Hatikvah

"Hatikvah" (Hebrew: הַתִּקְוָה‎, pronounced [hatikˈva], lit. English: "The Hope") is a 19th-century Jewish poem and the national anthem of Israel. The theme of the romantic composition reflects the Jews' 2,000-year-old hope of returning to the Land of Israel, restoring it, and reclaiming it as a free and sovereign nation. Its lyrics are adapted from a poem by Naftali Herz Imber, a Jewish poet from Złoczów (today Zolochiv, Ukraine), which was then in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria under Austrian rule. Imber wrote the first version of the poem in 1877, while he was a guest of a Jewish scholar in Iași, Romania.

For the political party, see Hatikva (political party). For the Tel Aviv neighbourhood, see Hatikva Quarter.

HaTikvah

English: The Hope
הַתִּקְוָה‎
The lyrics of "Hatikvah" below an Israeli flag
National anthem of  Israel
Lyrics	Naftali Herz Imber, 1878
Music	Samuel Cohen, 1888
Adopted	1897 (by the First Zionist Congress) 1948 (by Israel, provisionally) 2004 (by Israel, officially) 2018 (by Israel, Basic Law)
Audio sample
"Hatikvah" (instrumental) file help

History

The text of Hatikvah was written in 1878 by Naftali Herz Imber, a Jewish poet from Zolochiv (Polish: Złoczów), a city nicknamed "The City of Poets",[1] then in Austrian Poland, today in Ukraine. In 1882 Imber immigrated to Ottoman-ruled Palestine and read his poem to the pioneers of the early Jewish villages—Rishon Lezion, Rehovot, Gedera, and Yesud Hama'ala.[2]

Imber's nine-stanza poem, Tikvatenu ("Our Hope"), put into words his thoughts and feelings following the establishment of Petah Tikva (literally "Opening of Hope"). Published in Imber's first book Barkai [The Shining Morning Star], Jerusalem, 1886,[3] the poem was subsequently adopted as an anthem by the Hovevei Zion and later by the Zionist Movement at the First Zionist Congress in 1897.

Before the establishment of the State of Israel

Hatikvah was chosen as the organisational anthem of the First Zionist Congress in 1897.[4]

The British Mandate government briefly banned its public performance and broadcast from 1919, in response to an increase in Arab anti-Zionist political activity.[5]

A former member of the Sonderkommando reported that the song was spontaneously sung by Czech Jews at the entrance to the Auschwitz-Birkenau gas chamber in 1944. While singing they were beaten by Waffen-SS guards.[6]

Adoption as national anthem

When the State of Israel was established in 1948, "Hatikvah" was unofficially proclaimed the national anthem. It did not officially become the national anthem until November 2004, when an abbreviated and edited version was sanctioned by the Knesset[4] in an amendment to the Flag and Coat-of-Arms Law (now renamed the Flag, Coat-of-Arms, and National Anthem Law).

In its modern rendering, the official text of the anthem incorporates only the first stanza and refrain of the original poem. The predominant theme in the remaining stanzas is the establishment of a sovereign and free nation in the Land of Israel, a hope largely seen as fulfilled with the founding of the State of Israel.

Music

The melody for "Hatikvah" derives from "La Mantovana", a 16th-century Italian song, composed by Giuseppe Cenci (Giuseppino del Biado) ca. 1600 with the text "Fuggi, fuggi, fuggi da questo cielo". Its earliest known appearance in print was in the del Biado's collection of madrigals. It was later known in early 17th-century Italy as Ballo di Mantova. This melody gained wide currency in Renaissance Europe, under various titles, such as the Pod Krakowem (in Polish), Cucuruz cu frunza-n sus [Maize with up-standing leaves] (in Romanian)[7][8] and the Kateryna Kucheryava (in Ukrainian).[9] It also served as a basis for a number of folk songs throughout Central Europe, for example the popular Slovenian children song Čuk se je oženil [The little owl got married] (in Slovenian).[10] The melody was used by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana in his set of six symphonic poems celebrating Bohemia, "Má vlast" ("My homeland"), namely in the second poem named after the river which flows through Prague, Vltava; the piece is also known under its German title as Die Moldau (The Moldau).[11] The melody was also used by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns in "Rapsodie Bretonne".[12]

The adaptation of the music for "Hatikvah" was set by Samuel Cohen in 1888. Cohen himself recalled many years later that he had hummed Hatikvah based on the melody from the song he had heard in Romania, Carul cu boi [The Ox-Driven Cart].[13][14][15]

The harmony of "Hatikvah" follows a minor scale, which is often perceived as mournful in tone and is uncommon in national anthems. As the title "The Hope" and the words suggest, the import of the song is optimistic and the overall spirit uplifting.

