Moshe Habusha

Muzika mizrahit (Israeli Mizrahi or Oriental music) is a modern Israeli popular genre rooted in the musical traditions of Jewish communities from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. It blends Arabic, Turkish, Greek (laïko/rebetiko), and Andalusian influences with Hebrew lyrics and contemporary pop production. Musically it favors modal melodies drawn from Middle Eastern maqam systems (e.g., Hijaz, Bayat, Kurd) and characteristic vocal ornamentation (melisma, microtonal inflections). Typical instruments include oud, bouzouki, qanun, violin, darbuka/tabla, riq, and handclaps, increasingly complemented by synthesizers, drum machines, and pop/EDM-style arrangements. Lyrically, songs often revolve around love, longing, family, faith, and place, moving between dance-forward party anthems and deeply emotive ballads. Since the 1990s, the style has moved from a marginalized “cassette culture” to the mainstream of Israeli pop.

Baqashot are a traditional Sephardic Jewish devotional repertoire consisting of supplications, liturgical poems (piyyutim), and prayers that are sung communally. They are most famously performed as an extended Shabbat-morning vigil beginning in the pre-dawn hours and lasting until sunrise, especially during the winter season (commonly from Sukkot through Purim). Musically, baqashot performance is closely linked to Middle Eastern modal practice (maqam) and to the poetic/liturgical traditions of Sephardic communities, especially Syrian, Moroccan, and Turkish Jews. The style is primarily vocal and communal, emphasizing responsorial singing, ornate melodic lines, and a prayerful atmosphere rather than dance rhythms or pop-song structures.