Shir ha-Freha: The Stereotype of the Mizrahi Woman

In 1979, Assi Dayan, the son of Israeli military leader Moshe Dayan, directed a film called Schlager (“The Hit”), which included a song he wrote, performed by a young Ofra Haza: “Shir ha-Freha.” Haza had been born to a Yemenite family in the poor, immigrant neighborhood of Ha-Tikva. When Dayan had her sing “Shir ha-Freha,” she was already a rising pop star, and her fame only increased. She represented Israel at Eurovision; recorded songs with Paula Abdul and Iggy Pop; and played and sang in the Dreamworks film The Prince of Egypt. She was versatile in her music, and her international breakout album, Yemenite Songs, brought traditional Yemenite music to a wide audience. Despite these successes, “Shir ha-Freha,” a song that stereotypes Mizrahi women, continued to be associated with her (as Tsabari explains in her essay).