Use in sporting events

In October 2017, after judoka Tal Flicker won gold in the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam in the United Arab Emirates, officials played the International Judo Federation (IJF) anthem, instead of "Hatikvah", which Flicker sang privately.[16][17]

Use in film

American composer John Williams adapted Hatikvah in 2005 historical drama film Munich. [18]

Official text

Imber's handwritten text of the poem

The official text of the national anthem corresponds to the first stanza and amended refrain of the original nine-stanza poem by Naftali Herz Imber. Along with the original Hebrew, the corresponding transliteration[lower-alpha 1] and English translation are listed below.

Hebrew lyrics

Modern Hebrew	Transliteration	Phonemic transcription (IPA)
First verse
כֹּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָה נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה, וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח קָדִימָה, עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה;‎	Kol ‘od balevav penimah Nefesh Yehudi homiyah, Ulfa’ate mizrach kadimah, ‘Ayin leTziyon tzofiyah;	/kol od balevav penima/ /nefeʃ jehudi homija |/ /ulfaʔate mizʁaχ kadima |/ /ajin let͡sijon t͡sofija |/
Second verse
עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ, הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם, לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ, אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם.‎	‘Od lo avdah tikvatenu, Hatikvah bat shnot ’alpayim, Lihyot ‘am chofshi be’artzenu, ’Eretz-Tziyon virushalayim.	/od lo avda tikvatenu |/ /hatikva bat ʃnot alpajim |/ /lihjot am χofʃi beʔaʁt͡senu |/ /eʁet͡s t͡sijon viʁuʃalajim ‖/

Arabic

Arabic script	Romanisation of Arabic
طالما في القلب تكمن، نفس يهودية تتوق، وللأمام نحو الشرق، عين تنظر إلى صهيون. أملنا لم يضع بعد، أمل عمره ألفا سنة، أن نكون أمّة حرّة في أرضنا أرض صهيون و أورشليم .	Ṭālamā fī al-qalb takmun, Nafsun yahūdiyya tatuq, Wa-lilʾamām naḥwa aš-šarq, ʿAynun tanẓuru ʾilá ṣahyūn. ʾAmalunā lam yaḍaʿ baʿd, ʾAmalun ʿumruhu ʾal-fāni sana, ʾAn nakūn ʾummatan ḥurra fī bilādinā, Bilādu ṣahyūn waʾūršalīm.

English translation

Literal	Poetic[19]
As long as in the heart, within, The soul of a Jew still yearns, And onward, towards the ends of the east, an eye still gazes toward Zion; Our hope is not yet lost, The two-thousand-year-old hope, To be a free nation in our land, The land of Zion and Jerusalem.	O while within a Jewish heart, Beats true a Jewish soul, And Jewish glances turning East, To Zion fondly dart; O then our Hope—it is not dead, Our ancient Hope and true, To be a nation free forevermore Zion and Jerusalem at our core.

Some people compare the first line of the refrain, “Our hope is not yet lost” (“עוד לא אבדה תקוותנו‎”), to the opening of the Polish national anthem, Poland Is Not Yet Lost (Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła) or the Ukrainian national anthem, Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished (Ще не вмерла Україна; Šče ne vmerla Ukrajina). This line may also be a Biblical allusion to Ezekiel’s "Vision of the Dried Bones" (Ezekiel 37: "…Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost"), describing the despair of the Jewish people in exile, and God's promise to redeem them and lead them back to the Land of Israel. The phrase אבדה תקותנו appears identically in both.

The official text of Hatikvah is relatively short; indeed it is a single complex sentence, consisting of two clauses: the subordinate clause posits the condition ("As long as… A soul still yearns… And… An eye still watches…"), while the independent clause specifies the outcome ("Our hope is not yet lost… To be a free nation in our land").

Text of Tikvatenu

Below is the full text of the nine-stanza poem Tikvatenu by Naftali Herz Imber. The current version of the Israeli national anthem corresponds to the first stanza of this poem and the amended refrain.

