Hava Nagila

"Hava Nagila" (Hebrew: הָבָה נָגִילָה, Hāvā Nāgīlā, "Let us rejoice") is a Jewish folk song. It is traditionally sung at celebrations, such as weddings, Bar and bat mitzvahs, and other Jewish holidays among the Jewish community. Written in 1918, it quickly spread through the Jewish diaspora.

History

"Hava Nagila" is one of the first modern Jewish folk songs in the Hebrew language. It went on to become a staple of band performers at Jewish weddings and b'nai mitzvah celebrations.

The melody is based on a Hassidic Nigun.^[1] It was composed in 1918 to celebrate the Balfour Declaration and the British victory over the Ottomans in 1917. It was first performed in a mixed choir concert in Jerusalem.^[2]

Abraham Zevi Idelsohn (1882–1938), a professor at Hebrew University, began cataloging all known Jewish music and teaching classes in musical composition; one of his students was a promising cantorial student, Moshe Nathanson, who with the rest of his class was presented by the professor with a slow, melodious, 19th-century chant (niggun or nigun) and assigned to add rhythm and words to fashion a modern Hebrew song. There are competing claims regarding "Hava Nagila"'s composer, with both Idelsohn and Nathanson being suggested.^[3][4]

The niggun has been attributed to the Sadigurer Chasidim, who lived in what is now Ukraine.^[3] This version has been recreated by Daniel Gil, based on a traditional song collected by Susman Kiselgof.^[5] The text was probably refined by Idelsohn.^[6] Members of the community began to immigrate to Jerusalem in 1915, and Idelsohn wrote in 1932 that he had been inspired by that melody.^[2]

Lyrics

Transliteration	Hebrew text
Hava nagila	הָבָה נָגִילָה	Let's rejoice
Hava nagila	הָבָה נָגִילָה	Let's rejoice
Hava nagila ve-nismeḥa	הָבָה נָגִילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה	Let's rejoice and be happy
	(repeat)
Hava neranenah	הָבָה נְרַנְּנָה	Let's sing
Hava neranenah	הָבָה נְרַנְּנָה	Let's sing
Hava neranenah ve-nismeḥa	הָבָה נְרַנְּנָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה	Let's sing and be happy
	(repeat)
Uru, uru aḥim!	!עוּרוּ, עוּרוּ אַחִים	Awake, awake, brothers!
Uru aḥim be-lev sameaḥ	עוּרוּ אַחִים בְּלֵב שָׂמֵחַ	Awake brothers with a happy heart
	(repeat line three times)
Uru aḥim, uru aḥim!	!עוּרוּ אַחִים, עוּרוּ אַחִים	Awake, brothers, awake, brothers!
Be-lev sameaḥ	בְּלֵב שָׂמֵחַ	With a happy heart

