Hatikvah: Examining the Song
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Imber’s original handwritten text of Tikvatenu, the Schwadron Collection at the National Library of Israel - https://blog.nli.org.il/en/hoi_hatikvah/
Hatikvah "on one foot":
Hatikvah is Israel's national anthem. The name means "The hope". The tune is used sometimes in the last part of the Ahava Rabba prayer in the morning service, when we ask G-d to bring us together from the four corners of the earth, and the tune is also used in Birkat HaChodesh when announcing the month of Iyar (when Yom HaAtzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, is). Unlike most national anthems, the song is not about war, and is one of only a dozen national anthems in a minor key.
The Text
כֹּל 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.𝄆
Ha-Tikvah
Kol ‘od balevav penimah
Nefesh Yehudi homiyah,
Ulfa’ate mizrach kadimah,
‘Ayin leTziyon tzofiyah;
‘Od lo avdah tikvatenu,
Hatikvah bat shnot ’alpayim,
𝄆 Lihyot ‘am chofshi be’artzenu,
’Eretz-Tziyon virushalayim. 𝄇
As long as in the heart, within,
The Jewish soul yearns,
And towards the ends of the east,
[The Jewish] eye gazes toward Zion,
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
𝄆 To be a free nation in our own land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem. 𝄇
The Biblical Allusion
(א) הָיְתָ֣ה עָלַי֮ יַד־יהוה וַיּוֹצִאֵ֤נִֽי בְר֙וּחַ֙ יהוה וַיְנִיחֵ֖נִי בְּת֣וֹךְ הַבִּקְעָ֑ה וְהִ֖יא מְלֵאָ֥ה עֲצָמֽוֹת׃ (ב) וְהֶעֱבִירַ֥נִי עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם סָבִ֣יב ׀ סָבִ֑יב וְהִנֵּ֨ה רַבּ֤וֹת מְאֹד֙ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י הַבִּקְעָ֔ה וְהִנֵּ֖ה יְבֵשׁ֥וֹת מְאֹֽד׃ (ג) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י בֶּן־אָדָ֕ם הֲתִֽחְיֶ֖ינָה הָעֲצָמ֣וֹת הָאֵ֑לֶּה וָאֹמַ֕ר אדני יהוה אַתָּ֥ה יָדָֽעְתָּ׃ (ד) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י הִנָּבֵ֖א עַל־הָעֲצָמ֣וֹת הָאֵ֑לֶּה וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם הָֽעֲצָמוֹת֙ הַיְבֵשׁ֔וֹת שִׁמְע֖וּ דְּבַר־יהוה׃ (ה) כֹּ֤ה אָמַר֙ אדני יהוה לָעֲצָמ֖וֹת הָאֵ֑לֶּה הִנֵּ֨ה אֲנִ֜י מֵבִ֥יא בָכֶ֛ם ר֖וּחַ וִחְיִיתֶֽם׃ (ו) וְנָתַתִּי֩ עֲלֵיכֶ֨ם גִּידִ֜ים וְֽהַעֲלֵתִ֧י עֲלֵיכֶ֣ם בָּשָׂ֗ר וְקָרַמְתִּ֤י עֲלֵיכֶם֙ ע֔וֹר וְנָתַתִּ֥י בָכֶ֛ם ר֖וּחַ וִחְיִיתֶ֑ם וִידַעְתֶּ֖ם כִּֽי־אֲנִ֥י יהוה׃ (ז) וְנִבֵּ֖אתִי כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר צֻוֵּ֑יתִי וַֽיְהִי־ק֤וֹל כְּהִנָּֽבְאִי֙ וְהִנֵּה־רַ֔עַשׁ וַתִּקְרְב֣וּ עֲצָמ֔וֹת עֶ֖צֶם אֶל־עַצְמֽוֹ׃ (ח) וְרָאִ֜יתִי וְהִנֵּֽה־עֲלֵיהֶ֤ם גִּדִים֙ וּבָשָׂ֣ר עָלָ֔ה וַיִּקְרַ֧ם עֲלֵיהֶ֛ם ע֖וֹר מִלְמָ֑עְלָה וְר֖וּחַ אֵ֥ין בָּהֶֽם׃ (ט) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י הִנָּבֵ֖א אֶל־הָר֑וּחַ הִנָּבֵ֣א בֶן־אָ֠דָ֠ם וְאָמַרְתָּ֨ אֶל־הָר֜וּחַ {ס} כֹּה־אָמַ֣ר ׀ אדני יהוה מֵאַרְבַּ֤ע רוּחוֹת֙ בֹּ֣אִי הָר֔וּחַ וּפְחִ֛י בַּהֲרוּגִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה וְיִֽחְיֽוּ׃ (י) וְהִנַּבֵּ֖אתִי כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוָּ֑נִי וַתָּבוֹא֩ בָהֶ֨ם הָר֜וּחַ וַיִּֽחְי֗וּ וַיַּֽעַמְדוּ֙ עַל־רַגְלֵיהֶ֔ם חַ֖יִל גָּד֥וֹל מְאֹד־מְאֹֽד׃ (יא) וַיֹּ֘אמֶר֮ אֵלַי֒ בֶּן־אָדָ֕ם הָעֲצָמ֣וֹת הָאֵ֔לֶּה כׇּל־בֵּ֥ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל הֵ֑מָּה הִנֵּ֣ה אֹמְרִ֗ים יָבְשׁ֧וּ עַצְמוֹתֵ֛ינוּ וְאָבְדָ֥ה תִקְוָתֵ֖נוּ נִגְזַ֥רְנוּ לָֽנוּ׃ (יב) לָכֵן֩ הִנָּבֵ֨א וְאָמַרְתָּ֜ אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם כֹּה־אָמַר֮ אדני יהוה הִנֵּה֩ אֲנִ֨י פֹתֵ֜חַ אֶת־קִבְרֽוֹתֵיכֶ֗ם וְהַעֲלֵיתִ֥י אֶתְכֶ֛ם מִקִּבְרוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם עַמִּ֑י וְהֵבֵאתִ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֶל־אַדְמַ֥ת יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (יג) וִידַעְתֶּ֖ם כִּֽי־אֲנִ֣י יהוה בְּפִתְחִ֣י אֶת־קִבְרֽוֹתֵיכֶ֗ם וּבְהַעֲלוֹתִ֥י אֶתְכֶ֛ם מִקִּבְרוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם עַמִּֽי׃ (יד) וְנָתַתִּ֨י רוּחִ֤י בָכֶם֙ וִחְיִיתֶ֔ם וְהִנַּחְתִּ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם עַל־אַדְמַתְכֶ֑ם וִידַעְתֶּ֞ם כִּֽי־אֲנִ֧י יהוה דִּבַּ֥רְתִּי וְעָשִׂ֖יתִי נְאֻם־יהוה׃ {פ}
(1) GOD’s hand came upon me. I was taken out by the spirit of GOD and set down in the valley. It was full of bones. (2) [God] led me all around them; there were very many of them spread over the valley, and they were very dry. (3) I was asked, “O mortal, can these bones live again?” I replied, “O my Sovereign GOD, only You know.” (4) And I was told, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of GOD! (5) Thus said the Sovereign GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live again. (6) I will lay sinews upon you, and cover you with flesh, and form skin over you. And I will put breath into you, and you shall live again. And you shall know that I am GOD!” (7) I prophesied as I had been commanded. And while I was prophesying, suddenly there was a sound of rattling, and the bones came together, bone to matching bone. (8) I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had grown, and skin had formed over them; but there was no breath in them. (9) Then [God] said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, O mortal! Say to the breath: Thus said the Sovereign GOD: Come, O breath, from the four winds, and breathe into these slain, that they may live again.” (10) I prophesied as I was commanded. The breath entered them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, a vast multitude. (11) And I was told, “O mortal, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone; we are doomed.’ (12) Prophesy, therefore, and say to them: Thus said the Sovereign GOD: I am going to open your graves and lift you out of the graves, O My people, and bring you to the land of Israel. (13) You shall know, O My people, that I am GOD, when I have opened your graves and lifted you out of your graves. (14) I will put My breath into you and you shall live again, and I will set you upon your own soil. Then you shall know that I, GOD, have spoken and have acted”—declares GOD.
Ezekiel was a prophet who lived during the Babylonian Exile. This vision was a metaphor for the Israelites saying that they were like dried bones who couldn't come back to life -- they were torn forever from their homeland. G-d was saying, "No, you will return to your land." Naftali Herz Imber took the phrase "Avdah tikvateinu", "our hope is lost" and turned it into "Od lo avda tikvateinu", "our hope is not lost", putting in an allusion to this Biblical story of returning to Israel. Note that this is the Haftarah for Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach, during a springtime holiday of national rebirth.
Other allusions in the original version of Hatikvah can be found here: https://www.thetorah.com/article/tikvatenu-the-poem-that-inspired-israels-national-anthem-hatikva
Who wrote Hatikvah?
Naftali Herz Imber, the Schwadron Portrait Collection at the National Library of Israel - https://blog.nli.org.il/en/hoi_hatikvah/
- The author of Hatikvah was Naftali Herz (sometimes "Hertz") Imber.
- He was born in 1856 in Złoczów, a town in Austro-Hungarian Galicia, into a Hasidic family.
- Imber was inspired by the Hibbat Zion movement for Jews returning to their ancient homeland, and wrote most of "Tikvateinu" in 1878 in Iasi (sometimes called Jassy / Yash), Romania. It would eventually become a 9-verse poem, starting each verse with "Kol od", "As long as". (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatikvah for the full lyrics.)
- He was born in 1856 in Złoczów, a town in Austro-Hungarian Galicia, into a Hasidic family.
- Imber was inspired by the Hibbat Zion movement for Jews returning to their ancient homeland, and wrote most of "Tikvateinu" in 1878 in Iasi (sometimes called Jassy / Yash), Romania. It would eventually become a 9-verse poem, starting each verse with "Kol od", "As long as". (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatikvah for the full lyrics.)
This is the original 9-verse poem, set to the later tune.
- It was inspired by the 1840 poem / song "Der Deutsche Rhein", "The German Rhine", which also starts every verse with "As long as".
- He then wandered in Eastern Europe for several years before opening up a match, charm, and amulet shop in the market in Istanbul.
