Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Oklahoma's Canterbury Voices Sing Hevenu Shalom Aleichem

Hevenu Shalom Aleichem is one of the most widely played and sung Hebrew songs around the world, probably second only to Hava Nagila. We have been sharing versions of this song as performed in India, Guatemala, Australia, Korea, Belarus, and in an Irish pub.

Today we came across another posting of this song, the 24th that we've shared with you. It was posted by Canterbury Voices, a chorus based in Oklahoma.

Canterbury Voices was founded in May 1969 as Canterbury Choral Society. The 165-member Adult Chorus is the flagship program of the organization and the largest of its kind in the state of Oklahoma. All singers are auditioned and most have extensive musical and stage experience. 

 

The Adult Chorus collaborates with many sister arts agencies like the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Oklahoma City Ballet, and Oklahoma City Jazz Orchestra, as well as many talented singers and musicians from around the United States including, Kelli O’Hara, Sarah Coburn and Ron Raines.

 

Enjoy!

 

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Am Yisrael Chai - The Nation of Israel Lives on Its 76th Independence Day

Yesterday's Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day) in Israel transitioned last night to Yom Ha'atzmaut, a day of celebration of Israel's 76th birthday. Today we offer a salute to Israel on its years of outstanding achievements in so many areas.

Eyal Golan leads us in his popular song Am Yisrael Chai (The Nation of Israel Lives). Eyal is an Israeli singer who sings in the Mizrahi music pop fusion genre, and is considered one of the most successful singers in Israel.

Enjoy and Chag Sameach!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Nepalese Students Sing "Hevenu Shalom Aleichem"

Hevenu Shalom Aleichem is such a popular Hebrew song that it's sung all over the world. Over the years we've shared videos of it being performed in Indonesia, by Mayan children in Guatemala, and in a Korean musical stage show. 

Among the 22 versions that we've posted you'll find it in France, India, and in an Irish pub in Phoenix.

So we weren't too surprised to come across another rendition of this song by students in Nepal. It's coupled with them singing Shabbat Shalom.

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Hava Nagila Performance in Georgia

Georgia is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and West Asia. It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, Russia to the north and northeast, Turkey to the southwest, Armenia to the south, and Azerbaijan to the southeast. 

Georgia covers an area of 26,900 square miles. It has a population of 3.7 million, of which over a third live in the capital and largest city, Tbilisi. Georgians, who are indigenous to the region, constitute a majority.

We wouldn't expect to see a performance of Hava Nagila in Georgia, but since just about every country in the world has adopted one of Israel's most famous songs, we weren't surprised to find another version on the internet.

Here a group called Melomoney (მელოMoney) sings Hava Nagila on a Georgian TV show. It's the 122nd version that we've posted since starting Jewish Humor Central in 2009.

Enjoy!

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Throwback Thursday Musical Showcase: Georgia Gibbs Sings Hevenu Shalom Aleichem and Zum Gali Gali

Today's Throwback Thursday Musical Showcase takes us back to July 10, 1960 when Georgia Gibbs sang Hevenu Shalom Aleichem and Zum Gali Gali on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Georgia Gibbs, born Frieda Lipschitz in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1918, was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs achieved acclaim and notoriety in the mid-1950s copying songs originating with the black rhythm and blues community and later became a featured vocalist for many radio and television variety and comedy programs.

Gibbs was the youngest of four children of Russian Jewish descent. Her father died when she was six months old, and she and her three siblings spent the next seven years in a local Jewish orphanage.

In 1943, with her name changed to Georgia Gibbs, she began appearing on the Camel Caravan radio program, hosted by Jimmy Durante and Garry Moore, where she remained a regular performer until 1947. It was Moore who bestowed upon her the famous nickname "Her Nibs, Miss Georgia Gibbs," ironically using the title to describe the singer of diminutive stature who had an enormous "authoritative" prominence in American pop music.

Enjoy!

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      #Throwback Thursday      #TBT

Welcoming Shabbat with Ein K'Eloheinu Sung by Cantor Azi Schwartz to the Banana Boat Song

Last week the Internet was full of tributes to folksinger Harry Belafonte, who died on April 25. We joined with a memory of him singing Hinei Ma Tov in London way back in 1995 with the Israel Army choir.

Last Shabbat Cantor Azi Schwartz of New York's Park Avenue Synagogue took it one step further by singing Ein K'Eloheinu to one of Belafonte's most popular songs, the Banana Boat Song.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Remembering Harry Belafonte - Singing Hinei Ma Tov with the Israeli Army Choir

Singer Harry Belafonte, who died on April 25 at the age of 96, had many Jewish connections.

As Lisa Keys wrote for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA),

A New York City native, Belafonte, an acolyte of singers Paul Robeson and Josh White, was the one of the first Black artists to achieve widespread commercial success in the United States. While he was raised a Catholic, his life frequently dovetailed with Jewish causes, values and individuals.

Among Belafonte’s many Jewish connections — which included brokering a meeting between Nelson Mandela and Jewish leaders in 1989 — was his marriage to his Jewish second wife, dancer Julie Robinson. The couple, who were married from 1958 to 2004, raised two children, Gina and David.

In 2011, Belafonte revealed in his autobiography, “My Song: A Memoir,” that his paternal grandfather was Jewish. Belafonte’s parents were both Jamaican immigrants: his mother, Melvine, was the child of a white mother from Scotland and a Black father, and his father, Harold George Bellanfanti, who later changed the family surname, was the son of a Black mother and white Dutch-Jewish father.

In England in 1995, Belafonte sang Hinei Ma Tov with the Israeli Army Choir.

Enjoy!

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From the Milken Archive: Pete Seeger and the Story of Tzena, Tzena

While browsing through the Lowell Milken Archive of Jewish Music, we came across a video of folksinger Pete Seeger telling about his collaboration with Israeli composer Issachar Meron to produce an English version of the Hebrew song Tzena, Tzena.

A moving story of music's ability to transcend boundaries and communicate universally, the video captures a rare moment featuring Seeger alongside the song's composer, Issachar Miron, as they lead a performance of a new trilingual version of the song that includes verses in Arabic, as well as in Hebrew and English.

Seeger, who died in 2014, taught the song to his singing group, The Weavers, who made the song popular worldwide.

A musical adventure of historic proportions, the Milken Archive of Jewish Music is an exploration of the rich variety of musical expression born of, inspired by, associated with, or reflecting the full spectrum of Jewish life in the United States—the collective American Jewish experience.

Enjoy!

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Koolulam Salutes Bravery of Israel's Medical Crews Fighting Covid-19

Koolulam is the singing project that brings Israelis from all walks of life who hadn't met before to sing popular songs together.

Koolulam has been bringing people together for four years. It's a social-musical initiative aimed at strengthening the fabric of society.

The project centers around mass singing events in which large groups of non-professionals come together to form a single collaborative musical creation. Koolulam brings together people from all walks of life to do one thing: stop everything for a few hours and just sing – together. At b, the audience is the artist.

Every participant enters as a unique individual and comes out, while still unique, as a part of a larger whole.
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For every Koolulam event, a different well-known song is chosen to be performed. The musical team works hard toward each event, putting together a fresh and innovative arrangement of the chosen song. They write new instrumental arrangements as well as an original three-part vocal arrangement.

On Israel’s 73rd Independence Day, Koolulam gathered around 300 of Israel’s medical crews to salute their bravery with facing Covid-19 and to sing the Shlomo Artzi song Tetaaru Lahem (Imagine Yourselves) together at the Torch-Lighting Ceremony on Mt. Herzl.

The English translation appears below.

Enjoy! 

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ne yourselves a beautiful world

Less sad than it is

And we are walking there with the sun in our pockets

And above the rooftops, The stars

And the time goes by fearless

And I am going to meet her in heaven

 

Imagine yourselves some joy

Beacause it is so rare around here

A cool city in the dark and both of us under the blanket

She caresses me and says

Whatever you wanted will happen tomorrow

And she is full of reflactions of sadness and happiness

 

Imagine yourselves in a middle of a beautiful day

The sky is above you, The love is with you

Yes, That's the way it happened, suddenly she said

I can still remember her, like in a storm

Imagine yourselves me falling into her arms

 

Imagine yourselves a simple world, a room for a night, a house in the rain

Tree scents filled with strawberries, And both of us are drunk

"If we ever break up i'll die", she whispers nervously

Imagine yourselves another chance of suddenly returning to youth

https://lyricstranslate.com

 

 

Teta'aru Lachem (תתארו לכם)

Imagine Yourselves

תתארו לכם עולם יפה

Imagine yourselves a beautiful world

פחות עצוב ממה שהוא ככה

Less sad than it is

ואנחנו שם הולכים עם שמש בכיסים

And we are walking there with the sun in our pockets

ומעל גגות, הכוכבים

And above the rooftops, The stars

והזמן עובר בלי פחד

And the time goes by fearless

ואני הולך לפגוש אותה בגן העדן

And I am going to meet her in heaven

תתארו לכם קצת אושר

Imagine yourselves some joy

כי הוא כל כך כל כך נדיר כאן

Beacause it is so rare around here

עיר מגניבה בתוך החושך ושנינו בשמיכה

A cool city in the dark and both of us under the blanket

והיא מלטפת אותי ואומרת לי

She caresses me and says

"מחר יקרה מה שרצית"

Whatever you wanted will happen tomorrow

והיא מלאה השתקפויות של עצב ושמחה

And she is full of reflaction­s of sadness and happiness

תתארו לכם באמצע יום יפה

Imagine yourselves in a middle of a beautiful day

שמיים מעליכם, האהבה איתכם

The sky is above you, The love is with you

כן, ככה זה קרה, לפתע היא אמרה

Yes, That's the way it happened, suddenly she said

אני עוד זוכר אותה, כמו בסערה

I can still remember her, like in a storm

תתארו לכם אותי נופל לתוך זרועותיה

Imagine yourselves me falling into her arms

תתארו לכם עולם פשוט, חדר ללילה, בית בגשם

Imagine yourselves a simple world, a room for a night, a house in the rain

ריחות עצים מלאים בתות, ושנינו שיכורים

Tree scents filled with strawberri­es, And both of us are drunk

"אם נפרד אני אמות", היא לוחשת וגועשת

"If we ever break up i'll die", she whispers nervously

תתארו לכם עוד הזדמנות לחזור פתאום לנעורים

Imagine yourselves another chance of suddenly returning to youth

תתארו לכם את החיים, זזים אחורה וקדימה

Imagine yourselves life, moving backwards and forward

מה שחסר שוב מתמלא, מה שהיה פתאום ישנו

Whatever is missing is getting filled again, Whatever once was is now here

ואני מביט לתוך עיניה ונגנב בכוח פנימה

And I look into her eyes and lose my mind from the power within

תתארו לכם אותנו מגשימים את כל החלומות

Imagine yourselves us fulfilling all of our dreams

תתארו לכם באמצע יום יפה...

Imagine yourselves in the middle of a beautiful day...

תתארו לכם עולם יפה, פחות עצוב ממה שהוא ככה

Imagine yourselves a beautiful world

ואנחנו שם הולכים, עם שמש בכיסים

Less sad than it is

(תתארו לכם עולם יפה, עיר בתוך החושך)

And we are walking there with the sun in our pockets

עולם פשוט, תתארו לכם קצת אושר

(Imagine yourselves a beautiful world, A city in the dark)

 

Musical Showcase: Yonina Sings Al Kol Eleh

We've been posting versions of Hebrew liturgical and popular songs by Yonina (Yoni and Nina Tokayer, a married musical duo who live in the small town of Pardes Chana, Israel.)

They have been uploading home videos to Facebook and Youtube and reaching millions. They have both been singing and writing since they can remember, and have been making music together ever since they met.

The name Yonina is a combination of both their first names, Yoni and Nina.

Here they are  singing the song Al Kol Eleh. Naomi Shemer wrote Al Kol Eleh in 1980. Like many of her songs, at first glance this seems like a naïve prayer, hoping for the best. Taking a deeper look, one discovers how the personal and the national are woven together, expressing the sentiment that has been part of the Jewish experience for centuries: a deep desire to protect loved ones, understanding that terrible things may come, praying for God’s grace, alongside the ability to accept the good with the bad. 

Here are the lyrics, in Hebrew and English. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: California's Bullis Charter School Choir Sings "Hinei Ma Tov"

Charter schools such as the Bullis Charter School in Los Altos, California are unique public schools that offer an additional educational choice to California families. 

Charter schools are allowed the freedom to be more innovative while being held accountable for advancing student achievement. As a public charter school, BCS is free to innovate and implement new programs and teaching methods in order to provide the best education possible for our students.

The K-8 school has four choirs comprising more than 145 students. The Spring concert of their Cambiata choir included a virtual rendition of the Hebrew folk song Hinei Ma Tov.

Enjoy!

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Hava Nagila Around the World: British Singer Matt Monro Sings "A Gaelic Version"

We've posted 95 versions of Hava Nagila so far (scroll down and click on the keyword in the left column to see them all) and we still haven't run out of them. Today we're turning the calendar back to 1970 when British singer Matt Monro gave his television audience a treat by singing a lively version of this Hebrew classic. 

Monro became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1950s and 1970s. Known as The Man with the Golden Voice, he filled cabarets, nightclubs, music halls, and stadiums across the world in his 30-year career.

In this 1970 performance, Monro played with his audience, introducing Hava Nagila as a Gaelic song.

Enjoy!

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