HEBREW LYRICS

Kol od balevav penimah
Nefesh yehudi homiyah,
Ulfaatei mizrach kadimah
Ayin lezion zofiyah.
Od lo avdah tikvatenu
Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim,
Lehiyot am chofshi bearzeinu,
Erez zion viyerushalayim.
Lehiyot am chofshi bearzeinu,
Erez zion viyerushalayim.

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ENGLISH TRANSLATION

As long as deep in the heart,
The soul of a Jew yearns,
And towards the East
An eye looks to Zion,
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

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Israel
"Hatikvah" (The Hope)

Words by:Naftali Herz Imber
Music by:traditional, arranged by Shmuel Cohen
In use since:1948, adopted 2004.

The origins of "Hatikvah" far predate its use as the Israeli national anthem,
in use since soon after its founding as the first Jewish state in modern
history. The music is based on a folk song of unknown origin, but appears
several times in European folk songs and religious music. The arrangement by
Shmuel Cohen from 1888 is probably based on a Romanian folk song he heard
during his childhood in Romania, most likely "Carul cu boi" ("The Ox Driven
Cart"). The melody also somewhat resembles Smetana's symphonic poem "Ma Vlast",
which in turn was based on a Swedish version of the Romanian song.

The lyrics of the anthem were taken from the first verse and chorus from
Naftali Herez Imber's 1878 poem "Tikavatenu" (Our Hope), which had nine
stanzas. At the first Zionist congress of 1897, it was adopted as the anthem of
Zionism. The lyrics (primarily of the chorus) underwent a few changes between
that time and the creation of the Jewish state of Israel some 50 years later,
primarily a change where the song once spoke of a hope to return Zion, it now
speaks of a hope to live as a free nation there. (The sheet music below has
both the original and present choruses.)

Special thanks to:Naftali Guttman, Justin Mansfield, Adrian Vexler, and Rob
Soslow for some of this information.

See also: Palestine.

MUSIC
