Haviva Pedaya (in Hebrew: חביבה פְּדָיָה; born December 5, 1957) is an Israeli poet, author, cultural researcher, and professor of Jewish history at Ben-Gurion University, where she is head of the Elyachar Center for Studies in Sephardi Heritage.
His daughter, Pedaya's mother, Simha Ovadia Fatiyah, established the "Hazon" project, which provided vocational rehabilitation for people with mental illness.
She believes in reincarnation, a belief she "inherited" from her Kabbalist grandfather, and between the ages of 17 and 22, she undertook a ta'anit (ritual of abstention) of silence.
Her dissertation was the basis for her book about Rabbi Yitzhak Sagi Nahor, "השם והמקדש במשנת ר' יצחק סגי נהור", published in 2001.
[6] Pedaya stood at the helm of the Helicon School of Poetry (2014–2015), and served as an academic adviser at Alma College, where she also taught.
[11] Pedaya's early research dealt with the birth of the Kabbalah in Provence and the circles of Nachmanides and his students in Spain in the 12th century.
"[12] MiTeivah Stuma (From a Cryptic Ark, 1996) is a collection of symbolic poems, many of which were later set to music by contemporary Israeli artists of multiple genres.
[22] Pedaya was co-founder and producer of the musical show called "Yehuda Halevy Corner of Ibn Gbirol" – references to two main streets in Tel Aviv named after Yehuda Halevy, the Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher; and Shlomo Ibn Gbirol, the 11th-century Andalusian poet and Jewish philosopher.
[23] The event, which took place at Heichal HaTarbut in 2004, featured performances by some of Israel's leading musicians, including Hava Alberstein, Kobi Oz, Eviatar Banai, Berry Sakharof, Ahuva Ozeri, Mosh Ben Ari, Ehud Banai, Shem Tov Levy, David D'Or, Yonatan Razel, Yonah ensemble, and others.
The album included piyyut music of the Baghdad Kabbalists, with Turkish Sufi stylings, based on words by the 16th century Jewish poet Yisrael Najarah.
[28] In 2017, the annual festival of Ethiopian music in Jerusalem, Hullegeb Festival, featured the event The Return to Zion: Longings for the Heavenly Israel (“Shivat Zion” in Hebrew), a multi-layered, multi-style show based on Pedaya's work, in which participated Ethiopian-born and Russian-born singers and musicians, in styles ranging from the liturgical, to electronic, to jazz.
"[4] Pedaya is the creator of the "Zman Yehudi Maleh" (full Jewish time), an online encyclopedia of Jews from Islamic nations.
[30][31] Pedaya is a member of the Hermes International Forum, which promotes world peace, and meets annually in Marrakesh, Morocco.
[7] In addition, she heads Makom M’Shelach ("A Place of Your Own"), a project of empowerment and rehabilitation through the arts for women with mental illness from all sectors of society.
[7] Pedaya is a prolific writer of art criticism, opinion journalism, and social analysis, in particular about Mizrahi issues.
[35] She has participated in many documentary films about Kabbalah and Sephardic history and culture, including Local Angel (2002), Liquid of Life (2008), A Song of Loves – Rabbi David Buzaglo (2015), and Yeshurun in 6 Chapters (2018).