[HANASHIR:11396] HaTikvah

[Rosalie Boxt <cantorboxt...>]

Judah and chevre --

SO interesting that you posted re alternative lyrics, because I heard them!

"  But here's where things get interesting:
 Although one source notes that the Zionist congress adopted Hatikvah in
1877 as its national anthem, apparently two different versions of the song
developed over time and were sung concommittently.  OUTSIDE of Israel, the
song ended with:

 Od lo advah tikvateinu,
 HaTikvah hanoshanah,
 Lashuv b'eretz avoteinu,
 LaIr BaDavid chana."

Last Shabbat morning I was on my way to a Bat Mitzvah, and heard the most
moving thing on NPR -- I almost pulled over I was crying so hard -- it was a
recording from the 1940s of a British journalist who came to Belzen and was
evacuating the camps.  He described seeing the few survivors having a
service, he suspected the first service on German soil in many years.  He
said there were bodies all around, and some members were dying as he
watched.  But a small group began to pray.  He recorded them.  It was hard
to understand, but then they started singing Hatikvah.  The reporter noted
that the survivors were singing so loudly, with all their strength it almost
wore them out, in order to be heard by the reporter's tape recorder, and to
show the world .... anyway, they sang hatikvah, and sang those words Judah
mentioned at the end.  I tried to listen carefully to get them all, but was
crying too hard to do so.  It was absolutely amazing.

I too am in favor of singing things "correctly" if there is such a thing (my
Israeli educator and the Israelis who teach in the religious school don't
sing Bat), but after hearing the survivors sing other words, it was hard not
to think that while we strive for accuracy in education, every text, every
change, has a story, and one worth telling.

Rosalie

----------------------------------------------------
Rosalie Boxt, Cantor
Temple Emanuel, Kensington, MD
301-942-2000
cantorboxt (at) erols(dot)com

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