Tracing the Origins of Hatikvah - The Search Goes On

Two years ago, we wrote about the origins of Hatikvah, Israel's national anthem, tracing its words to Naftali Imber and its melody to an Italian folk song and Smetana's symphonic poem, The Moldau.

But the song has become so important to the State of Israel and to the Jewish people worldwide, that new research continues to uncover details that were previously unknown and that add color and insight to the story of this beloved tune.

Pianist Astrith Baltsan, Israel's most popular classical performer, is also a musicologist who has undertaken a personal quest to find the complete story behind the song that brings Jews to attention whenever it is played.

Baltsan discovered some surprising facts about the words and the music that she shares in the video below, revealing this information amid scenes of the song being performed by children in Hungary in 1933, by survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on their day of liberation, in Israeli films, by Barbra Streisand, and at soccer games. Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)

(A tip of the kippah to Sheila Zucker for bringing this video to our attention.)