Hatikvah

"Hatikvah" (Hebrew: הַתִּקְוָה, pronounced [hatikˈva], lit. 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), then part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary. Imber wrote the first version of the poem in 1877, while the guest of a Jewish scholar in Iași, Romania. The romantic anthem's theme reflects the Jews' 2,000-year-old hope of returning to the Land of Israel, restoring it, and reclaiming it as a sovereign nation.

History

Lyrics

The text of Hatikvah was written in 1878 by Naphtali Herz Imber, a Jewish poet from Zolochiv, a city often referred to by its nickname "The City of Poets", in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, today Zolochiv, Ukraine. In the early 1880s Imber moved to Ottoman-governed Palestine (also called the Land of Israel), where lived in two or more of the first Jewish colonies. The foundation of Hatikvah is Imber's nine-stanza poem named Tikvatenu ("Our Hope"), in which Imber puts into words his thoughts and feelings following the establishment of one of the first Jewish settlements, Petah Tikva (whose name means "Opening of Hope"). Published in Imber's first book Barkai [The Shining Morning Star], Jerusalem, 1886 , the poem was subsequently adopted as an anthem by the "Hovevei Zion" and later by the Zionist Movement at the First Zionist Congress in 1897. The text was later revised by the settlers of Rishon LeZion, subsequently undergoing a number of other changes.

National anthem

A national anthem (also state anthem, national hymn, national song etc.) is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people. The majority of national anthems are either marches or hymns in style. The countries of Latin America tend towards more operatic pieces, while a handful of countries use a simple fanfare.

Languages

Although national anthems are usually in the most common language of the country, whether de facto' or official, there are notable exceptions-

States with more than one national language may offer several versions of their anthem: for instance, Switzerland's anthem has different lyrics for each of the country's four official languages (French, German, Italian and Romansh). Canada's national anthem has different lyrics in each of the country's official languages (English and French), and on some occasions is sung with a mixture of stanzas taken from its French and English versions. The Irish national anthem was written in English; an Irish translation, although never formally adopted, is now almost always sung.

Israel

Coordinates: 31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35

Israel (/ˈɪzreɪəl/ or /ˈɪzriːəl/; Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל‎ Yisrā'el; Arabic: إِسْرَائِيل‎ Isrāʼīl), officially the State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל‎ Medīnat Yisrā'el [mediˈnat jisʁaˈʔel]; Arabic: دولة إِسْرَائِيل‎ Dawlat Isrāʼīl [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a country in the Middle East, situated at the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea. It shares land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories (which are claimed by the State of Palestine and are partially controlled by Israel) comprising the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. It contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel's financial and technology center is Tel Aviv, while Jerusalem is both its self-designated capital (unrecognised by the United Nations) and its most populous individual city under the country's governmental administration. Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem is internationally disputed.