “Why should I take heart” and “What about me”.

In the early 1970s, Arik played with his close friend, Uri Zohar, in the movies “Mezizim” (1972) and “Einaim Gdolot” (Big Eyes) (1974). These movies are undoubtedly two of the greatest movies in the Israeli film industry. Moreover, he was a part of writing the script and helped the director of the movies, Uri Zohar, make the movies the masterpieces they are.

In 1973 Arik went back to singing songs in the genre “Israel songs” and during the 1970s he recorded a series of albums called “Good Old Israel”. This series had unforgettable songs

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which left a huge mark on our culture. A year later he recorded the album “Sa Le’at” which represented the ambience after Yom Kippur war.

In the year 1979, Arik Einstein and Shalom Hanoch went on a tour in which a lot of money was invested. The tour was recorded and became an album, “Arik Einstein and Shalom Hanoch in a joint performance”. The album included their new and best songs from the 1970s. This tour was his last performance. Three years after this tour he had a car accident in which his friend died and he injured his eyes and this is the reason for his absence on stage.

At the end of the 1980s he released a children’s album with Yoni Rechter.

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The famous songs from this album are: “Adon Shoko”, “Gveret Im Salim” and “Shabat Baboker.

In 1992 Arik Einstein and Zvi Schisel, created the feature film “Cables”, which dealt with cable television broadcasts in Israel, which gained momentum during those years. In addition, in 1995, he released his most successful album in the 1990s. this album included the songs: “Yesh Bi Ahava” and “Livkot Lecha”.

Arik was a sworn fan of Hapoel Tel Aviv to a point that in the year 2000 he wrote and performed their hymn “Aduma Sheli”. In 2002, Arik filed a civil lawsuit against producer and promoter Michael Tapuach, whom he had worked with for 24 years. This lawsuit separated the two and turned them against each other. In 2005 Arik won the “ACUM” award for life’s work in Hebrew

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hymns, and in 2006 received a special award for a longstanding contribution to Israeli music at the Music Channel’s 24th AM Awards. In August 2006 the book “This Is the Same Love” was published. The book brings anecdotes from his life, his most successful songs and dialogues from movies he played in and an opening article by Ali Moar who is trying to crack the secret to the magic of Aric Einstein’s voice. In 2008 on the 60’s Israel’s Independence Day Arik was chosen as the country’s singer.

In 2010 Arik was the most played artist on the radio. Furthermore, in June 2010 he was given “Israel Award” but he declined the award by claiming that he was embarrassed to receive it.

On November 26th 2013, just a few hours before his tragic

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death, he had finished writing his first newspaper column for “Ma’ariv” newspaper. He arrived at Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv unconscious after he collapsed at his home earlier in the day. Arik passed away in the evening of that day as a result of a ruptured thoracic aorticaneurysm at the age of 74. The column was published in a special eadition in his memory.

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His Private Life:

In May 1963 Arik Einstein married his first wife Alona Shochat, Gideon Shochat’s daughter, who was one of the first Israeli Air Force pilots, and the granddaughter of Israel and Mania Shochat. From this marriage, their first daughter Shiri was born in 1964. A few years later the couple divorced, and in 1968 they married again. In this marriage their second daughter, Yasmin, was born in 1971, whose name is Arik’s 1972 album. This marriage ended in divorce as well. In 2006 Alona died of cancer.

Shiri and Yasmin, the daughters of Alona and Arik Einstein, became religious together with their mother in the late 1970s. Later, Arik’s daughters married Uri Zohar’s two sons, Ephraim Fishel and Shalom. The first wedding, that of Ephraim Fishel Zohar and Shiri Einstein, was held on March 6^th 1985, and was

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documented in the short film by Renan Shor “Wedding in Jerusalem”, which opened the Haifa Film Festival in 1985.

Sima Eliyahu was Einstein’s second spouse, for about 40 years until his death. She starred alongside him in the movie “Mezizim” where she played his wife Millie, and also starred alongside him in the second film in the Tel Aviv trilogy, “Big Eyes”. The couple had two children, Amir and Dinah, and the family lived on Hovevi Zion Street in Tel Aviv.

Einstein was the grandfather of eighteen grandchildren and great-grandfather of six great-grandchildren.

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Our Figure’s Influence on Us

Arik’s famous quotation from his song “Lama Li Lakachat LaLev”, “let us live and make mistakes, let yourself a chance to forgive, just love” has had an influence on us in a number of ways. To begin with, the song has a powerful message that says forgiveness and love are very important in our lives. According to the quotation you don’t need only to forgive others, but to forgive yourself and to own up to your own mistakes in your life in order to live a successful and fulfilled life. Furthermore, the song teaches us how to handle difficulties and hard situations in life. The song tries to tell us that if you have struggles in your personal life, you can always rely on your friends for help and if you want to start over you need to learn how to walk before you start running. That phrase means

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that in order to succeed you have to take things slowly and not worry about time and just enjoy it.

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INTERVIEW

We chose to interview Yoav Kutner. He was a good friend of Arik and he has researched about the Israeli music and especially about Arik’s great music before he died to this day. He works as a music editor and Israeli radio broadcaster.

There are several reasons why we chose to interview this person. First of all, Yoav Kutner loves music and investigating it. He is mostly interested in the singer Arik Einstein and most of his life he learned a lot about this outstanding artist which makes this interview very impressive and special. Moreover, Yoav Kutner is a well-known person. For years he has explored, researched and reviewed all kinds of artists and Israeli music. Since his military services he has been working in “Gla’z” (the army radio) and made various series and radio programs about the Israeli music. He is the content editor in a series about Arik’s life and career,

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“Standard love song”. We used this series to learn new things in different ways. From this wonderful series we learned new facts about Arik and we could use them to ask Yoav more interesting questions.

Q- When and how did you meet Arik?

A- I met him several times. The first time was when I was a young man who loved music and Arik’s unique voice. Even then I thought that he had already brought something new and fresh to our culture. The second time was when I started working in Gla’z (the army radio) and beeing interested in what was happening in the industry and in the people, who were working behind the scenes and were making a difference. I called myself a music researcher.

Q- When did you get to know him more than just as a well-known person?

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A- In 1979, when he published an album which featured him and Shalom Hanoh I was still working there, and I had the opportunity to meet Arik in person and to interview him and Shalom. Before that meeting the only contact we had was over the phone.

Q- What was your relationship with Arik in his last years?

A- In his last years we were close, and we came to each other’s houses. This relationship happened for several reasons. To begin with, Arik trusted me because I was considered a good and a trustworthy reporter. Moreover, Arik had always had sight problems and in his last years it got worse to a point that he was almost completely blind. Although he was old, he wanted to be updated in everything that was going on in the country such as music, movies, politic, sport, news etc. Therefore, he selected few

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people to help him keep him updated, and I was the one who was in charge of the music. He talked to me almost every day about new performers and everything that was happening in the music world.

Q- How to you think Arik’s father’s career as an actor affected his own career?

A- The fact that Ya’akov Einstein, Arik’s father, was an actor affected Arik in several ways. The first way was that Arik wasn’t aware of the military bands and the acting world because he wanted to be an athlete. As an actor, his father encouraged him to audition to the military band. In addition, the most important way was that Arik had always considered himself as an actor. For example, during the recording of the famous song “Atur Mizheh (Zahav Shahor)” he didn’t come with the lyrics, which was strange because it was a difficult song that he didn’t write. Arik

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responded that he treated the lyrics as an act and not song.

Q- What don’t most people know about Arik?

A- Most people don’t know that Arik was an “actor of the voice”. Namely, he wasn’t only singing the lyrics, but he played the role of the character in the song. In addition, he liked people and he loved working with them.

Q-Why did Arik stop preforming?