Melody

Notable performers

• Israeli folk duo Ran & Nama (Ran Eliran and Nechama Hendel) released what is likely the earliest recording of the version that was later made famous throughout the world, on their album Ran & Nama – The First Record (Hed Arzi AN-42-70, 1959).^[7]
• Singer Harry Belafonte is known for his version of the song, which was recorded for his album Belafonte at Carnegie Hall, recorded at the titular Carnegie Hall in 1959.^[8] He rarely gave a concert without singing it, and stated that the two "stand out" songs from his professional career were "The Banana Boat Song" and "Hava Nagila".^{[3][9][time needed][unreliable source?]} Belafonte noted and claimed, "Life is not worthwhile without it. Most Jews in America learned that song from me."^[10]
• Laurindo Almeida^{[9][time needed]}
• The Barry Sisters recorded this song on their Greatest Yiddish Hits album, the release date: October 16, 1965.
• Raphael (singer), the Spanish singer and actor, recorded the Hava Nagila song in 1968.
• Nissim Black, a Jewish Orthodox rapper, recorded an adaptation titled "The Hava Song".^[11]
• Bruno Blum included an instrumental ska section of the song^[12] in his version of French singer songwriter Georges Brassens' "La Mauvaise Réputation [fr]" [Bad Reputation] on his 2002 album Think Différent.
• Brave Combo^[13]
• Glen Campbell released True Grit / Hava Nagila via Label Capitol Records in 1969.
• David Carroll^{[9][time needed]}
• Jasper Carrott (on his 1976 album, Carrott in Notts)
• Chubby Checker^{[9][time needed]}
• Herman Clebanoff^{[9][time needed]}
• Carmela Corren – Israeli singer^[14]
• Celia Cruz^{[9][time needed]}
• Dick Dale and the Del Tones (surf rock)^{[9][time needed]}
• Dalida, 1959^{[9][time needed]}
• Neil Diamond, in addition to having performed Hava Nagila in his 1994 Live In America concert,^[15] incorporated it into The Jazz Singer, based on Samson Raphaelson's play, in which he acted out a cantor with popular-music ambitions.
• Dream Theater performed a cover of "Hava Nagila" in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 16 June 2009.^[16]
• Bob Dylan^{[9][time needed]}
• The E Street Band with guest accordionists performed it at a Bruce Springsteen concert in Sunrise, Florida, on 9 September 2009.^[17]
• Percy Faith^{[9][time needed]}
• Irving Fields^{[9][time needed]}
• Four Jacks and a Jill released a version of the song on their 1965 album, Jimmy Come Lately.^[18]
• Connie Francis^{[9][time needed]}
• Lionel Hampton^{[9][time needed]}
• Lena Horne, "Now!" (US #92, 1963)^{[9][time needed][19]}
• Abraham Zevi Idelsohn published the Hebrew song book, Sefer Hashirim, in 1922, which includes the first publication of his arrangement of "Hava Nagila". He also produced the first commercial recording in 1922, on the Polyphon record label ("Order No. 8533"), as part of a series which recorded 39 Hebrew folk songs.^[20]
• Los Iracundos^{[9][time needed]}
• Kare and the Cavemen^{[9][time needed]}
• Bert Kaempfert^{[9][time needed]}
• Harold Land^{[9][time needed]}
• James Last^{[9][time needed]}
• Abbe Lane^{[9][time needed]}
• Jon Lord of Deep Purple included Hava Nagila in his solo keyboard improvisations as heard on Made in Europe (1975).^[21]
• Arthur Lyman^{[9][time needed]}
• Betty Madigan, "Dance Everyone Dance" (US #31, 1958)^{[19][page needed]}
• Shelly Manne^{[9][time needed]}
• Mantovani^{[9][time needed]}
• Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, who recorded the song live for the album Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah. They also recorded a second version on the same album to the tune of Feliz Navidad.^[22]
• Pérez Prado^{[9][time needed]}
• Flora Purim^{[9][time needed]}
• Ivan Rebroff^[23]
• Frank Slay and his Orchestra, "Flying Circle" (US #45, 1962)^{[19][page needed]}
• The Spotnicks^[24]
• Pete Townshend, whose ability to play the song was instrumental to his induction in The Who.^[25]
• Richard Tucker^{[9][time needed]}
• Caterina Valente^{[9][time needed]}
• Rika Zaraï^{[9][time needed]}

Use in sports

Association football

Ajax Amsterdam

Supporters of the Dutch association football club AFC Ajax, although not an official Jewish club, commonly use Jewish imagery. A central part of Ajax fans' culture, "Hava Nagila" can often be heard sung in the Stadium by the team's supporters, and at one point ringtones of "Hava Nagila" could even be downloaded from the club's official website.^[26][27][28]

Tottenham Hotspur

Supporters of the English football club Tottenham Hotspur commonly refer to themselves as "Yids" and say they are strongly associated with Jewish symbolism and culture. "Hava Nagila" has been adopted as an anthem of sorts by the club, and was one of the most frequently sung songs at the team's former stadium at White Hart Lane.^[29][30]

Gymnastics

In the 2012 Summer Olympics floor exercise final, Aly Raisman placed first with a score of 15.600,^[31] becoming the first American woman to win a gold medal on the floor exercise.^[32] She performed to the tune of "Hava Nagila".^[33]

See also

• Hora (dance)
• Jewish music
• Music of Israel
• Zum Gali Gali