Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Turkish Patriotic Song Uses Melody from "Der Rebbe Elimelech"

We never expected to feature a Turkish patriotic song on Jewish Humor Central, but we just had to share this revelation by Zecharia Golden in the Forward this weekend.

In honor of the hundredth jubilee of the Turkish Republic, a patriotic song from 1972 is often heard in the Turkish social media this year. The song, "Bir Bashkadr Benim Memleketim" (My hometown is special) has a beautiful melody and the words paint a rural scene. It sounds like a classic Turkish folk song.  

The melody of the song comes from the Yiddish song Der Rebbe Elimelech, which
was first translated into a French song "Lavougl" from 1969 (The Blind Man), and then into the Turkish "Memlektim".

Here is a video of the Turkish song followed by a video of Eynat Betzalel singing Der Rebbe Elimelech. acccompanied by L'Orchestre Festival led by arranger and conductor Meinrad Koch. 

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