Editing Ofra Haza (section)

==Early life==
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 10751 birthplace house of ofra haza in tel aviv.jpg|left|thumb|Ofra Haza's birth house in Tel Aviv]]
Bat-Sheva Ofra Haza was born in [[Tel Aviv]], [[Israel]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ofra Haza|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/haza-ofra|access-date=2021-01-20|website=Jewish Women's Archive|language=en}}</ref> to [[Mizrahi Jewish]] parents from [[Yemeni Jews|Yemen]] who had [[Aliyah|immigrated]] to Israel in 1949<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Lynda |last=Nead |journal=British Art Studies |issue=21 |page=15 |url=https://britishartstudies.ac.uk/issues/issue-index/issue-21/ruth-ellis-suit#p15 |doi=10.17658/issn.2058-5462/issue-21/lnead/p15 |doi-access=free |title=Ruth Ellis's Suit |date=30 November 2021 |access-date=9 May 2025}}</ref> with eight children.<ref name="jwa.org">{{Cite web |title=Ofra Haza |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/haza-ofra |access-date=2023-02-26 |website=Jewish Women's Archive |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Ofra Haza {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/ofra-haza|access-date=2021-01-20|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> She was the youngest of nine children<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2000-06-01|title=Death Of A Diva|url=https://www.poz.com/article/Death-Of-A-Diva-10225-4310|access-date=2021-01-20|website=POZ|language=en}}</ref> (six sisters and two brothers) to Yefet and Shoshana Haza. They were raised in a [[Masortim|Masorti]] household<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-02-23 |title=Ofra Haza, Tragic Israeli Pop Diva |language=en-US |pages=“traditional household” (direct translation of “Masorti” into English) |work=Tablet Magazine |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/ofra-haza-tragic-israeli-pop-diva |access-date=2023-02-26}}</ref> in the [[Hatikva Quarter]], then an impoverished, working-class<ref name="Ofra Haza, Tragic Israeli Pop Diva"/> neighborhood of Tel Aviv.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Paying tribute to a Mizrahi legend|url=https://www.jpost.com/arts-and-culture/music/paying-tribute-to-a-mizrahi-legend|access-date=2021-01-20|website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com|date=23 February 2006 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Although named Bat-Sheva by her parents, her sisters disliked the name, and preferred to call her by her middle name, Ofra, instead.{{Citation needed |date=October 2023}}

Haza's earliest musical influences included her learning traditional Yemenite songs from her parents;<ref name="Pareles">{{Cite news |last=Pareles |first=Jon |date=2000-02-24 |title=Ofra Haza, 41, Israeli Pop Singer Who Crossed Cultural Bounds |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/24/arts/ofra-haza-41-israeli-pop-singer-who-crossed-cultural-bounds.html |access-date=2023-02-26 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Haza's mother in particular, Shoshana, proved a major influence on her musical direction. Shoshana had been a professional<ref name="Ofra Haza {{!}} Encyclopedia.com">{{Cite web |title=Ofra Haza {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/ofra-haza |access-date=2023-02-26 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> singer in [[Yemen]] and often performed at family celebrations, with Haza also recalling her mother singing to her children from an early age.<ref name="jwa.org"/><ref name="Ofra Haza {{!}} Encyclopedia.com"/> Additionally early influences in her music came from [[Israeli folk|Israeli folk songs]], [[the Beatles]], and [[Elvis Presley]].<ref name="Pareles"/>

Haza herself began to exhibit a similar musical inclination to that of her mother, and began singing at an early age, including at local weddings and as a soloist in her school choir.<ref name="jwa.org"/> At the age of 12, Haza joined a local protest theater troupe, named “Hatikva” (The Hope) which had been recently founded by a neighbor of hers, Bezalel Aloni.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Ofra Haza {{!}} Encyclopedia.com"/>  Haza soon emerged as one of the most gifted performers in the troupe,<ref name="Ofra Haza {{!}} Encyclopedia.com"/> and manager Bezalel Aloni soon noticed her singing talent. He spotlighted her in many of his productions, and later became her manager and mentor. At 19, she was Israel's foremost pop star, and news articles have retrospectively described her as "the [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] of the East".<ref>{{Cite web |title=A-Wa's Unlikely Journey From Rural Israel to Global Fame |url=https://forward.com/culture/music/318147/a-wa-a-yemenite-israeli-pop-trio-gains-popularity-around-the-world/ |website=The Forward|date=6 August 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Grapevine |url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Grapevine-Friedman-plants-a-tree-617685 |website=The Jerusalem Post|date=15 February 2020 }}</ref>

Haza served two years in the [[Israel Defense Forces]].<ref name=":1" />
[[File:Ofra bibi peres gaon.jpg|thumb|Ofra Haza on [[Dan Shilon]]'s show, with [[Shimon Peres|Peres]], [[Netanyahu]] and [[Yehoram Gaon]], 1995]]