FOR GREGORY. He was not a VICTIM of ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, he was a HERO!

PLEASE NOTE: Even though this blog is now dormant there are many useful, insightful posts. Scroll back from the end or forward from the beginning. Also, check out my writer's blog. Periodically I will add posts here if they provide additional information about living well with Dementia / Alzheimer's Disease.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Hatikva

Today for Lieberman's Sunday entertainment, a very talented young pianist performed a variety of music including classical, jazz, ragtime, Klesmer, and more. One piece he played was the "Hatikvah" or Israeli national anthem.

AFTER READING THIS POST
Click to go to my SoundCloud. Click on the red right arrow
Opens in a new window

As he was playing, many people in the audience began singling along in undertones and under their breath. It was a sound that while magical, was not joyous. 

It seemed to carry the archetypal, universal sorrow and ache which the Jewish people have carried around through the centuries, and still seem to have as part of their cultural conscientiousness,  beginning with the King of Egypt enslaving the Jews through Hitler and the Holocaust through today with Anti-Semitism still wreaking havoc.

"Hatikvah" "Hatikva" (הַתִּקְוָהpronounced [hatikˈva], English: "The Hope") is the  national anthem of Israel. Its lyrics are adapted from a poem by Naftali Herz Imber, a Jewish poet from Złoczów, (today, Zolochiv, Ukraine). Imber wrote the first version of the poem in 1877. The romantic anthem's theme reflects the Jew's 2000-year-old hope of returning to the Land of Israel, restoring it, and reclaiming it as a sovereign nation.


Hebrew


Transliteration


English translation
כֹּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָהKol ‘od balevav penimahAs long as in the heart, within,
נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּהNefesh yehudi homiyah,Jewish soul still yearns,
וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח, קָדִימָה,Ul(e)fa’atei mizrach kadimah,And onward, towards the ends of the east,
עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה,‘Ayin letziyon tzofiyah;an eye still gazes toward Zion;
עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ,‘Od lo avdah tikvateinu,Our hope is not yet lost,
הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִםHatikvah bat sh(e)not ’alpayim,The hope of two thousand years,
לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ,Lihyot ‘am chofshi b(e)’artzeinu,To be a free nation in our land,
אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם.’Eretz-Tziyon viy(e)rushalayim.The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

2 comments:

  1. That was beautiful😀 I especially loved hearing the background voices. It also made me realize how much I miss hearing my son play his keyboard.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are always welcome. You are appreciated! If you do not have a sign-in on any of the accounts below ... use ANONYMOUS. All comments are moderated and will appear as appropriate. Thanks. Please, keep commenting!