Hebrew	Transliteration	English translation
–I–
כָּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָה	Kol-‘od ballevav penima	As long as in the heart, within,
נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה,	Nefesh yehudi homiyya,	The soul of a Jew still yearns,
וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח קָדִימָה,	Ulfa’atey mizraḥ kadima,	And onward, towards the ends of the east,
עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה.	‘Ayin leTziyyon tzofiyya.	An eye still looks toward Zion;
חזרה		Refrain
עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִקְוָתֵנוּ,	‘Od lo ’avda tikvatenu,	Our hope is not yet lost,
הַתִּקְוָה הַנּוֹשָׁנָה:	Hattikva hannoshana:	The ancient hope,
לָשׁוּב לְאֶרֶץ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ,	Lashuv le’eretz avoteynu,	To return to the land of our fathers,
לְעִיר בָּהּ דָּוִד חָנָה.	La‘ir bah david ḥana.	The city where David encamped.
–II–
כָּל-עוֹד דְּמָעוֹת מֵעֵינֵינוּ	Kol-‘od dema‘ot me‘eyneynu	As long as tears from our eyes
יִזְּלוּ כְגֶשֶׁם נְדָבוֹת,	Yizzelu kegeshem nedavot,	Flow like benevolent rain,
וּרְבָבוֹת מִבְּנֵי עַמֵּנוּ	Urvavot mibbney ‘ammenu	And throngs of our countrymen
עוֹד הוֹלְכִים עַל קִבְרֵי אָבוֹת.	‘Od holḵim ‘al kivrey ’avot.	Still pay homage at the graves of (our) fathers;
חזרה		Refrain
–III–
כָּל-עוֹד חוֹמַת מַחֲמַדֵּינוּ	Kol-‘od ḥomat maḥ(a)maddeynu	As long as our precious Wall
לְעֵינֵינוּ מוֹפָעַת,	Le‘eyneynu mofa‘at,	Appears before our eyes,
וְעַל חֻרְבַּן מִקְדָּשֵׁנוּ	Ve‘al ḥurban mikdashenu	And over the destruction of our Temple
עַיִן אַחַת עוֹד דוֹמָעַת.	‘Ayin aḥat ‘od doma‘at.	An eye still wells up with tears;
חזרה		Refrain
–IV–
כָּל-עוֹד מֵי הַיַּרְדֵּן בְּגָאוֹן	Kol ‘od mey hayyarden bega’on	As long as the waters of the Jordan
מְלֹא גְדוֹתָיו יִזֹּלוּ,	Melo gedotav yizzolu,	In fullness swell its banks,
וּלְיָם כִּנֶּרֶת בְּשָׁאוֹן	Uleyam kinneret besha’on	And (down) to the Sea of Galilee
בְּקוֹל הֲמוּלָה יִפֹּלוּ.	Bekol hamula yippolu.	With tumultuous noise fall;
חזרה		Refrain
–V–
כָּל-עוֹד שָׁם עֲלֵי דְרָכַיִם	Kol-‘od sham ‘aley draḵayim	As long as on the barren highways
שַעַר יֻכַּת שְׁאִיָּה,	Sha‘ar yukkat she’iyya,	The humbled city gates mark,
וּבֵין חָרְבוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַיִם	Uveyn ḥarvot Yerushalayim	And among the ruins of Jerusalem
עוֹד בּת צִיּוֹן בּוֹכִיָּה.	‘Od bat Tziyyon boḵiyya;	A daughter of Zion still cries;
חזרה		Refrain
–VI–
כָּל-עוֹד דְּמָעוֹת טְהוֹרוֹת	Kol ‘od dema‘ot tehorot	As long as pure tears
מֵעֵין בַּת עַמִּי נוֹזְלוֹת,	Me‘eyn bat ‘ammi nozlot,	Flow from the eye of a daughter of my nation,
וְלִבְכּוֹת לְצִיּוֹן בְּרֹאשׁ אַשְׁמוֹרוֹת	Velivkot leTziyyon berosh ’ashmorot	And to mourn for Zion at the watch of night
עוֹד תָּקוּם בַּחֲצִי הַלֵּילוֹת.	‘Od takum baḥatzi halleylot.	She still rises in the middle of the nights;
חזרה		Refrain
–VII–
כָּל-עוֹד נִטְפֵי דָם בְּעוֹרְקֵינוּ	Kol-‘od nitfey dam be‘orkeynu	As long as drops of blood in our veins
רָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב יִזֹּלוּ,	Ratzo vashov yizzolu,	Flow back and forth,
וַעֲלֵי קִבְרוֹת אֲבוֹתֵינוּ	Va‘ale kivrot avoteynu	And upon the graves of our fathers
עוֹד אֶגְלֵי טַל יִפֹּלוּ.	‘Od egley tal yippolu;	Dewdrops still fall;
חזרה		Refrain
–VIII–
כָּל-עוֹד רֶגֶשׁ אַהֲבַת הַלְּאוֹם	Kol ‘od regesh ’ahavat halle’om	As long as the feeling of love of nation
בְּלֵב הַיְּהוּדִי פּוֹעֵם,	Belev hayyehudi po‘em,	Throbs in the heart of the Jew,
עוֹד נוּכַל קַוּוֹת גַּם הַיּוֹם	‘Od nuḵal kavvot gam hayyom	We can still hope even today
כִּי עוֹד יְרַחֲמֵנוּ אֵל זוֹעֵם.	Ki ‘od yeraḥ(a)menu ’el zo‘em;	That God may still have mercy on us;
חזרה		Refrain
–IX–
שִׁמְעוּ אַחַי בְּאַרְצוֹת נוּדִי	Shim‘u aḥay be’artzot nudi	Hear, O my brothers in the lands of exile,
אֶת קוֹל אַחַד חוֹזֵינוּ,	Et kol aḥad ḥozeynu,	The voice of one of our visionaries,
כּי רַק עִם אַחֲרוֹן הַיְּהוּדִי	Ki rak ‘im aḥaron hayyehudi	(Who declares) That only with the very last Jew —
גַּם אַחֲרִית תִּקְוָתֵנוּ!	Gam aḥarit tikvatenu!	Only there is the end of our hope!
חזרה		Refrain
–X– (unofficial)
לֵךְ עַמִּי, לְשָׁלוֹם שׁוּב לְאַרְצֶךָ,	Lekh ʻammi, leshalom shuv le’artzeḵa	Go, my people, return in peace to your land
הַצֱּרִי בְגִלְעָד, בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם רוֹפְאֶךָ,	Hattzeri veGilʻad, biYerushalayim rof’eḵa	The balm in Gilead, your healer in Jerusalem,
רוֹפְאֶךָ יְיָ, חָכְמַת לְבָבוֹ,	rof’eḵa YY (adonai), ḥoḵmat levavo	Your healer is God, the wisdom of His heart,
לֵךְ עַמִּי לְשָׁלוֹם, וּרְפוּאָה קְרוֹבָה לָבוֹא ...	lekh ʻammi leshalom, ur(e)fuʼa k(e)rova lavo...	Go my people in peace, healing is imminent...