- In 1882 he closed said shop so he could travel with Sir Laurence Oliphant, a Christian member of the British Parliament and a businessman, as his personal secretary and Hebrew tutor. Sir Oliphant and his wife were heading to the Holy Land to encourage Jews to settle there, thus hopefully hastening the arrival of the Messiah.
- They went their separate ways upon arrival, and Imber finished "Tikvateinu" in 1884 in Jerusalem. He published it in 1886 in a collection of his poetry called "Barkai" ("Morning Star"), dedicated to Oliphant.
- Imber was attracted to wine and women, and as he traveled through the land he would claim to be inspired by either a woman or someone with money for wine, supposedly composing "Tikvateinu" on the spot. Thus, Gedera, Yesod HaMa’ala, Mishmar HaYarden, and Rishon LeZion all claim that Hatikvah was written in their city limits.
- After a few years, Imber left for England and then Boston. He eventually died of alcohol-induced liver disease in 1909 in New York.
- Before he died, a young singer, Jeanette Robinson-Murphy, asked him to write down the first two stanzas of his poem for her. He wrote them on some hospital paperwork that he had at hand, and she donated it to the National Library of Israel in 1936 (at that point the Hebrew University Library). This is the only known copy of Hatikvah in his handwriting.
- He is buried in Israel at Har Menuchot, and you can see pictures of his grave here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88057950/naphtali-herz-imber
- He then wandered in Eastern Europe for several years before opening up a match, charm, and amulet shop in the market in Istanbul.
- In 1882 he closed said shop so he could travel with Sir Laurence Oliphant, a Christian member of the British Parliament and a businessman, as his personal secretary and Hebrew tutor. Sir Oliphant and his wife were heading to the Holy Land to encourage Jews to settle there, thus hopefully hastening the arrival of the Messiah.
- They went their separate ways upon arrival, and Imber finished "Tikvateinu" in 1884 in Jerusalem. He published it in 1886 in a collection of his poetry called "Barkai" ("Morning Star"), dedicated to Oliphant.
- Imber was attracted to wine and women, and as he traveled through the land he would claim to be inspired by either a woman or someone with money for wine, supposedly composing "Tikvateinu" on the spot. Thus, Gedera, Yesod HaMa’ala, Mishmar HaYarden, and Rishon LeZion all claim that Hatikvah was written in their city limits.
- After a few years, Imber left for England and then Boston. He eventually died of alcohol-induced liver disease in 1909 in New York.
- Before he died, a young singer, Jeanette Robinson-Murphy, asked him to write down the first two stanzas of his poem for her. He wrote them on some hospital paperwork that he had at hand, and she donated it to the National Library of Israel in 1936 (at that point the Hebrew University Library). This is the only known copy of Hatikvah in his handwriting.
- He is buried in Israel at Har Menuchot, and you can see pictures of his grave here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88057950/naphtali-herz-imber
What happened to the words?
- The poem was later abbreviated from 9 to 2 verses.
- "Eino l'Tziyon" became "Ayin l'Tziyon" ("His eye to Zion" became "An eye to Zion")
- Dr. Y.L. Matmon-Cohen, who started the Herzaliyah Hebrew School, made a few other changes in 1905.
- "Hatikvah hanoshana" became "Hatikvah bat-shnot alpayim" ("The ancient hope" became "The two-thousand year hope").
- "Lashuv la'eretz avoteinu, la'ir David ba nacha" became "l'hiyot am chofshi b'artzeinu, eretz Tziyon v'rushalayim" ("To return to the land of our ancestors, to the city where David rested" became "To be a free nation in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem"). This took out the Messianic allusion from Isaiah 29:1.
- He also changed the title from "Tikvateinu" to "Hatikvah" ("Our Hope" became "The Hope").
- These changes were made to reflect the reality of Jews returning to their home.
- The poem was later abbreviated from 9 to 2 verses.
- "Eino l'Tziyon" became "Ayin l'Tziyon" ("His eye to Zion" became "An eye to Zion")
- Dr. Y.L. Matmon-Cohen, who started the Herzaliyah Hebrew School, made a few other changes in 1905.
- "Hatikvah hanoshana" became "Hatikvah bat-shnot alpayim" ("The ancient hope" became "The two-thousand year hope").
- "Lashuv la'eretz avoteinu, la'ir David ba nacha" became "l'hiyot am chofshi b'artzeinu, eretz Tziyon v'rushalayim" ("To return to the land of our ancestors, to the city where David rested" became "To be a free nation in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem"). This took out the Messianic allusion from Isaiah 29:1.
- He also changed the title from "Tikvateinu" to "Hatikvah" ("Our Hope" became "The Hope").
- These changes were made to reflect the reality of Jews returning to their home.
What about the tune?
- The tune was put in in 1886 by Samuel Cohen, an 17-year-old Jewish farmer who immigrated from Romania.
- The tune shows up in a few places before 1886.
- The most direct ancestor to the tune for Hatikvah is the Romanian / Moldavian folk song "Carul cu Boi" ("The Cart and Oxen"). This is pretty much a direct contrafaction, taking one tune and applying it to new words.
- The tune was put in in 1886 by Samuel Cohen, an 17-year-old Jewish farmer who immigrated from Romania.
- The tune shows up in a few places before 1886.