A-In 1981 he made a drastic move and stopped performing on stages. That was a risky move because a performer that stops performing, especially in Israel, doesn’t have an income. Despite this move Arik still published records and filmed clips. Many artists and people are still wondering the reason for his disappearance from the stage. When I asked him that question, he claimed that performing wasn’t his top priority. I asked him why? It’s a part of the art. When Arik started, the entertainment

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and music industry was narrow and limited. It was a part of the deal, you are in the military band, you perform with them, and Arik never liked it. As long as he could bear it, he bore it.

Q- Do you think that the car accident he had was one of the reasons for him to stop performing?

A- I don’t think so. The reasons were much deeper.

Q- Arik’s best friend Uri Zohar and family became religious. How did it affect him?

A- Just before 1981, he had another child, Amir, from his current spouse Sima Eliyahu. This child was born because his former wife, Alona Einstein, his best friend and his two daughters, Yasmin and Shiri, all became religious. It causes a big crisis in his life because the closest people left him and moved far from him.

Q- What did you like about his personality?

A- He was an optimistic person and when things got bad, he

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stayed positive and said everything would be fine. Furthermore, he was very funny and didn’t stop telling jokes and making imitations. Moreover, he was willing to give up on his ego especially with his music and with the people he worked with.

Q- What can you tell us about Arik’s acting career?

A- The first movies he played in were in the 1960s, such as “Nimi”, “Dalia and the Sailors” and the famous movie “Salah Shabati”. Later, in the 1970s and with all the movies he played with Uri Zohar like “Mezizim” and “Einayim Gdolot”, he turned from an actor who played a role to the person the movie is about.

Q- What is unique about Arik?

A- When Arik started his career, whether as an actor, as a singer or as an entertainer, Israel was very different from after he started his career. We were a small country, new and strange

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things weren’t accepted. People who were in the military bands needed to adjust to the new era. Arik took this opportunity and used it to make music which resembled the music that he liked abroad. He made a revolution in the music in Israel. At the peak of his success when made the Israeli rock revolution.

Q- What music did he do other than rock?

A- From the beginning of his career he wanted to create several kinds of music, so he recorded also an album of “ Good Old Israel”, meaning he wanted to take old songs that didn’t have a melody or had a boring one, and turn them into songs that everybody liked to hear them, such as “Pizmon Layakinton”, “Layla Layla’ and so much more. Furthermore, even in his first album Arik started working on an album for children. Arik always loved kids and he wanted to create for them a special album filled with songs that are suitable for both adults and their

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children.

Q- Why did Arik stop interviewing?

A- Arik never stopped interviewing despite the fact that he had stopped performing. However, over the years, by being a modest person, he didn’t like to talk about himself, but only about other people he worked with.

Q- What new thing did you find out about Arik when you created the series “A Standard Love Song”?

A- Because I have researched about him for years, I didn’t find new facts about him, but I found out something much important. I found out the enormous love and support he has. When the people close to him were interviewed in the program, I understood that no matter who the person was to Arik, a composer or just the drummer, Arik treated them as friends and made them feel good.

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Q- If you were us, what would you ask yourself?

A- I would have asked what not anybody knows Arik did in his career. During the years 1970-1973 he recorded ten songs in English and also translated songs from the album “Shablul” to English like the outstanding song “Ani Ve’ata” (Me and You). The reason for the recording of these songs is that Arik, in those years, liked the English music from abroad, especially “the Beatles”, so he wanted to try to imitate this great music.

Q- what was your reaction when you found out Arik passed away?

A- I felt like a member from my family died. I happened to be on the air when it happened, and I had to be the one to tell that he had died. I think that not only for me, Arik was not just a singer, he was a symbol for happier and more special times.

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Yoav Kutner’s House:

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Yoav Kutner’s House:

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Yoav Kutner’s House:

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Report Of The Presentation:

On January 5^th, we made a presentation in front of my classmates and teacher on Arik Einstein.

