It is Time for Hatikvah to Recognize the Israeli Soul.

As appeared in the Jerusalem Post under the headline:
Israel's Declaration of Independence includes all

Since the first Aliyah in the late 1800’s until today, Israel has changed from an exclusive socialist non-religious Jewish agrarian culture to something much more. In its very small geographic footprint (about the size of New Jersey), Israel is now a world leading country in many categories (high-tech, medicine, and of course, agriculture, to name a few).

Israel has also become multicultural on many levels. This tiny country has opened its arms to Jewish refugees from all over the world, who in turn bring their ethnicities, culture, religious interpretations, music, and art.

As a theocratic democracy, Israel is both a Jewish state and democracy where citizens of any religion, race, or ethnicity find freedom. Much like many other Western democracies.

A core concept, expressed in Israel’s Declaration of Independence is “The State of Israel… will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace …; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions…”.

And this accomplished without losing its Jewish identity. Preceding the above paragraph, the Declaration states: “Accordingly we, representatives of the Jewish Community, hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish State…to be known as the State of Israel.”

The national anthem of the State of Israel, “Hatikvah,” is a two-stanza song, whose words speak of the historic yearning of Jews for a return to the ancient national home in the Land of Israel. And “hope” to live “free.”

Hatikvah (translated as "The Hope"), was inherited by the state from the Zionist Movement. It was written by the poet Naftali Herz Imber circa 1878 and published in Jerusalem in 1886. The music was then composed by Samuel Cohen, who based the melody on a Romanian folk song.

The traditional lyrics were also re-written to reflect the new historic reality of statehood. The last three lines of the original text spoke of “the ancient hope to return to the land of our fathers, to the city where [King] David dwelt,” the new version replaces the biblical allusion with an emphasis on “the hope of two millennia to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.”

Is it time to re-write those lyrics today? I would not have thought so but my granddaughter, who is active in a Hasbarah based outreach program, has convinced me otherwise.

Since this Hamas-Israel War started (Operation Iron Swords), I have been posting to my limited social media world, examples of non-Jewish citizens of Israel who rose up and jumped in to serve their country and help fellow citizens, who unfortunately became victims of the Hamas massacre. An Arab Muslim Israeli volunteer for the ZAKA rescue service in Sderot, Bedouin Arabs of the Rahat Hatzalah squad, Bedouin IDF unit, as well as ordinary Arab citizens immediately jumping to save their fellow Israeli citizens at Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, and continuing to help as the war continues. They and their families are now part of the tragic group who lost and now mourn loved ones in what was an indiscriminate barbaric attack.

My objective and motivation for posting this common theme on social media was to show that regardless of how one hyphenates one’s identity (Israeli-Arab, -Muslim, -Christian, etc.) if you are a citizen of Israel, you can thrive and be part of the Israeli society by being a free and loyal productive citizen without losing your personal, ethnic, or religious identity.

This is as far as my thinking went until my granddaughter pointed out that a number of non-Jewish Israelis she met through her outreach program do not sing the words “nefesh Yehudi” (Jewish soul) in the National Anthem. (This is very different than those Arab students or MKs who demonstrate disloyalty by not singing or standing for the National Anthem.)

Arabs, and other non-Jewish citizens of Israel, have long served in the army, police, government, as well as contributed to the economy and community in medicine, business, and agriculture.

And unlike the Arab riots of May 2021 in Israeli cities caused by incitement put forth by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, this current war is different. Israel’s diverse Arab community has proven that they are just like all loyal citizens of Israel, proudly supporting their country’s right to exist.

Therefore, as has been done before, it is time to consider officially either changing one word in the National Anthem or allow two official versions to be sung as “nefesh Yehudi” or “nefesh Yisoreli” according to one’s personal preference.

“Yisroeli” (Israeli) is still consistent with the Jewish identity of the State of Israel (language, calendar, symbology) and its Declaration of Independence (“the establishment of a Jewish State”).

This would make our claim of “Am Echad” – “One People” even stronger.

 

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David S. Levine (MBA), is a former NYC advertising & marketing executive, retired Rutgers University instructor, and author of Hey Israel – You’re Perfect. Now Change (free) and How to Run the Business of YOU. He is a history buff who is currently working on a book about revolutions and lives in Ashkelon, Israel. He blogs at: thetruthfulproject.blogspot.com. X (formerly Twitter): @DavidsLevine