- The most direct ancestor to the tune for Hatikvah is the Romanian / Moldavian folk song "Carul cu Boi" ("The Cart and Oxen"). This is pretty much a direct contrafaction, taking one tune and applying it to new words.
- Tune wander, though, so we also see a strong hint of this tune in Bedrich Smetna's "Vlatava" (Czech name) / "Moldau" (German name) in "Ma Vlast".
- When British Mandate authorities banned the playing of Hatikvah, the Moldau was played on the radio instead.
- When British Mandate authorities banned the playing of Hatikvah, the Moldau was played on the radio instead.
The tune starts at 1:10.
- The tune goes back further than that, though, to around 1600. Giuseppe Cenci / Giuseppino del Biado wrote "La Mantovana" / "Il Ballo di Mantova" ("The Girl from Mantua" / "The Dance of Mantua"). From there it spread to other parts of Europe.
This is from a 1645 setting by Gasparo Zanetti.
So what happened to the song?
- Once the words had a tune, they quickly spread.
- By 1889, the farmers of Rishon LeTziyon adopted it as their protest song against regulations. Naftali Herz Imber happened to hear them singing it shortly before he left for England.
- At the 1897 first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland it was sung by the delegates from around the world at the end.
- In 1903, after the Kishinev pogrom the Sixth Zionist Congress debated England's offer of a temporary Jewish homeland in "Uganda" (actually modern Kenya) in order to keep Jews safe somewhere until Zion was available. The Congress narrowly voted to send an exploratory committee to bring back a report the following year, but those who didn't want to take even that step responded to the vote by singing "Hatikvah".
- In 1904, the exploratory committee returned to the Seventh Zionist Congress with a negative report and the congress overwhelmingly voted to tell England "We appreciate your offer, but we'll pass". Then everybody sang "Hatikvah".
- In 1933, the Eighteenth Zionist Congress voted to make it the official anthem of the Zionist movement.
- Czech Jews were heard singing it at the entrance to the Auschwitz gas chambers in 1944.
- On April 20, 1945, the first Shabbat in Bergen-Belsen 5 days after it was liberated in 1945, the survivors sang "Hatikvah".
- By 1889, the farmers of Rishon LeTziyon adopted it as their protest song against regulations. Naftali Herz Imber happened to hear them singing it shortly before he left for England.
- At the 1897 first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland it was sung by the delegates from around the world at the end.
- In 1903, after the Kishinev pogrom the Sixth Zionist Congress debated England's offer of a temporary Jewish homeland in "Uganda" (actually modern Kenya) in order to keep Jews safe somewhere until Zion was available. The Congress narrowly voted to send an exploratory committee to bring back a report the following year, but those who didn't want to take even that step responded to the vote by singing "Hatikvah".
- In 1904, the exploratory committee returned to the Seventh Zionist Congress with a negative report and the congress overwhelmingly voted to tell England "We appreciate your offer, but we'll pass". Then everybody sang "Hatikvah".
- In 1933, the Eighteenth Zionist Congress voted to make it the official anthem of the Zionist movement.
- Czech Jews were heard singing it at the entrance to the Auschwitz gas chambers in 1944.
- On April 20, 1945, the first Shabbat in Bergen-Belsen 5 days after it was liberated in 1945, the survivors sang "Hatikvah".
Note that the words are Imber's original ones.
- Jewish refugees trying to sail to the Land of Israel on the "Unafraid" sing Hatikvah shortly before the British arrest them and turn them away.
These words are also the original ones. The changes had been made in Tel-Aviv, so perhaps they did not reach Europe.
- The conductor Bernardino Molinari arrived in Palestine from Italy in 1945 and spent 3 years leading the Palestine Orchestra. He arranged the orchestral version of Hatikvah used when the State of Israel was declared and also used today. He left when Israel started investigating Nazis and ended up on trial in Italy for betraying Jews in his Italian orchestra. Molinari was convicted and died alone in an Italian monastary in 1952.
This is the arrangement that the Fascist Italian arranged, perhaps as penance for his crimes. Kurt Weill also made an arrangement at the request of Chaim Weizman that you can hear here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DV9fg6A2mQ
- Hatikvah was the unofficial national anthem of Israel starting in 1948. Perhaps due to controversies around it, it was not officially adopted then, but it was played at state events as if it were the national anthem.
- In 1967, a bill was introduced to make "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" the national anthem, but even with the excitement around reuniting Jerusalem it didn't pass.
- Hatikvah was only officially adopted in 2004. The last vote needed to pass this was cast by Ayoub Kara, a Druze Knesset member from Daliat al-Carmel. His grandfather had worked as an assistant to Oliphant.
- In 1967, a bill was introduced to make "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" the national anthem, but even with the excitement around reuniting Jerusalem it didn't pass.
- Hatikvah was only officially adopted in 2004. The last vote needed to pass this was cast by Ayoub Kara, a Druze Knesset member from Daliat al-Carmel. His grandfather had worked as an assistant to Oliphant.
The Controversies
- Hatikvah has been controversial almost since the beginning.
- Herzl didn't like it because he thought Naftali Herz Imber was a drunk vagabond.
- He proposed a competition after the first Zionist Congress to find a better anthem, but Hatikvah was the winner of that.
- Secular Zionists didn't like the suggestion in the song that there was a promise of returning to Israel, so Chayim Nachman Bialik wrote a competitor song from a secular perspective, "Techezakna" ("Strengthen")
- Religious Zionists didn't like that it didn't talk about G-d, so Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook wrote a version from a religious perspective, "Ha-Emunah" ("The faith"). You can hear both of these songs in the video below. Psalm 126, "Shir HaMa'alot", was also proposed, for its theme of returning to the land.
- Herzl didn't like it because he thought Naftali Herz Imber was a drunk vagabond.
- He proposed a competition after the first Zionist Congress to find a better anthem, but Hatikvah was the winner of that.
- Secular Zionists didn't like the suggestion in the song that there was a promise of returning to Israel, so Chayim Nachman Bialik wrote a competitor song from a secular perspective, "Techezakna" ("Strengthen")
- Religious Zionists didn't like that it didn't talk about G-d, so Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook wrote a version from a religious perspective, "Ha-Emunah" ("The faith"). You can hear both of these songs in the video below. Psalm 126, "Shir HaMa'alot", was also proposed, for its theme of returning to the land.
- Arab-Israelis object to the fact that it talks about the Jewish soul ("Nefesh Yehudi"), and there have been high-profile situations of Arabs in the Israeli government occasionally not singing Hatikvah to draw attention to that. This is part of the balancing act of Israel being a Jewish and democratic country.
- Mizrahi Jews, whose families come from the Middle East, don't like the part that talks about looking to the East ("Ulfa'atei mizrach"). Their families would have looked to the West.
- Other Jews in Israel don't like the fact that it is from a Diaspora perspective, hoping to return to Israel.
- There is also the concern of some that we can’t be a truly free people (“L’hiyot am chofshi”) until there’s a viable and peaceful Palestinian state as well.
- So far, nobody has come up with an alternative that makes everybody happy.
- Mizrahi Jews, whose families come from the Middle East, don't like the part that talks about looking to the East ("Ulfa'atei mizrach"). Their families would have looked to the West.
- Other Jews in Israel don't like the fact that it is from a Diaspora perspective, hoping to return to Israel.
- There is also the concern of some that we can’t be a truly free people (“L’hiyot am chofshi”) until there’s a viable and peaceful Palestinian state as well.
- So far, nobody has come up with an alternative that makes everybody happy.
With appreciation to: Rabbi David Wolkenfeld, Rabbi Claude Vecht-Wolf, Allison Welch, Sarah Palmer, Rabbi Alex Freedman
Appendix A: Relevant Videos
This is a video of Jews across the world singing Hatikvah. You can also hear the Maccabeats singing it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64y6SeIi_vw
Here's what it sounds like sung in English.
Appendix B: Other Thoughts
The Story of the Original Copy of Hatikvah (From NLI)
Decades after his death, the author of Israel’s national anthem, HaTikva would become known as “the first Hebrew beatnik”. A more common moniker, and perhaps more fitting, was “Imber, the Wandering Jew”. Indeed, the title reflects some of the adventures of this man who was a bit of an enigma in the eyes of his contemporaries, and has largely remained one to this day. Even after arriving at the destination about which he wrote so many poems, he only managed to stay there for five years before moving on to continue his wanderings.
In 1882, Naftali Herz Imber closed the shop where he sold matches, charms and amulets in the market of Istanbul, and went to meet Sir Laurence Oliphant, a Member of the British Parliament and businessman. Imber’s initial goal was to declare before Oliphant that the Jewish people didn’t need Britain’s favors in order to return to their ancestral homeland. However, as he described later on, “when I entered, I laid my eyes on Mrs. Oliphant for the first time.” This was enough for the young man to come up with a new plan – a joint journey to the Holy Land. That same year, funded entirely by Oliphant, (Imber was broke and wouldn’t have it any other way), the three reached the port of Haifa.
Decades after his death, the author of Israel’s national anthem, HaTikva would become known as “the first Hebrew beatnik”. A more common moniker, and perhaps more fitting, was “Imber, the Wandering Jew”. Indeed, the title reflects some of the adventures of this man who was a bit of an enigma in the eyes of his contemporaries, and has largely remained one to this day. Even after arriving at the destination about which he wrote so many poems, he only managed to stay there for five years before moving on to continue his wanderings.
In 1882, Naftali Herz Imber closed the shop where he sold matches, charms and amulets in the market of Istanbul, and went to meet Sir Laurence Oliphant, a Member of the British Parliament and businessman. Imber’s initial goal was to declare before Oliphant that the Jewish people didn’t need Britain’s favors in order to return to their ancestral homeland. However, as he described later on, “when I entered, I laid my eyes on Mrs. Oliphant for the first time.” This was enough for the young man to come up with a new plan – a joint journey to the Holy Land. That same year, funded entirely by Oliphant, (Imber was broke and wouldn’t have it any other way), the three reached the port of Haifa.
After arriving in Ottoman Palestine, the members of this strange love triangle parted. The Oliphants, who were essentially Protestant Zionists before the term had even been coined in the modern sense, chose to travel and enjoy the beauty of the land and its holy sites, all while working on a plan to return the Jews to their homeland – which would, of course, hasten the coming of the Messiah.