There were a number of things we wanted to achieve by making our presentation in this way. To begin with, we wanted to show and take advantage of the unique skills and knowledge of each of the group members. Namely, Lihi is in cinema class so she could use her extensive knowledge as an editor to create for us the special and the unique presentation we made. Eitan is a very active member in the scouts so it wasn’t difficult for him to make the fun, colorful and creative game we made and how to present it to the class. Also, we couldn’t have done this presentation without Liron’s knowledge about Arik’s life and the important and meaningful steps and stages in his life. Such as, the unique

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recordings of Arik, the classic songs and clips from his famous movies. In addition, we wanted to present Arik and his greatness by creating a special presentation which is creative and experiential. We did it so that the students would remember it and to learn new and important thing about this well-known artist. Moreover, we wanted our presentation to be one of a kind. Meaning, no one in our class intended to present the person he had done the project on in a sort of a movie, so we took this opportunity and prepared the presentation in this way.

In order to prepare this presentation, we followed a number of steps. First of all, we collected interesting information that not everybody knows, but is it important in order to understand Arik’s personality. Our next step was to collect videos, clips, recordings and photos of him. After this important step we

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started editing the video we presented in our presentation. We put all the things we had collected in the editing program and then we put them in the correct order as we did in the timeline. Afterwards we translated all the Hebrew parts in the video like the interview with Yoav Kutner, the recordings of Arik and Oded Paz in the “Festigal”. Later on, we prepared the lesson that we would pass on to the class and also scheduled the movie according to the sections that each member of the group had to say in the presentation. Last but not least, we made the game for the activity part by thinking of questions and song lyrics and making the actual “board game” from scratch using Bristol boards, cubes and markers.

The prestation in class was done in the following way. First and foremost, we played the video we had mad for the presentation.

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When each of us needed to explain their part, we came near the board and talked. After the presentation we did the creative pert, which was a board game in which there were questions about Arik and quests to complete his songs. In the end of the game we gave everybody a chocolate bar called “Pesek Zman” (time out) because of Arik’s song that is called “Pesek Zman”.

Immediately after the presentation, we received feedback from our teacher and peers. Our teacher, Miriam, said:” You prepared an exceptional presentation which was informative, creative and perfectly executed! You all spoke clearly and you timed what you said with precision. The game was colorful and challenging. A lot of imagination, talent and hard work made your presentation perfect!!”. In addition, our classmate, Adi said:” Your presentation was interesting and unique. Even though I knew who Arik

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Einstein was, I learnt a lot of new things about him. For example, that he also was an actor. The fact that you made a video for your presentation was something special because no one else did it and it also helps us remain concentrated. The game was colorful and challenging. Another classmate, Michal, said:” it was a very unique and interesting presentation. with the use of all that songs and videos of Arik, I felt like you revived him. I enjoyed listening to the presentation and learnt many new things. The game was also fun and interesting.”. More feedback was given by May, who said:” I enjoyed your presentation and learned many new things about him. I also loved your creative part, it was very enjoyable and I could tell that you had put many thought into the presentation”. Last but not least, Idan Goldhamer, another classmate, said:” I really liked your presentation, I learnt many things about Arik Einstein, it was

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creative and interesting. Your English was at a high level and the game was very fun!” We learnt several things about Arik Einstein while doing this section. The first thing we learnt was the enormous amount of songs and albums he produced in his life. Although it took us a lot of effort to write the biography, we didn’t pay a lot of attention to every song Arik sang in his life, so the video exposed us to his wonderful creations. Furthermore, while we were preparing the game, we learnt the lyrics of Arik’s song. Namely, the game included a mission that the class needed to complete the lyrics of one of Arik’s songs, so we also learnt the lyrics.

Looking back on our presentation, there are several things that could have been done differently. First, we the timed the video based on how much time it takes to say each paragraph that

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talks about Arik’s life. Had we edited those sections with fewer seconds, the presentation would have been smoother. In addition, when westarted the first part of the presentation, we didn’t notice that the sound cable wasn’t connected to the computer. Therefore, if we had noticed that, the screening of the video would have started without any problems.

In conclusion, we really enjoyed doing the presentation and we will cherish it.

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A Video Of Our Presentation: