As of about two weeks ago I didn’t know the words to Hatikvah. I speak almost no Hebrew, but since I’ve been planning to spend this summer in Israel, I figured that even if I came in knowing nothing else, at least I could sing along with the crowd and not look like a fool.
It took me a while to learn the whole thing. The refrain was the easy part, but I still mix up Nefesh yehudi homiyah with Ayin letziyon tzofiyah when I’m thinking about it too much.
The interesting byproduct of this process has been my study of the meaning behind the words. The refrain is by far my favorite part of the song musically, but it’s the last phrase of the first stanza that I keep going back to when I forget Nefesh yehudi homiyah.
The English translation of those lines (for other Hebrew illiterate readers) is “A Jewish soul is yearning” (Nefesh yehudi homiyah), and “An eye gazes towards Zion” (Ayin letziyon tzofiyah). As I’m writing this, the question I keep asking myself is whether or not I remember the latter line because it has more meaning than the former, or because it better complements the sentiment in the first line (Kol od baleivav p’nimah) “As long as in the heart, within.”
There is a real disconnect among many jews I know between their identification with Israel and their Jewish identity more generally. I’ll get into a greater discussion of this later, but many of my pro-Israel friends find it almost impossible to imagine voting for Barack Obama, and yet one friend in particular is both a Zionist and a huge Obama fan.
I’ve yet to pry further into how he justifies holding both alliances simultaneously, but there must be some kind of disconnect, considering the many ways in which Barack Obama, who I also like, has demonstrated his lack of support for Israel.
I’m not sure why I tend to remember the line about keeping an eye toward Zion more than the one about a Jewish soul yearning. Maybe it’s a more concrete statement. Maybe it’s the completion of the thought rather than one piece of it. Or maybe it’s because, having grown up a very reform Jew, I feel a connection toward my homeland, toward Zion, that far outstrips my connection to a Jewish identity more broadly defined.
