"Hava Nagila" (, ''Hāvā Nāgīlā'', "Let us rejoice") is a Jewish

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

. It is traditionally sung at celebrations, such as

weddings A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicities, races, religions, denominations, countries, social classes, and sexual orientations. Most weddi ...

Bar and bat mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age, they a ...

s, and other

Jewish holidays Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...

among the Jewish community. Written in 1918, it quickly spread through the

Jewish diaspora The Jewish diaspora ( ), alternatively the dispersion ( ) or the exile ( ; ), consists of Jews who reside outside of the Land of Israel. Historically, it refers to the expansive scattering of the Israelites out of their homeland in the Southe ...

History

"Hava Nagila" is one of the first modern Jewish folk songs in the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language unti ...

. It went on to become a staple of band performers at

Jewish wedding A Jewish wedding is a wedding ceremony that follows Halakha, Jewish laws and Jewish culture, traditions. While wedding ceremonies vary, common features of a Jewish wedding include a ''ketubah'' (marriage contract) that is signed by two witnesse ...

s and

b'nai mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

celebrations. The melody is based on a

Hassidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

Nigun A nigun (, 'tune' or 'melody'; pl. nigunim) or niggun (pl. niggunim) is a form of Ashkenazi Jewish vocal music sung in group settings. ''Nigunim'' are melodic tunes, often using repetitive non-lexical vocables such as "bim-bim-bam", "lai-lai- ...

, with its rhythm mirroring Prussian-Jewish composer

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

's "Galop infernal" from his 1858 opera, ''

Orpheus in the Underworld ''Orpheus in the Underworld'' and ''Orpheus in Hell'' are English names for (), a comic opera with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux, Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed as a two-act "op ...

''. It was composed in 1918 to celebrate the

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

and the British victory over the Ottomans in 1917. It was first performed in a mixed choir concert in Jerusalem.

Abraham Zevi Idelsohn Abraham Zevi Idelsohn ( ''Avrohom Tzvi Idelsohn'' in Ashkenazi Hebrew; middle name also rendered ''Tzvi'', ''Zvi'', ''Zwi'', or ''Zebi''; June 11, 1882 – August 14, 1938) was a prominent Jewish ethnomusicologist and composer, who conducted sev ...

(1882–1938), a professor at

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

, began cataloging all known Jewish music and teaching classes in musical composition; one of his students was a promising cantorial student,

Moshe Nathanson Moshe Nathanson (August 10, 1899 - February 24, 1981) was a Canadian musicologist, composer, and cantor who is known for promoting Jewish folk music. Nathanson's most notable work is ''Zamru Lo'', '' Hava Nagila''. and the commonly used tune for ...

, who with the rest of his class was presented by the professor with a slow, melodious, 19th-century chant (''

niggun A nigun (, 'tune' or 'melody'; pl. nigunim) or niggun (pl. niggunim) is a form of Ashkenazi Jewish vocal music sung in group settings. ''Nigunim'' are melodic tunes, often using repetitive non-lexical vocables such as "bim-bim-bam", "lai-lai-l ...

'' or ''nigun'') and assigned to add rhythm and words to fashion a modern Hebrew song. There are competing claims regarding "Hava Nagila"'s composer, with both Idelsohn and Nathanson being suggested. The ''niggun'' has been attributed to the Sadigurer Chasidim, who lived in what is now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. This version has been recreated by Daniel Gil, based on a traditional song collected by

Susman Kiselgof Susman (Zinoviy Aronovich) Kiselgof (, ; 1878–1939) was a Russian-Jewish folksong collector and pedagogue associated with the Society for Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg. Like his contemporary Joel Engel (composer), Joel Engel, he conducted ...

. The text was probably refined by Idelsohn. Members of the community began to

immigrate Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short-t ...

to Jerusalem in 1915, and Idelsohn wrote in 1932 that he had been inspired by that melody.

Lyrics

Melody

\header \layout global = chordNames = \chordmode sopranoVoice = \relative c' left = \relative c verse = \lyricmode \score \score

Notable performers

* Israeli folk duo Ran & Nama (Ran Eliran and Nechama Hendel) released what is likely the earliest recording of the version that was later made famous throughout the world, on their album ''Ran & Nama – The First Record'' (Hed Arzi AN-42-70, 1959). * Singer

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

is known for his version of the song, which was recorded for his album ''

Belafonte at Carnegie Hall ''Belafonte at Carnegie Hall'' is a live double album by Harry Belafonte issued by RCA Victor. It is the first of two Belafonte Carnegie Hall albums, and was recorded on April 19 and April 20, 1959. The concerts were benefits for The New Lincoln ...

