Born Ewa Alberstein in Szczecin, Poland, her name was Hebraized to Chava when she moved to Israel with her family in 1950. She grew up in Kiryat Haim. In 1964, when she was 17, she was invited to appear at the Hammam Nightclub in Jaffa. She sang four songs accompanied by herself on guitar and her brother Alex on the clarinet. The program was broadcast live on the radio. After a guest appearance on Moadon Hazemer, recorded on Kibbutz Beit Alfa, she signed a recording contract with CBS. Early in her career, she appeared at the Amami Cinema in Haifa's Neve Sha'anan neighborhood. Haaretz columnist Neri Livneh describes her as "a little slip of a thing in a blue youth movement shirt, her face covered by huge glasses". Alberstein was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces in 1965, and became one of many Israeli artists to rise to stardom by entertaining the troops.
Musical career
Alberstein has released more than 60 albums. She has recorded in Hebrew, English and Yiddish. In 1980, Alberstein began to write and compose. Most of the songs on her album Mehagrim are her own work. Alberstein's husband was the filmmaker Nadav Levitan, who wrote the lyrics for her "End of the Holiday" album. In 1986 she wrote music for Levitan's film Stalin's Disciples. Levitan died in 2010. Her songs have been included in a number of multi-artist collections, among them "Songs of The Vilna Ghetto" and "The Hidden Gate – Jewish Music Around the World".
Critical acclaim
According to Israel's second largest daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Alberstein is the most important female folk singer in Israel history:
Alberstein is a champion of liberal causes. Throughout her career she has been an activist for human rights and Arab-Israeli unity. In 1989, Alberstein's song Had Gadya in which she criticizes Israel's policy towards Palestinians, was banned by Israel State Radio. The song was later used in the film Free Zone by director Amos Gitai in Natalie Portman's 7-minute crying scene. Alberstein is also a champion of the Yiddish language both in her recordings and in a video titled "Too Early To Be Quiet, Too Late To Sing", which showcases the works of Yiddish poets.
"Even though I have lived in Israel nearly my entire life, I am constantly questioning my place in the world. Maybe this searching comes from being an artist, maybe it comes from being a Jew. I'm not really sure."
