Hava Nagila

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"Hava Nagila" (הבה נגילה in Hebrew) is a Hebrew folk song, the title meaning "Let us rejoice". It is a song of celebration, especially popular amongst irreligious Jewish and Roma communities. In popular culture, it is used as a metonym for Judaism, and is a staple of band performers at Jewish festivals.

The melody is a hassidic melody of uncertain orgin. The commonly used text was probably composed by Abraham Zevi (Zvi) Idelsohn[1][2] in 1918 to celebrate the British victory in Palestine during World War I as well as the Balfour Declaration.

A transliteration, spelling of the title and lyrics varies.

Contents

Transliteration Hebrew Text English Translation
Hava nagila הבה נגילה Let's rejoice
Hava nagila הבה נגילה Let's rejoice
Hava nagila venis'mecha הבה נגילה ונשמחה Let's rejoice and be happy
  (repeat stanza once)  
Hava neranenah הבה נרננה Let's sing
Hava neranenah הבה נרננה Let's sing
Hava neranenah venis'mecha הבה נרננה ונשמחה Let's sing and be happy
  (repeat stanza once)  
Uru, uru achim! !עורו, עורו אחים Awake, awake, brothers!
Uru achim b'lev sameach עורו אחים בלב שמח Awake brothers with a happy heart
  (repeat line three times)  
Uru achim, uru achim! !עורו אחים, עורו אחים Awake, brothers, awake, brothers!
B'lev sameach בלב שמח With a happy heart

It should be noted that ch is pronounced like the German ch after a back vowel, as in Bach or Spanish j [IPA: /x/].

"Have a nagila / Have two nagilas / Have three nagilas / They're pretty small". Saturday Night Live had a Sweeney Sisters sketch using the same joke.
  • On the comedy TV sketch show In Living Color, annoying soul singers Cephus and Reesie sing "Hava Nagila" at a bar mitzvah but with the lyrics, "Hava nagila/Have a tortilla".
  • The Simpsons also parodied this song on two occasions.
    • In the episode "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star", Marge, Ned Flanders and Reverend Lovejoy were trying to convert Bart back from Catholicism, when he suggests that he should choose his own religion, upon which he suggests Judaism and sings
"Don't have / a cow, man / Don't have / a cow, man / Have a piece of fish. Oy!"
    • In the episode "Dude, Where's My Ranch?", Bart and Lisa were going door to door caroling. When they got to Krusty's house, they sang:
"Have a / nice Christmas / Have a / nice Christmas / Have a / nice Christmas / Non-Christian friend"
  • On the comedy TV show Will and Grace, Molly Shannen plays Val, a kleptomaniacal neighbor who steals Grace's music box, which she claims is an Irish music box. When Grace opens the music box and it begins playing Hava Nagila, Val begins singing, "Gosh and begorra / gosh and begorra / gosh and begorra / my Irish eyes."
  • American Dad! Episode Haylias when Hayley tries to kill Stan, he desperately pushes her onto a chair while yelling "Jewish Chair Dance" replacing all Hebrew lyrics with blah.
  • The OpenBSD 4.0 release song "Humppa Negala" performed and recorded by Ty Semaka and Jonathan Lewis.[3]
  • Hip Hop Hoodíos recorded a song called "Havana Nagila".[4]
  • Bob Dylan recorded a song called "Talkin' Hava Negeilah Blues".[5]
  • Allan Sherman recorded a song to the tune of "Hava Nagila" called "Harvey and Sheila".
  • Comedian and folk singer Jasper Carrott used to sing "Hava Nagila" at his shows, intentionally mistranslating the lyrics as:
"My bicycle has been struck by lightning / The chief rabbi has eloped with a nun / The saddle has fallen off my bicycle / The policeman's donkey has molested my parrot"
"Vodka, we need some vodka, I want some vodka"

Many Caribbean-based musical groups have used "Hava Nagilah" as an instrumental piece – either as a show opener or as a showcase song – with the melody adapted to local rhythms. Mon Rivera made a plena version, which he used as an icebreaker in his presentations. "Hava Nagilah" was also arranged as a merengue and was virtually a standard for various Dominican bands such as Johnny Ventura's Combo Show, Freddy Kenton's, and the Conjunto Quisqueya. Sonata Arctica, a power metal band from Finland, play the melody of "Hava Nagilah" with lyrics about Vodka at the end of their live DVD For the Sake of Revenge.

  1. ^ Yudelson, Larry. Who wrote Havah Nagilah?. RadioHazak. Larry Yudelson. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
  2. ^ In an appearance on BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs on 28 October 2007, Joel Joffe referred to his grandfather Abraham Zevi Idelsohn as the author of "Hava Nagila", but in the programme notes it says "Composer: Bashir Am Israelim", meaning that either this is an alias for Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, to whom Joffe was clearly referring in the programme, or the programme notes contain an erroneous entry.
  3. ^ 4.0: "Humppa Negala". OpenBSD release song lyrics. OpenBSD (2007-10-07).
  4. ^ Havana Nagila (Ahi Nama! Mix). Yahoo!Music. Yahoo!. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
  5. ^ Talkin Hava Negeilah Blues. Bob Dylan. Sony BMG Music Entertainment.
  6. ^ Miller, Sarah (17/12/2007). 'Hava Nagila' enters race for Christmas No. 1 in Britain. Haaretz. Haaretz. Retrieved on 2007-17-12.

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