Honoring: Evyatar Banai Receives Lifetime Achievement Award in Jewish Music Genre

During the Jewish Culture Awards ceremony named after Uri Orbach, the esteemed creator Evyatar Banai received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Jewish Culture for the year 2018.

Minister of Education Naftali Bennett, who leads the initiative in memory of the late Orbach, presented the award to Banai and 11 other renowned artists and creators in the Jewish music and culture genre, including creator Naor Carmi (Tzama), director Tali Avrahami, artist Tzipi Mizrahi, and authors Emuna Elon and Yoram Taharlev.

According to Bennett, the purpose of the award is to honor creators whose contribution to the Jewish cultural world is significant and to encourage continued creation in various fields. "For many years, Jewish creation and creators did not receive proper recognition in Israel, and the award is essentially an immense boost to this endeavor. Jewish culture is our lifeblood, uniting and distinguishing us as a people. Each of those on stage is a unique creator who, through their work, opens a window to fascinating Judaism and a rich cultural mosaic," said the Minister of Education.

The committee that decided on the awards remarked that Evyatar deserves the award not only for being an artist but also as a "spiritual individual and painter who paints with sounds, taking the listener to distant places, to the depths of the soul - and compels us to draw out from them cries, tears, laughter, movement, and life."