Alternate proposals and objections

Objections by religious Jews

Some religious Jews have criticised "Hatikvah" for its lack of religious emphasis: There is no mention of God or the Torah.[20]

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook wrote an alternative anthem titled "HaEmunah" ("The Faith") which he proposed as a replacement for "Hatikvah". But he did not object to the singing of "Hatikvah", and in fact endorsed it.[21]

Objections by non-Jewish Israelis

Liberalism and the Right to Culture, written by Avishai Margalit and Moshe Halbertal, provides a social scientific perspective on the cultural dynamics in Israel, a country that is a vital home to many diverse religious groups. More specifically, Margalit and Halbertal cover the various responses towards "Hatikvah", which they establish as the original anthem of a Zionist movement, one that holds a two thousand year long hope of returning to the homeland (“Zion and Jerusalem”) after a long period of exile.

To introduce the controversy of Israel's national anthem, the authors provide two instances where "Hatikvah" is rejected for the estrangement that it creates between the minority cultural groups of Israel and its national Jewish politics. Those that object find trouble in the mere fact that the national anthem is exclusively Jewish while a significant proportion of the state's citizenry is not Jewish and lacks any connection to the anthem's content and implications.

As Margalit and Halbertal continue to discuss, "Hatikvah" symbolises for many Arab-Israelis the struggle of loyalty that comes with having to dedicate oneself to either their historical or religious identity.[22]

Specifically, Arab Israelis object to "Hatikvah" due to its explicit allusions to Jewishness. In particular, the text's reference to the yearnings of "a Jewish soul" is often cited as preventing non-Jews from personally identifying with the anthem. In 2001, Saleh Tarif, the first non-Jew appointed to the Israeli cabinet in Israel's history, refused to sing "Hatikvah".[23] Ghaleb Majadale, who in January 2007 became the first Muslim to be appointed as a minister in the Israeli cabinet, sparked a controversy when he publicly refused to sing the anthem, stating that the song was written for Jews only.[24] In 2012, Salim Joubran, an Israeli Arab justice on Israel's Supreme Court, did not join in singing "Hatikvah" during a ceremony honoring the retirement of the court's chief justice, Dorit Beinisch.[25]

From time to time proposals have been made to change the national anthem or to modify the text in order to make it more acceptable to non-Jewish Israelis.[26][27] To date no such proposals have succeeded in gaining broad support.

