Interestingly, Hatikva first took on the status of a quasi-anthem at the sixth Zionist Conference in 1903. Herzl had tabled a suggestion that the movement consider a British proposal to move European Jews to eastern Africa (the Uganda Plan), and the majority of delegates, who unlike him understood what Judaism was about, were horrified; they resoundingly sang Hatikva to make clear their point that their aspirations were about the national homeland, not some African backwater. Thereafter the song became the de-facto anthem of the Zionist movement, being officially adopted in 1933.
The melody derives from the same Romanian folksong which inspired Smetana when he composed Moldau.
Interestingly, while the song was always the national anthem of Israel, this was explicitly enacted only in 2004. The song in its present form is a slightly modified and shortened version of the original.
A German colleague who once happened to be visiting Israel during the week of Yom Hashoah-Yom Hazikaron-Independence Day pointed told me the Israeli national anthem is the only national anthem he's aware of which is a sad song: mostly they tend to be triumphant or martial or both.
כָּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָה
נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה
וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח, קָדִימָה
עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה -
עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ
הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם
לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ
אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם
As long as deep within the heartHere's a recording without words, and a recording sung by Rivka Zohar.
A Jewish soul stirs,
And forward, to the ends of the East
An eye looks out, towards Zion.
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free people in our land
The land of Zion and Jerusalem
Please comment on the irony, if any, of Israel's national anthem being arranged and sung with Ashkenazic pronunciation.
ReplyDeleteSamuel Cohen, a Moldovan Jew, put the poem "Hatikvah" of Naftali Herz Imber to music. Hatikva. He is said to have modeled it on a Moldovan folk song.
ReplyDeleteIsrael owes both the poem and the music to Bessarabian Jews!
In Arabic, Bessarabia means "without Arabs". Coincidence? Actually, yes, but why split hairs :)
I think the original poem was "Tikvateinu," not "Hativka," but you're right on all other counts.
ReplyDeleteHatikva and La Marseillaise are, in my mind, the pinnacles of national anthems. La Marseillaise is the iconic song of national triumph and the motivation that imparts, and Hativka is the iconic song of national longing and the motivation that imparts.
He is said to have modeled it on a Moldovan folk song.
ReplyDeleteUm, in fact, he copied it, practically lock, stock and barrel, from the main theme of (the Czech composer) Smetena's "Moldau"---which I suppose, once could say, is based on a Moldvan folk tune...