Haviva Pedaya

Haviva Pedaya is an academic scholar, author and cultural critic. A creator in theater, music and a poet. Pedaya is involved in community-impacting projects in music and art and culture. She was born in Jerusalem to a family of rabbis and kabbalists, resides in Beersheba. Pedaya Studied at the Hebrew University and the School of Visual Arts in Jerusalem. A professor of Jewish history at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and head of the Elyachar Center for Sephardi Heritage. Widely published, with many articles and books on religion, sociology, art, history, and mysticism, as well as volumes of poetry, the most resent translated (with the support of the Matanel Foundation). She is also involved in musical and artistic projects. She founded the ‘Yonah Ensemble’ which revitalized liturgical and Near East music in Israel. Multiple laureate, including the Harry Harshon Award, the Warburg Prize, the Bernstein Prize (1997) the President`s Prize (2004) and the Amichai Prize (2012) for Poetry.