Saturday, May 20, 2017

Omer 2017 Day 40: Hava Nagila


Day 40: Hod in Yesod, Glory in Connection
Hava Nagila

Hava nagila, hava nagila
Hava nagila ve-nismeha
Let us rejoice, let us rejoice
Let us rejoice and be glad


Hava Nagila began as a wordless Hasidic melody in Eastern Europe and was brought to Israel by early Zionist settlers. Lyrics based on Psalms were added in 1918 to celebrate the British army's defeat of the Turks. It has become a song of celebration and glory, connecting Jewish history across continents and over centuries, and is included in almost all joyous Jewish occasions.

When Marc and I were planning our wedding, our DJ had ten different recordings of this song for us to choose from for the chair dance. We chose the longest version that he had on file and after the terrifying exhilaration of being hoisted onto chairs, we danced the rest of the song in circles around the dance floor with all of our friends and family.

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