Meanwhile, Imber, according to every available account, preferred to drink the days away. Whenever he found himself in the proximity of a fair maiden who caught his eye or a patron with enough wine at his disposal, the poet pretended that he had been struck by inspiration at that very moment, proceeding to “compose” the legendary poem which captured the essence of Zionist longing before their very eyes, Tikvatenu – “Our Hope”.
The impressions left by Imber’s time in the Land of Israel can still be witnessed today, in places such as Gedera, Yesod HaMa’ala, Mishmar HaYarden, and Rishon LeZion all of which claim, without exception, that the poem that would later become the anthem of the Zionist movement and the State of Israel, was written within the boundaries of their own territory.
In truth, Imber most likely began to compose the poem which would bring him world fame in the city of Iași in Romania, basing it on a German song, Der Deutsche Rhein (“The German Rhine”), which also opens every stanza with the words “As long as”. In 1884, in Jerusalem, he finally completed the composition. The final version of Tikvatenu consisted of nine stanzas. Later, the poem was abbreviated to two stanzas and some of the words were changed in order to fit the contemporary context of people returning to their homeland. The last modifications were made by Dr. Y.L. Matmon-Cohen, founder of the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium high school. Cohen replaced the words “the ancient hope” (hatikva hanoshana) with the words “The two-thousand-year-old hope” and replaced “To return to the land of our fathers, the city where David encamped” with “To be a free nation in our land, The land of Zion and Jerusalem”. These changes sealed the final version of the song, with its new name, HaTikva. In 1886, a farmer named Samuel Cohen composed a tune for Imber’s anthem of longing.
Three years later, when the farmers of the Jewish settlement of Rishon LeZion rose up in rebellion against Baron Rothschild’s bureaucrats, they would choose Tikvatenu as their protest song. Imber, who at that time happened to be visiting Rishon LeZion, was lucky enough to hear them singing – as he sat at the dining table of one of those very bureaucrats. This event marked the beginning of the song’s ascent into the heart of the Zionist pantheon, and it also served as Imber’s sign to continue his wanderings. He soon left for England, and from there on to New York.
During the last year of his life, Imber was admitted to a Jewish hospital in New York, where he met a young singer – Jeanette Robinson-Murphy. At her request, he wrote down the original words of the first two stanzas of his song, which would become the national anthem, on a piece of hospital paperwork that was at his disposal at that moment. In 1936, Ms. Robinson-Murphy sent the manuscript, the only one of its kind in the world as far as we know, for eternal keepsake at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem.
During the last year of his life, Imber was admitted to a Jewish hospital in New York, where he met a young singer – Jeanette Robinson-Murphy. At her request, he wrote down the original words of the first two stanzas of his song, which would become the national anthem, on a piece of hospital paperwork that was at his disposal at that moment. In 1936, Ms. Robinson-Murphy sent the manuscript, the only one of its kind in the world as far as we know, for eternal keepsake at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem.
https://blog.nli.org.il/en/hoi_hatikvah/
How Hatikvah Became Israel's National Anthem (MyJewishLearning)
In 1897, at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, the delegates joined in a rousing rendition of the song “Hatikvah.” The beloved Zionist hymn would come to be known among generations of Jews around the world as the Jewish national anthem. Yet it was not until 2004 that the Israeli government officially designated “Hatikvah” as the country’s national anthem. Between these two facts lies the curious tale of one of the most important songs in modern Jewish history.
From a Poem to a Song
“Hatikvah” began its life as a nine-stanza Hebrew poem entitled “Tikvatenu” (“Our Hope”). Its author was a colorful 19th-century Hebrew poet, Naftali Hertz Imber (1856-1909), who hailed from Złoczów, a town in Austro-Hungarian Galicia. Inspired by the Hibbat Zion movement of early Zionism, Imber originally wrote the poem in 1878 while living in Jassy (Yash), Romania.
As a young man, Imber wandered Eastern Europe for several years before settling in Ottoman Palestine in 1882. There he worked as personal secretary and Hebrew tutor to Sir Laurence Oliphant (1829-1888), an eccentric British author, politician, world traveler, and Christian Zionist. In the 1880s, Oliphant’s mystical religious beliefs inspired him to launch various philanthropic efforts to encourage Jewish resettlement in the historic Land of Israel. Imber first published “Tikvatenu” in an 1886 collection of his poetry, “Barkai,” (Morning Star), issued in Jerusalem and dedicated to Oliphant.
“Hatikvah” began its life as a nine-stanza Hebrew poem entitled “Tikvatenu” (“Our Hope”). Its author was a colorful 19th-century Hebrew poet, Naftali Hertz Imber (1856-1909), who hailed from Złoczów, a town in Austro-Hungarian Galicia. Inspired by the Hibbat Zion movement of early Zionism, Imber originally wrote the poem in 1878 while living in Jassy (Yash), Romania.
As a young man, Imber wandered Eastern Europe for several years before settling in Ottoman Palestine in 1882. There he worked as personal secretary and Hebrew tutor to Sir Laurence Oliphant (1829-1888), an eccentric British author, politician, world traveler, and Christian Zionist. In the 1880s, Oliphant’s mystical religious beliefs inspired him to launch various philanthropic efforts to encourage Jewish resettlement in the historic Land of Israel. Imber first published “Tikvatenu” in an 1886 collection of his poetry, “Barkai,” (Morning Star), issued in Jerusalem and dedicated to Oliphant.
