HaTikva

A dear friend who belongs to a Jewish genealogical group sent this to me. Listen to the three versions carefully. I will post them in chronological order: Rare recording of Al Jolson singing Hatikva:

http://www.mtzioncongregation.com/jolson.html

The following link goes to a recording introduced by NPR's Scott Simon from 61 years ago. It features a reporter who was with the British army when they liberated Bergen Belsen in May 1945. In the midst of chaos, with dead bodies lying around them, the surviving Jews, some barely able to stand, joined voices to sing Hatikva, "The Hope," which would become the Israeli National Anthem. It will bring tears to your eyes.

http://genealogy.org.il/BergenBelsenHatikva.mp3

And if you'd like to follow along with the lyrics, you can find themin both Hebrew, a transliteration of the Hebrew and English at thisIsraeli site. You'll also find a number of other versions including aknock your socks off performance by Barbra Streisand:

http://www.science.co.il/Israel-Anthem.asp

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com