'', recorded at the titular

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in 1959. He rarely gave a concert without singing it, and stated that the two "stand out" songs from his professional career were "

The Banana Boat Song "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" is a traditional Jamaican folk song. The song has mento influences, but it is commonly classified as an example of the better known calypso music. It is a call and response work song, from the point of view of ...

" and "Hava Nagila". Belafonte noted and claimed, "Life is not worthwhile without it. Most Jews in America learned that song from me." *

Laurindo Almeida Laurindo José de Araújo Almeida Nóbrega Neto (2 September 1917 – 26 July 1995) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer in classical, jazz, and Latin music. He was one of the pioneers in the creation of bossa nova. Almeida was the firs ...

The Barry Sisters Minnie Bagelman (April 6, 1923 – October 31, 1976) and Clara Bagelman (October 17, 1920 – November 22, 2014),NOTE: Claire Barry was not born in 1923, the year that had previously been cited as her year of birth, but in 1920, as all notices ...

recorded this song on their Greatest Yiddish Hits album, the release date: October 16, 1965. *

Raphael (singer) Miguel Rafael Martos Sánchez (born 5 May 1943), often simply referred to as Raphael, is a Spanish singer and actor. Raphael is recognized as one of the most successful Spanish singers worldwide, having sold more than 70 million records in se ...

, the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

singer and actor, recorded the ''Hava Nagila'' song in 1968. *

Nissim Black Nissim Baruch Black (born Damian Jamohl Black; December 9, 1986) is an American-Israeli rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Under the stage name D. Black, he released the albums '' The Cause & Effect'' (2006) and '' Ali'yah'' (2009) and was ...

, a

Jewish Orthodox Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...

rapper, recorded an adaptation titled "The Hava Song". *

Bruno Blum Bruno Blum (born October 4, 1960, Vichy, France) is a French singer songwriter, guitar player, music producer and musicologist sometimes nicknamed "Doc Reggae". He is mostly known for his work in the reggae, Caribbean music, rock music and Afric ...

included an instrumental ska section of the song in his version of French singer songwriter

Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; ; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and ...

' "" ad Reputationon his 2002 album ''Think Différent''. *

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released True Grit / Hava Nagila via Label Capitol Records in 1969. * David Carroll *

Jasper Carrott Robert Norman Davis (born 14 March 1945), known by his stage name, Jasper Carrott, is an English comedian, writer, actor, singer and television presenter. His credits include '' An Audience With Jasper Carrott'' (1978), '' The Secret Policeman ...

(on his 1976 album, ''Carrott in Notts'') *

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twis ...

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– Israeli singer *

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Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American Rock music, rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting wit ...

and the Del Tones (

surf rock Surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is inst ...

) *

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida (, ; ), was an Italian naturalized French singer and actress. Leading an international career, Dalida has sold over 140 million records worldwide. Some ...

, 1959 *

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, in addition to having performed ''Hava Nagila'' in his 1994 ''Live In America'' concert, incorporated it into ''

The Jazz Singer ''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous ...

,'' based on

Samson Raphaelson Samson Raphaelson (March 30, 1894 – July 16, 1983) was an American playwright, screenwriter and fiction writer. While working as an advertising executive in New York, he wrote a short story based on the early life of Al Jolson, called ''The Da ...

's play, in which he acted out a cantor with popular-music ambitions. *

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts. The band comprises John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums), James LaBrie (vocals) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards). Dream Theat ...

performed a cover of "Hava Nagila" in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 16 June 2009. *

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

* The

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with guest accordionists performed it at a

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

concert in

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, on 9 September 2009. *

Percy Faith Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian–American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of instrumental ballads and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizin ...

Irving Fields Irving Fields (born Yitzhak Schwartz; August 4, 1915 – August 20, 2016) was an American pianist and lounge music artist who was born in New York City. Some of his most noteworthy compositions include "Miami Beach Rhumba"; "Managua, Nicaragua"; ...

