Hava Nagila


"Hava Nagila" is a Jewish folk song. It is traditionally sung at celebrations, such as weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and other Jewish holidays among the Jewish community. Written in 1918, it quickly spread through the Jewish diaspora.

History

The melody is based on a Hassidic Nigun, with its rhythm mirroring Prusso-French composer Jacques Offenbach's "Galop infernal" from his 1858 opera, Orpheus in the Underworld. It was composed in 1918 to celebrate the Balfour Declaration and the British victory over the Ottomans in 1917. It was first performed in a mixed choir concert in Jerusalem.
Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, a professor at Hebrew University, began cataloging all known Jewish music and teaching classes in musical composition; one of his students was a promising cantorial student, Moshe Nathanson, who with the rest of his class was presented by the professor with a slow, melodious, 19th-century chant 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. This version has been recreated by Daniel Gil, based on a traditional song collected by Susman Kiselgof. The text was probably refined by Idelsohn. Members of the community began to immigrate to Jerusalem in 1915, and Idelsohn wrote in 1932 that he had been inspired by that melody.

Melody


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Notable performers

Use in sports

Association football

Ajax Amsterdam

Supporters of the Dutch association football club AFC Ajax, 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 commonly refer to themselves as "Yids" 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.

Gymnastics

In the 2012 Summer Olympics floor exercise final, Aly Raisman 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".