Hatikvah

ha-Tiḳṿah

English: The Hope
הַתִּקְוָה
National anthem of Israel
Lyrics	Naphtali Herz Imber, 1878
Music	Samuel Cohen, 1888
Adopted	1897 (First Zionist Congress) 1948 (unofficially) 2004 (offically)
Audio sample
Hatikvah (Instrumental) file help

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

Hatiḳṿah (Template:Lang-he-n, The Hope), also ha-Tiḳṿa(h), is the national anthem of Israel. The anthem was written by Naphtali Herz Imber, a secular Galician Jew, who moved to Palestine in the early 1880s. The anthem’s theme revolves around the nearly 2000-year-old hope of the Jewish people to be a free and sovereign people in the Land of Israel, a national dream that would eventually be realized with the founding of the modern State of Israel in 1948.

History

Composition

The text of Hatikvah was written by the Galician-Jewish poet Naphtali Herz Imber in Zolochiv (Ukraine) in 1878 as a nine-stanza poem named Tikvatenu (“Our Hope”) [see full text below]. In this poem Imber puts into words his thoughts and feelings in the wake of the establishment of Petah Tikva, one of the first Jewish settlements in pre-State Palestine. Published in Imber’s first book, Barkai (ברקאי, “Morning Star”), the poem was subsequently adopted as the anthem of Hovevei Zion and later of the Zionist Movement at the First Zionist Congress in 1897. The text was later revised by the settlers of Rishon LeZion, subsequently undergoing a number of other changes.

The melody, of folk origin (thought to be "Cucuruz cu frunza-n sus", Maize with standing leaf), was arranged by Samuel Cohen, an immigrant from Moldavia.

Adoption as national anthem

When the State of Israel was declared in 1948, ha-Tikvah was unofficially proclaimed the national anthem. However, it did not officially become the national anthem until November 2004, when it was sanctioned by the Knesset in an amendment to the “Flag and Coat-of-Arms Law” (now called “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 Eretz Israel, a hope largely seen as fulfilled with the founding of the State of Israel.

Religious objections to Hatiḳṿah

Main article: HaEmunah

Many Haredi Jews object to Hatikvah on the grounds that the anthem is too secular and lacks sufficient religious emphasis.

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook objected to the secular thrust of Hatikvah and wrote an alternative anthem titled “HaEmunah” in the hope that it would replace Hatikvah as the Israeli national anthem. Rav Kook did not object to the singing of Hatikvah (and in fact has endorsed it) as he had great respect for secular Jews, indicating that even in their work it was possible to see a level of kedushah (holiness).

Objections by non-Jewish Israelis

Some Arab Israelis object to Hatikvah due to its explicit allusions to Judaism. 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. Notably, Ghaleb Majadale, who in January 2007 became the first Arab 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.

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; however, no such proposals have succeeded in gaining broad support.

Music

The melody for Hatikvah derives from “La Mantovana,” a 16^th-century Italian song, originally written by Giuseppino del Biado ca. 1600 with the text "Fuggi, fuggi, fuggi dal questo cielo". Its earliest known appearance in print was in the del Biado's collection of madrigals. It was later knowns in early 17^th-century Italy as “Ballo di Mantova.” This melody gained wide currency in Renaissance Europe, being recorded variously as the Spanish hymn “Virgen de la Cueva” (“Virgin of the Cave”); the Sephardi melody for the Hallel prayer; the Hebrew folk song “The Prayer for the Dew”; the Polish folk song “Pod Krakowem”; and the Ukrainian “Kateryna Kucheryava.” This melody was also famously used by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana in his symphonic poem celebrating Bohemia, “Má vlast,” as “Vltava” (Die Moldau).

The adaptation of the music for Hatikvah is believed to have been composed by Samuel Cohen in 1888. Cohen himself recalled many years later that he had adapted the melody from a Romanian folk song, possibly “Carul cu boi” (“Carriage with Oxen”), which shares a few structural elements with Hatikvah. In Romania other folk songs that share the same melody, such as “Cântec de mai” (“Song of May”) [“Luncile s-au deşteptat…” (“The valleys awaken…”)].

The tune of Hatikvah is modal and mostly follows a minor scale, which is often perceived as mournful in tone and is infrequently encountered in national anthems. However, as the title (“The Hope”) and the words suggest, the import of the song is optimistic and the overall spirit uplifting.

Official text

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 and English translation are listed below.

Hebrew	Transliteration	English translation
Template:Hebrew	Kol ‘od balleivav penimah	As long as in the heart, within,
Template:Hebrew	Nefesh yehudi homiyah,	A Jewish soul still yearns,
Template:Hebrew	Ul(e)fa’atei mizrach kadimah,	And onward, towards the ends of the east,
Template:Hebrew	‘Ayin letziyon tzofiyah;	An eye still gazes toward Zion;
Template:Hebrew	‘Od lo avdah tikvateinu,	Our hope is not yet lost,
Template:Hebrew	Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim,	The hope of two thousand years,
Template:Hebrew	Lihyot ‘am chofshi be’artzeinu,	To be a free people in our land,
Template:Hebrew	Eretz-tziyon vy(e)rushalayim.	The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

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 to the Ukrainian national anthem, Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished (Ще не вмерла Україна; Šče ne vmerla Ukraïna). 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. However, this connection has not been proven, and the Polish allusion is more likely given Imber’s background.