See also

• National symbols of Israel
• Culture of Israel
• Music of Israel

Notes

1. In the transliterations that appear on this page, a right quote (’) is used to represent the Hebrew letter aleph (א‎) when used as a consonant, while a left quote (‘) is used to represent the Hebrew letter ‘ayin (ע‎). The letter e in parentheses, (e), indicates a schwa that should theoretically be voiceless, but is usually pronounced as a very short e in modern Israeli Hebrew. In contrast, the letter a in parentheses, (a), indicates a very short a that should theoretically be pronounced, but is usually not voiced in modern Israeli Hebrew.

References

1. Weiss, Jakob (2011), The Lemberg Mosaic, New York: Alderbrook, p. 59.
2. Tobianah, Vicky (12 May 2012). "Pianist explores Hatikva's origins". Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
3. Naphtali Herz Imber (1904) Barkoi or The Blood Avenger, A.H. Rosenberg, New York (Hebrew and English)
4. Vivian Eden (24 August 2015). "Evil Spirits Lurking in Israel's National Anthem". Haaretz. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
5. Morris, B (1999), Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist–Arab Conflict, 1881–1999, Knopf.
6. Gilbert, Shirli, Music in the Holocaust: Confronting Life in the Nazi Ghettos and Camps, p. 154.
7. "Cucuruz cu frunza-n sus - Didina Curea" – via www.youtube.com.
8. Lyrics: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/cucuruz-cu-frunza-n-sus-traditional-version-no-2-maize-raised-leaf-traditional-version.html
9. IV. Musical examples: Baroque and classic eras; Torban Tuning and repertoire, Torban.
10. kultura, Zdenko Matoz (26 September 2014). "Il Divo – poperetni fenomen". www.delo.si.
11. "Smetana - Die Moldau (Karajan)" – via www.youtube.com.
12. "Rapsodie bretonne, Op. 7bis: II. Andantino" – via www.youtube.com.
13. "Carul cu boi" – via www.youtube.com.
14. "נתן כוגן - מנגינת התקווה (שיר עם רומני)" – via www.youtube.com.
15. Lyrics: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/carul-cu-boi-ox-driven-cart.html
16. "Israeli wins judo gold in UAE, which refuses to play anthem, raise flag".
17. "Abu Dhabi Grand Slam 2017 / IJF.org". www.ijf.org.
18. "HATIKVA (THE HOPE) (FROM MUNICH)" – via www.halleonard.com/.
19. Jewish National and Zion Songs: In Hebrew, Jewish and English. With Music (in Hebrew). Hebrew Publishing Company. 1915.
20. Yosef Y. Jacobson, Bentching vs. Hatikva; Torah vs. the UN, Chabad.org, originally published in summer 2013, accessed 30 January 2019
21. Kook, Rav, Response to Hatikvah, In more recent years, some Israeli Mizrahi (Eastern) Jews have criticised the song's western perspective. For Iraqi and Persian Jews, for example, the Land of Israel was in the west, and it was to this direction that they focused their prayers.
22. Margalit, Avishai; Halbertal, Moshe. "Liberalism and the Right to Culture". Social Research: An International Quarterly. Johns Hopkins University Press. 71: 494–497.
23. "Not All Israeli Arabs Cheer Appointment of Druse Minister". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 6 March 2001. Retrieved 26 April 2012. It is the Jewish anthem, it is not the anthem of the non-Jewish citizens of Israel.
24. "Majadele refuses to sing national anthem". Ynet News. 17 March 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2007. I fail to understand how an enlightened, sane Jew allows himself to ask a Muslim person with a different language and culture, to sing an anthem that was written for Jews only.
25. Bronner, Ethan (3 March 2012). "Anger and Compassion for Arab Justice Who Stays Silent During Zionist Hymn". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
26. Philologos. "Rewriting 'Hatikvah' as Anthem for All". The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
27. Carlebach, Neshama. "An Anthem For All?". The Jewish Daily Forward (recording). Retrieved 29 April 2012.. A proposed modified version.

External links

• Israel’s National Anthem – Hatikva, Jewish Virtual Library.