David Buzaglo

Rabbi David Buzaglo (1903–1975) was a Moroccan-Israeli paytan (poet, composer, performer) and teacher of Jewish liturgical hymns in the Moroccan Jewish tradition. His work articulated a religious-poetic approach to Zionism, employing traditional Jewish metaphors and differing from both secular Zionism and mainstream religious Zionism.

Early life and education Buzaglo was born in Zawia, Morocco. He became an orphan at an early age and was raised by his grandparents. He was sent to Marrakesh to study under Rabbi Hain Attar, a prominent religious poet and singer. At age 16 he moved with his family to Casablanca, finishing his Torah studies and continued learning the tradition of Hebrew poetry. He was felt to be a prodigy, "great in both Torah and poetry." and his performances attracted Jewish and Arab audiences alike. He was frequently engaged for celebrations and prayer events. For those events outside the Jewish world, he was accompanied by Arab musicians.

In the 1940s his health deteriorated. He became blind in 1949 and had chronic bronchitis. He became secluded and largely paid attention to only religious matters. He was not a part of the massive immigration to Israel in the 1950s. He acknowledged being afraid of being unemployed in an unknown foreign setting; he was unaware of the support he would have from his community. He emigrated to Israel in 1965. In Israel he had his most productive period. He did not see himself as a poet, and he did not write down his poems or publish his work. He did not allow recordings of his voice, and little of him can now be heard. He believed in only oral transmission of work. "Let oblivion erase them," he believed.

He was critical of the Israeli ethos, particularly relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Buzaglo viewed Israel through traditional Jewish concepts of redemption, challenging both the religious Zionist and the "hegemonic Sabra ethos." His poetry gives an alternative look at the "religious relationship to the land of Israel, the Arabs, the religious interpretations of historical events, and the self-image and character of the Israeli Jew."

Legacy Buzaglo initiated a Sephardic shift in liturgical writing, creating a link between the Spanish Jewry's Golden Era and modernity. Cities with a street that bear his name are Kiryat Yam, Yeruham, Ashkelon, Sderot, Hadera, Ashdod and Ofakim.