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 own land”).

Text of Tikvatenu by Naphtali Herz Imber

Below is the full text of the original 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–
Template:Hebrew	Kol-‘od balleivav penimah	As long as in the heart, within,
Template:Hebrew	Nefesh yehudi homiyah,	A Jewish soul still yearns,
Template:Hebrew	Ul(e)fa’atei mizrach kadimah,	And onward, towards the ends of the east,
Template:Hebrew	‘Ayin letziyon tzofiyah;	An eye still looks toward Zion;
Template:Hebrew		Refrain
Template:Hebrew	‘Od lo avdah tikvateinu,	Our hope is not yet lost,
Template:Hebrew	Hatikvah hannoshanah,	The ancient hope,
Template:Hebrew	Lashuv le’eretz avoteinu,	To return to the land of our fathers,
Template:Hebrew	La‘ir bah david chanah.	The city where David encamped.
–II–
Template:Hebrew	Kol-‘od dema‘ot me‘eineinu	As long as tears from our eyes
Template:Hebrew	Yizzelu kegeshem nedavot,	Flow like benevolent rain,
Template:Hebrew	Urevavot mibbenei ‘ammeinu	And throngs of our countrymen
Template:Hebrew	‘Od hol(e)chim ‘al kivrei avot;	Still pay homage at the graves of (our) fathers;
Template:Hebrew		Refrain
–III–
Template:Hebrew	Kol-‘od chomat mach(a)maddeinu	As long as our precious Wall
Template:Hebrew	Le‘eineinu mofa‘at,	Appears before our eyes,
Template:Hebrew	Ve‘al churban mikdasheinu	And over the destruction of our Temple
Template:Hebrew	‘Ayin achat ‘od doma‘at;	An eye still wells up with tears;
Template:Hebrew		Refrain
–IV–
Template:Hebrew	Kol-‘od mei hayarden bega’on	As long as the waters of the Jordan
Template:Hebrew	Melo’ gedotav yizzolu,	In fullness swell its banks,
Template:Hebrew	Uleyam kinneret besha’on	And (down) to the Sea of Galilee
Template:Hebrew	Bekol hamulah yippolu;	With tumultuous noise fall;
Template:Hebrew		Refrain
–V–
Template:Hebrew	Kol-‘od sham ‘alei drachayim	As long as on the barren highways
Template:Hebrew	Sha‘ar yukkat she’iyah,	The humbled city gates mark,
Template:Hebrew	Uvein charvot yerushalayim	And among the ruins of Jerusalem
Template:Hebrew	‘Od bat tziyon bochiyah;	A daughter of Zion still cries;
Template:Hebrew		Refrain
–VI–
Template:Hebrew	Kol-‘od dema‘ot tehorot	As long as pure tears
Template:Hebrew	Me‘ein bat ‘ammi nozlot,	Flow from the eye of a daughter of my nation,
Template:Hebrew	Velivkot letziyon berosh ’ashmorot	And to mourn for Zion at the watch of night
Template:Hebrew	‘Od takum bachatzi halleilot;	She still rises in the middle of the nights;
Template:Hebrew		Refrain
–VII–
Template:Hebrew	Kol-‘od nitfei dam be‘orkeinu	As long as drops of blood in our veins
Template:Hebrew	Ratzo’ vashov yizzolu,	Flow back and forth,
Template:Hebrew	Va‘alei kivrot avoteinu	And upon the graves of our fathers
Template:Hebrew	‘Od eglei tal yippolu;	Dewdrops still fall;
Template:Hebrew		Refrain
–VIII–
Template:Hebrew	Kol-‘od regesh ahavat halle’om	As long as the feeling of love of nation
Template:Hebrew	Beleiv hayhudi po‘eim,	Throbs in the heart of the Jew,
Template:Hebrew	‘Od nuchal kavvot gam hayyom	We can still hope even today
Template:Hebrew	Ki ‘od yerachmeinu ’eil zo‘eim;	That a wrathful God may still have mercy on us;
Template:Hebrew		Refrain
–IX–
Template:Hebrew	Shim‘u achai be’artzot nudi	Hear, O my brothers in the lands of exile,
Template:Hebrew	Et kol achad chozeinu,	The voice of one of our visionaries,
Template:Hebrew	Ki rak ‘im acharon hayhudi	(Who declares) That only with the very last Jew —
Template:Hebrew	Gam acharit tikvateinu!	Only there is the end of our hope!
Template:Hebrew		Refrain

External links

• “Hatikvah– Hadracha Guide”– Educational guide published by the Jewish Agency for Israel
• “Israel’s National Anthem– Hatikva”– From the Jewish Virtual Library
• Hatikvah on YouTube – As performed by Shiri Maimon; links to more renditions are available from this page