Yaacov Levanon (originally Yaacov Bilansky) (1895–1965) was an Israeli Jewish musician and composer in the British Mandate of Palestine and later

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Levanon was born in

Korets Korets (, russian: link=no, Корец, , yi, קאריץ ''Koritz'') is a city in Rivne Oblast in Ukraine. The city is located on the Korchyk river, 66 kilometers to the east of Rivne. It is administrative center of Korets Raion. Population: ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, the son of a haskalah scholar from Novohrad-Volynskyy ( Samuel Bilansky). He was trained at the conservatory in Mykolaiv,

. After serving in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

he emigrated in 1919 to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, where he established himself as a composer and music teacher. His opus includes music for operettas, films (including the first Hebrew-language talking film, ''This is the Land'' 'zot hi ha'aretz'' 1935), instrumental pieces, and children's songs. Yaacov Levanon, who taught in Arab schools in Jerusalem, was commissioned by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem,

Amin al-Husayni Mohammed Amin al-Husseini ( ar, محمد أمين الحسيني 1897 – 4 July 1974) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine. Al-Husseini was the scion of the al-Husayni family of Jerusalemite Arab notabl ...

, to establish a children's orchestra to entertain, among other things, for the holiday

Eid ul-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , dat ...

. The relationship between them remained cordial until the

1929 Hebron massacre The Hebron massacre refers to the killing of sixty-seven or sixty-nine Jews on 24 August 1929 in Hebron, then part of Mandatory Palestine, by Arabs incited to violence by rumors that Jews were planning to seize control of the Temple Mount in ...

, in which the Mufti played a major role. He died in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

External links

This is the Land / Zot hi-ha'aretz listing, Fritz Bauer InstitutHomepage of Prof. Haim Levanon
Israeli Jews Israeli composers Ukrainian Jews Ukrainian SSR emigrants to Mandatory Palestine 1895 births 1965 deaths 20th-century composers {{Israel-musician-stub