Four Jacks and a Jill Four Jacks and a Jill is a South African folk rock ensemble. Career They originally formed in 1964 without a "Jill" under the name "The Nevadas". Subsequently, they became the first group in South Africa to wear their hair long and they changed ...

released a version of the song on their 1965 album, ''Jimmy Come Lately''. *

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

, "Now!" (US #92, 1963) *

published the Hebrew song book, ''Sefer Hashirim'', in 1922, which includes the first publication of his arrangement of "Hava Nagila". He also produced the first commercial recording in 1922, on the Polyphon record label ("Order No. 8533"), as part of a series which recorded 39 Hebrew folk songs. *

Los Iracundos Los Iracundos are a popular Uruguayan band from the city of Paysandú, active since the 1960s. Their music can be classified as rock and roll, including many ballads. History The Group was formed in 1958 in Paysandú, Uruguay and was originally f ...

* Kare and the Cavemen *

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born ; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-kno ...

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Abbe Lane Abbe Lane (born Abigail Francine Lassman; December 14, 1932) is an American singer and actress. Lane was known in the 1950s and 1960s for her revealing outfits and sultry style of performing. Her first marriage was as the fourth wife of Latin ba ...

Jon Lord John Douglas "Jon" Lord (9 June 194116 July 2012) was an English keyboardist and composer. In 1968, Lord co-founded the hard rock band Deep Purple. Lord performed on most of the band's most popular songs; he and drummer Ian Paice were the only ...

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included Hava Nagila in his solo keyboard improvisations as heard on

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(1975). *

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, "Dance Everyone Dance" (US #31, 1958)''

Joel Whitburn Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in W ...

's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990'' *

Shelly Manne Sheldon "Shelly" Manne (June 11, 1920 – September 26, 1984) was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, ...

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, who recorded the song live for the album ''

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''. They also recorded a second version on the same album to the tune of Feliz Navidad. *

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* Frank Slay and his Orchestra, "Flying Circle" (US #45, 1962) *

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, whose ability to play the song was instrumental to his induction in

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. *

Richard Tucker Richard Tucker (August 28, 1913January 8, 1975) was an American operatic tenor and cantor. Long associated with the Metropolitan Opera, Tucker's career was primarily centered in the United States. Early life Tucker was born Rivn (Rubin) Ticker ...

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Rika Zaraï Rika Zaraï (; 19 February 1938 – 23 December 2020) was a France, Franco-Israelis, Israeli singer and writer. Early life Rika Gozman (later Zarai) was born in Jerusalem. Her father came from Odessa (now Ukraine) in the Russian Empire, and he ...

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in his album "Helmut Lotti Goes Classic II - The Blue Album (Live)".

Use in sports

Association football

Ajax Amsterdam

Supporters of the Dutch

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

, although not an official Jewish club, commonly use Jewish imagery. A central part of Ajax fans' culture, "Hava Nagila" can often be heard sung in the Stadium by the team's supporters, and at one point ringtones of "Hava Nagila" could even be downloaded from the club's official website.

Tottenham Hotspur

Supporters of the English football club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

commonly refer to themselves as "

Yid The word Yid (; ), also known as the Y-word, is a Jewish ethnonym of Yiddish origin. It is used as an autonym within the Ashkenazi Jewish community, and also used as slang by European football fans, antisemites, and others. Its usage may be con ...

s" and say they are strongly associated with Jewish symbolism and culture. "Hava Nagila" has been adopted as an anthem of sorts by the club, and was one of the most frequently sung songs at the team's former stadium at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

Gymnastics

In the 2012 Summer Olympics floor exercise final,

Aly Raisman Alexandra Rose Raisman (born May 25, 1994) is an American retired artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian. She was captain of both the 2012 " Fierce Five" and 2016 " Final Five" U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics teams, which won their respective ...

placed first with a score of 15.600, becoming the first American woman to win a gold medal on the floor exercise. She performed to the tune of "Hava Nagila".

References

External links

Hava Nagila's Long, Strange Trip
at My Jewish Learning
Hora Music, How do you sing and dance "Hava Nagila"
– lyrics and steps

at HebrewSongs.com
Historical research includes first recording of Hava Nagila

Romani version of "Hava Nagila" (Aven, rromalen)
* {{Authority control 1918 songs Israeli folk songs Songs in Hebrew Jewish folk songs Wedding songs AFC Ajax songs Tottenham Hotspur F.C. songs Hebrew words and phrases