By the time Imber left Palestine in 1888, his poem had become a song (soon renamed “Hatikvah,” Hebrew for “The Hope”) thanks to the early Zionist pioneers in the Jewish farming community of Rishon-le-Zion. The melody arrived courtesy of a Romanian Jewish immigrant named Samuel Cohen, who adapted it from a Moldavian folk song, “Carul cu Boi” (Cart and Oxen). “Hatikvah” spread rapidly among Jewish pioneers as part of the new culture of secular Hebrew songs and folk dances (such as the hora)that existed in the early decades of the Zionist movement.
Herzl’s Problem With “Hatikvah”
Even as it grew in popularity, however, not all Zionists favored “Hatikvah” for the movement’s anthem. Theodor Herzl disliked the song, and in 1897 he launched the first of several international competitions, all ultimately unsuccessful, to produce a serious alternative.
Even as it grew in popularity, however, not all Zionists favored “Hatikvah” for the movement’s anthem. Theodor Herzl disliked the song, and in 1897 he launched the first of several international competitions, all ultimately unsuccessful, to produce a serious alternative.
One of Herzl’s objections to “Hatikvah” was the bohemian figure of Imber himself. Despite his personal charisma, literary talents, and Zionist convictions, Imber was a perpetual ne’er-do-well, described by one contemporary as “a vagabond, a drunkard and a Hebrew poet.” In fact, after leaving Palestine, Imber lived in London and Boston, before dying of alcoholism in abject poverty on New York’s Lower East Side in 1909, despite repeated efforts by Jewish communal leaders to help him.
For other early Zionists, it was not the author of “Hatikvah” but the non-Jewish origin of its melody that proved objectionable. Many Zionist cultural figures were unnerved by the song’s strong resemblance to Czech composer Bedřich Smetana’s “Moldau” section of his 1874 symphonic tone poem, “MáVlast.” In fact, in creating his own national musical epic for the Czech nation, Smetana had drawn on the same Moldavian song as a source around the same time that Samuel Cohen did. As a solution, some Jewish composers wrote new melodies for Imber’s words.
Scholars joined the fray as well, with some postulating that the “Hatikvah” melody actually derived from the traditional Hallel liturgy of Sephardic Jews. The early 20th-century scholar Abraham Zvi Idelsohn, “father of Jewish musicology,” took a different route, arguing that Hatikvah’s root melody belonged to no one folk song tradition. Instead, he claimed, it constituted a generic “wandering melody,” common across European cultures without a distinct national paternity.
Recent scholarship has elaborated on this idea, isolating a centuries-old melodic pattern common to many Central European songs, the most famous of which is Mozart’s “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Of course, “Hatikvah” is far from unique as a national anthem in sharing its melody with other “foreign” sources. For instance, the tune of “God Save the Queen” served at various times as national anthem of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, the United States, and several German states, along with several other countries, past and present.
In later years, “Hatikvah” continued to be a subject of debate. Religious Zionists frequently objected to the putatively secular character of its lyrics, which do not mention God. As a result, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook composed a parallel poem, “Ha-emunah” (“The Faith”), which speaks of the “steadfast faith in the return to our holy land…where we shall serve our God.” Ironically, socialist Zionists denounced the poem for its allegedly religious, messianic overtones, owing to the reference to an ancient biblical promise of Jewish return. In the 1930s, they instead proposed Hayim Nahman Bialik’s “Birkat ha-am” (“The People’s Blessing”), also known as “Tehezakna,” for its line, “Strengthen the hands of our brothers renewing the soil of our land…” Cultural Zionists voiced their objections as well, often criticizing the minor-key melody as gloomy and depressing, and castigating Imber’s Hebrew style as heavy-handed and antiquated.
Hope for Hatikvah
In spite of these criticisms and challenges (and in some cases because of them), most Zionists embraced “Hatikvah.” Year after year it was sung at the annual Zionist congresses and other political events around the world. In 1933, at the 18th Zionist Congress, the song was officially adopted as the movement’s anthem together with the now-familiar blue and white flag. In the 1940s, many Jews in Europe defiantly sung the song as a gesture of collective hope and spiritual resistance in the face of the Nazi Holocaust and Stalinist terror.
In spite of these criticisms and challenges (and in some cases because of them), most Zionists embraced “Hatikvah.” Year after year it was sung at the annual Zionist congresses and other political events around the world. In 1933, at the 18th Zionist Congress, the song was officially adopted as the movement’s anthem together with the now-familiar blue and white flag. In the 1940s, many Jews in Europe defiantly sung the song as a gesture of collective hope and spiritual resistance in the face of the Nazi Holocaust and Stalinist terror.
Yet after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, the government declined to recognize “Hatikvah” as the official state anthem, despite adopting a new flag and coat of arms as national symbols. Still, “Hatikvah” was openly promoted as the de facto national anthem and used at all official state occasions.
The traditional lyrics were also emended to reflect the new historic reality of statehood. Whereas the original last three lines of the text speak of “the ancient hope to return to the land of our fathers, to the city where [King] David dwelt,” the new version replaces the biblical allusion with an emphasis on “the hope of two millennia to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.”
