Turn Balalaika
This is a riddle song, which asks:
was killed by an ill-tempered Arab,
who secretly placed the rabbi's
body underneath a fig tree at his
farm in Safed (Tzfat). According to
Soled: The Mystical City, the tree
filled with fruit the day after the
rabbi was buried there, and the figs
were large and delicious — and
growing out of season. The incident
attracted the attention of the Turkish
provincial governor, who sum-
moned the Arab to his
palace and demanded to
know the secret behind
the tree.
The farmer con-
fessed, and the gov-
ernor had him
hanged from the very
same fig tree.
By the way, you can find Rabbi
Alkabetz's name in the first eight
verses of "[echo Dodi" — just read
the first Hebrew letter of each verse
and it spells out Shlomo Halevi.
'Can you tell me what grows with-
out rain, what yearns vvithout tears,
what can burn forever?"
The answer: 'A stone can grow
without rain ; a heart can yearn •
without tears, and love can burn for-
ever.'
But who wrote this riddle we will
never know, for the lyricist remains
anonymous. \Nhat is known is the
name of the man who composed
the music: Sholom Secunda 11 894-
1974). His charming little song
went on to become the biggest-sell-
ing Yiddish song of all time. It.was
irst published in the United States in
1940, then recorded by the Barry
Sisters, who were largely responsi-
ble for its popularity.
'Turn Balalaika," which means,
"Play„ Balalaika," brought in quite a
fortune — but not to Secunda, who
in his early days as a composer
had sold the copyright — for a
song — soon after it was pub-
HaTikvah, Israel's national
I anthem, means "The Hope." The
lished. Only toward the end of his
words were written in about 1878
life, when the copyright came back
by Naphtali Herz Imber, and first
to him, did Secunda gain any finan-
published in 1886 as "Tikvateynu" -
cial reward for "Tum Balalaika."'
-•
("Our Hope"):
There was, in fact, a particular
incident that inspired Imber: the
Lecha Dodi is a love song
establishmenforPetah Tikvah in
between a bride, the Jewish peo-
Israel.
ple, and a bridegroom, Shabbat.
Around .1882 •
Sung just before Shabbat begins, it
a young immigrant .
contains lyrics that
to Palestine, Samuel
are tender, almost
Cohen, wrote the
romantic: "Come.
music for "Hatikvah."
my beloved ..."
His tune obviously
One legend has it that
was based on a
after God created the
Moldavian
world he met up with a
Rumanian song
lonely Shabbat, who
called "Cart and Oxen," (which
yearned for a partner. God said,
itself is derived from an ancient
The Jewish people will be your
melody of either Jewish or Arab ori-
mate. -
gin in Spain). But since there were
'Lecha Dodi" was written around
no copyright laws at the time, there
1570 by Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Aik-
were no big lawsuits to report here.
abetz, a renowned scholar — and
The second stanza of "Hatikvah"
the focus of an unusual story. Sever-
is somewhat different than the one
al years after writing "Lecha Dodi,"
written by Imber, whose original ver-
now sung Friday nights in congre-
gations worldwide, Rabbi Alkabetz
sion was:
-
popular thanks to a cantor at a
Reform temple?
I Cantor Isaac Moses (1 847-1926)
worked in Europe at an Orthodox
synagogue, then came to serve at
1 Ahavath Chesed Central Syna-
.:gogue;.:which was Reform, in New
York City..
Cantor Moses was the author of
Sabbath-School Hymnal. First pub-
lished in 1894, it was revised,
Though it might
expanded and reprinted in 1920,
seem an obvious
with "Adon Olam" ("Master of the
choice as the
World") among its new inclusions.
anthem for the
Thereafter, it became regularly
Zionist movement,
sung not only in Reform congrega-
"Hatikvah" was
tions, but Conservative and Ortho-
selected only after
dox ones, as well (although the text
it was sung at the
has been part of the Jewish liturgy
Fifth Zionist Congress
since antiquity).
in Basel, 1901. Numerous songs
The familiar melody to "Adon
had been presented as possible
Olam" was vvritten by Eliezer
anthems before the earlier Zionist
Gerovitsch (1844-1913), a cantor
Congresses, but they were all
from the Ukraine.
rejected.
Our hope is not yet lost
The age-old hope,
To return to the land of our fathers
To the city where David . dwelt.
Today, the song reads:
Our hope is not yet lost
The .hope of..2,000 years
To be a Pee people - in our land
The land - of Zion and Jerusalem.
Oifn Pripitchik, a classic Yid-
dish tune, "At the Fireplace," was
written by Mark Warshawksy
(1 840-1907), one of the Yiddish
theater's most successful composers
and a longtime friend of Sholom
Aleichem.
It tells the story of a rabbi Who
teaches the aleph-bet to his stu
dents, and it was in fact originally_
called "Der Aleph Beyz" -, "The -
Alphaloet•
Duritid,World
War II
.
• ,
many-prisoners of
Jewish ghettos sang
"Oifn Pripitchik", but
without any mention of
a rabbi. Instead, they
sang of a burning fire at
a ghetto wall and of Nazi
surveillance.
"Oifn Pripitchik" also was
incorporated as a reappearing
theme in a flit about composer
George Gershwin.
Adon Olam is probably the best-
known hymn from Shabbat services,
with a seemingly endless list of
tunes. But did you know it became
Hava Nagila , the song you can-
: not get away from no matter where
you run (can't get enough? Look for
recordings by Sammy Davis Jr.,
Richard Tucker and Harry Bela-
: fonte), seems to be the quintessen-
tial Israeli song.
But in fact the music is Chasidic,
from the early 1900s, a nigun of
the Chasidim of Sadgura, Ukraine.
. - Nov\/ here's how the words came
Professor Abraham Zvi Idelsohn
taught the
melody to his stu-
dents in
Jerusalem, then
challenged them
to write lyrics (some
of the boys had com-
plained that the song was
too hard to learn without
words). One of the professor's stu-
dents was Moshe Nathanson, who
came up with "Hava Nagila. It
means:
Come let us be glad and rejoice.
Come sing and be happy.
Awake brothers with a joyful
heart. El
8/14
1998
Detroit Jewish News
69