(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Lenny Ben-David - The World War I years in the Holy Land were traumatic for the Jewish community, which faced starvation, locust plagues, and disease. In 1918, a music teacher and cantor in Jerusalem, Avraham Zvi Idelsohn, took an old tune (nigun) of the Sadigorer Hasidim (from today's Ukraine) and composed a song to celebrate the liberation of Jerusalem and the Balfour Declaration in 1917. It was called "Hava Nagila - Let Us Rejoice!" The song, with phrases from the Psalms, caught on among all Jewish residents of Eretz Yisrael and it became an anthem at Jewish celebrations around the world.
2023-05-22 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive