Serbian Hava Nagila and Chanukah at the mar de cortes

[Jack Falk \(E-mail\) <jackfalk...>]

  >  -----Original Message-----
  >  From: MaxwellSt (at) aol(dot)com [mailto:MaxwellSt (at) aol(dot)com]
  >  Sent: Monday, December 31, 2001 11:23 AM
  >
  >  ... The best hora I ever saw was a bunch of Serbs dancing to Hava
Nagila.
  >  It was a glorious sight to see, so that the thought went through my
mind,
  >  "Oh, THAT'S what a hora is supposed to be!"

You want Serbian Hava Nagila?  Check out "Blow, Besir, Blow!" by
Jova Stojiljkovic "Besir" & His Brass Orkestar
(http://www.rounder.com/rounder/catalog/bylabel/gsus/038/038.html).
This is a Roma brass band from Golemo Selo near Vranje, Serbia.
Track 4 is called "Izrael Orijent" and yup, it's the H tune.


Jewish music pops up where you least expect it.  For example:
About 12 years ago, my family and I were on our way back from a few days
at the beach in northern Mexico, where we had gone to celebrate Chanukah.
It was the afternoon of the 8th day, and just before we crossed back into
Arizona, we were surprised by a severe rainstorm.  We ducked into a
luncheria, ordered some coffee and sodas, then went over to the jukebox.
There, in Sonoyta, Sonora - a town with few if any Jews - one song beckoned
to us loud and clear: "Shalom Israel."

Bewildered, we searched through our remaining Mexican coins until we finally
found something that would start the music.  Then we sat back and waited
for....

   "Shalom chaverim, shalom chaverim, shalom!  Shalom!
    L'hitraot, l'hitraot, shalom!  Shalom!"

_Now_ we knew it was time for us to go back to the States.  But what
we couldn't begin to guess was how that record wound up in a jukebox
in a treyf-o-mat in northern Mexico - and how they came up with that name.

Yankl

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