The Tractor’s Revenge returns to the Oud Festival in a tribute to Rabbi Moses Ibn Ezra, a native of Granada, Spain, born in the early 11th century, and one of the most prominent creators of the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry. Ibn Ezra’s life was filled with dramatic upheavals, exile, and loneliness, which found intense expression in his poetry. Belleli, the bandleader, composed music to 11 of Ibn Ezra’s poems during the period of mourning for his father’s death. The poems range from forgiveness and longing to love and self-reflection, thus making Ibn Ezra a companion and guide in Belleli’s personal farewell process. The Tractor’s Revenge, influenced by folk music in general and by the Jewish-Eastern tradition in particular, is known for its arrangements of the poems “Adon HaSelichot,” “El Nora ʿAlila,” and “Echad Mi Yodeʿa,” which were performed by the Batsheva Dance Company in the early 1990s. The show resonates with the current era, aiming for reconciliation, cultural fusion, and mutual tolerance, and with nostalgia for an era when Jews and Arabs lived side by side, enriching each other.
Avi Belleli bass, vocals | Ofir Leibovich guitars | Ofir Vander keyboards | Aviv Barak drums | Galia Hai viola, vocals | Guest artist: Eliyahu Dagmi oud
Photo: Hila Emanuel
2025 International Oud Festival
6–13 November, 2025