Almost from the moment of its creation, “Hatikvah” has served as both a beloved anthem throughout the Jewish world and a subject of political debate. The same pattern continues today. In recent years, a controversy has occasionally surfaced in Israeli politics over allegations that the lyrics are unsuitable for a country with such a sizable non-Jewish minority.
Nevertheless, “Hatikvah” remains an enduring symbol of Jewish nationhood and Israeli identity. And in November 2004, over a century after its composition, “Hatikvah” was officially designated the Israeli national anthem by the Israeli Knesset, bringing its journey full circle.
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/hatikvah/
Ariel Zev Schwartz and Levi Morrow: Rav Shagar: Zionism and Exile Within the Home
Rav Shagar remarks on the very literal internalization of exile within the home that is manifest in the state of Israel’s national anthem, ‘Hatikvah.’ Hatikvah was not written by a citizen of the state in order to commemorate it’s victories, because it was written before the state existed, before the state could be anything more than a hope. It was written by Naftali Imber in Romania in 1877, and you can feel his exilic existence underlying every line of the poem. It’s all about not having a home, but hoping to have a home one day. This is matched, Rav Shagar notes, by a deeply melancholic melody.
There’s something deeply strange about this anthem. Most other anthems, as I mentioned, celebrate victories, and they have proud, bombastic tunes. They’re meant to inspire confident, patriotic national identities. Hatikvah inspires a national identity of meek hope, confident in the future but not in the present. Inspiring that identity in the citizens of a sovereign state is a paradoxical, even radical departure from the norm. For Rav Shagar, it opens up the possibility of exile within the home, of maintaining the good things we learned from exile even after returning to the land.
There’s something deeply strange about this anthem. Most other anthems, as I mentioned, celebrate victories, and they have proud, bombastic tunes. They’re meant to inspire confident, patriotic national identities. Hatikvah inspires a national identity of meek hope, confident in the future but not in the present. Inspiring that identity in the citizens of a sovereign state is a paradoxical, even radical departure from the norm. For Rav Shagar, it opens up the possibility of exile within the home, of maintaining the good things we learned from exile even after returning to the land.
As you said Levi, this anthem is a powerful example of Rav Shagar’s idea of ‘Exile Within the Home.’ Most countries want their anthems to help their people forget any form of national exile or imperfections; instead the anthem should focus on national victory, perfection and success. Rav Shagar says that even the melodies of these anthems are usually very upbeat and militaristic which expresses national power and strength. In stark contrast, Rav Shagar points out that the song ‘HaTikva’ has a melancholy melody which expresses a deep yearning; its lyrics are from the point of view of a weak exile Jew longing and hoping for the ideal redemption.
Rav Shagar interprets HaTikva as a reminder that the years spent in exile were not a waste of time nor an embarrassment; that living in the physical land of Israel is not considered our ultimate success. Another way of saying this is that even while we are physically living in our homeland, we must never forget all the spiritual and ethical dreams and yearnings that we had during our years spent in exile. Here again, we can see Rav Shagar’s attraction to the paradoxical truth of ‘Exile within the Home.’
In this way, Rav Shagar sees HaTikva, the national anthem, almost as a mantra, a spiritual meditation, that helps a Zionist keep a balanced mindset. We must always remind ourselves of ‘Exile within the Home.’ On the one hand, we are proud that we have returned home, we are a living nation, with a real army, language, economy and political system. On the other hand, ‘HaTikvah’ literally means ‘The Hope.’ We must never forget our thousands of years spent in exile hoping and longing for a righteousness, religious, and God-focussed State of Israel.
In this way, Rav Shagar sees HaTikva, the national anthem, almost as a mantra, a spiritual meditation, that helps a Zionist keep a balanced mindset. We must always remind ourselves of ‘Exile within the Home.’ On the one hand, we are proud that we have returned home, we are a living nation, with a real army, language, economy and political system. On the other hand, ‘HaTikvah’ literally means ‘The Hope.’ We must never forget our thousands of years spent in exile hoping and longing for a righteousness, religious, and God-focussed State of Israel.
Rav Shagar says that the anthem – due to its melancholy melody and lyrics which focus on a future redemption – helps to humble us so that we will never be completely satisfied with the status quo. There is always more the nation of Israel can and should hope and aspire toward. As Rav Shagar writes:
"This anthem is not an anthem about a nation redeemed, but rather about a nation that anticipates redemption. This anticipation is commemorated at the time of redemption itself… a redemption that remembers and internalizes exile…this is the anthem of the state of Israel."
"Optimism and hope are not the same. Optimism is the belief that the world is changing for the better; hope is the belief that, together, we can make the world better. Optimism is a passive virtue, hope an active one. It needs no courage to be an optimist, but it takes a great deal of courage to hope. The Hebrew Bible is not an optimistic book. It is, however, one of the great literatures of hope." [Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks: To Heal a Fractured World]
"Hope can be seen as a kind of anchor, thrown from a stifled and desperate existence towards a better and freer future. Thrown towards a reality that does not yet exist, most of which is made up of wishes, of imagination. The anchor is thrown and grips the ground. The future, the person, and sometimes an entire society, begin to pull themselves towards it. This is an optimistic act: the ability to throw the imaginary anchor beyond the tangible and arbitrary circumstances indicates that in the soul of the person who dares to hope, there is still one place that is free." [David Grossman]
https://www.bac.org.il/en/blog/?postID=21702
