Rika Zaraï

Rika Zaraï (1963)

Rika Zaraï (Hebrew: ריקה זראי‎; born 19 February 1938) is an Israeli singer and writer.

Rika Gozman (later Zarai) was born in Jerusalem. In the 1950s, the Israeli writer, Aharon Megged, wrote a musical for the IDF Central Command entertainment troupe about five soldiers falling in love with five country girls. In 1956, it was produced commercially by the Ohel theater starring Rika Zarai. The music was written by her husband Yochanan Zarai, with lyrics and melodies by Naomi Shemer.^[1]

In 1969, Zarai rose to fame with her songs Casatchok and Alors je chante, the French version of Vivo Cantando. She went on to have a successful career in Europe,^[2] where she popularized Israeli classic songs such as Hava Nagila, Yerushalayim shel zahav and Hallelujah.

Zarai sings in Hebrew, English, French, Italian, Spanish and German. She lives in Paris but visits Israel periodically. According to a report in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronoth in 2008, she suffered a stroke which paralyzed the left side of her body.^[3]

Published works

• Ma médecine naturelle, Michel Lafon, 1985
• 47 recettes de plantes, Mangina, 1986
• Soins et beauté par l'argile et les plantes, Mangina, 1987
• Mes secrets naturels pour guérir et réussir, J-C Lattès, 1988
• Ces émotions qui guérissent, Michel Lafon, 1995
• Le Code secret de votre personnalité, Michel Lafon, 1996
• L'espérance a toujours raison (mémoires), Michel Lafon, 2006

See also

• Music of Israel
• Culture of Israel

References

External links

• Rika Zaraï at the Internet Movie Database