Torah Study Blog

When the State of Israel was established in 1948, “HaTikva” became the unofficial national anthem. It was not until 2004 that the song became the official anthem of Israel. The lyrics are:

As long as in the heart within,

The Jewish soul yearns,

And toward the eastern edges, onward,

An eye gazes toward Zion.

Our hope is not yet lost,

The hope that is two thousand years old,

To be a free nation in our land,

The Land of Zion, Jerusalem.

You can hear a version from the Teapacks & Sarit Hadad here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFs2ecvwmt8

Rabbi Roberts shared with us information that she learned from Professor Dalia Marks of Hebrew Union College about the anthem, the title of which translates into English as, “The Hope.”

The anthem was inspired by a 1878 poem called Tikvatenu, or “Our Hope” by Naphtali Herz Imber, a Polish, Jewish poet.

The first stanza of the poem reads:

Our hope is not yet lost,

The ancient hope,

To return to the land of our fathers;

The city where David encamped.

“Our hope is not yet lost” comes from Ezekiel 37 – with one major change. The line from Ezekiel says, “Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone: we are doomed.” (Ezekiel 37:11) The poem says, no! Our hope is not yet lost!

The imagery in Ezekiel 37 is fabulous and worth reading, but I will paraphrase it for you now: God took Ezekiel by the hand and brought him to a valley that was full of dry bones. God asked Ezekiel if the bones can live again and Ezekiel answered, “Only You know.” God tells Ezekiel to say over the bones, “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus said the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live again. I will lay sinews upon you, and cover you with flesh, and form skin over you. And I will put breath into you, and you shall live again, and you shall know that I am the Lord!… Suddenly there was a sound of rattling, and the bones came together, bone to matching bone… The breath entered them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, a vast multitude.” The bones say, “Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone; we are doomed.” Then God tells the bones he will bring them back to Israel where they “shall live again, and I will set you upon your own soil.”

The imagery is so vivid that it inspired a song which you can hear the Delta Rhythm Boys version of here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVoPG9HtYF8&start_radio=1&list=RDmVoPG9HtYF8

The prophet Ezekiel lived from approximately 622 to 570 BCE. He saw the Babylonian destruction of Israel and could have seen a valley full of massacred people. The Babylonians were known to force deportations of people after conquering a city, which is why God promised to bring the bones back to Israel.

These old, dry bones are resurrected! Or are they? Scholars believe this chapter should be read metaphorically. Ezekiel was talking about the House of Israel living again; not actual resurrection of dead people. And the prophecy is correct because the Babylonian exile lasted about 50 years, but then the Persians defeated the Babylonians and the Israelites were invited to go back to their homeland.

In 1885 in the US, leaders of the Reform movement met to state their platform. There is nothing that is required or that you have to agree with, it is just what they have to say. The platform specifically states that they reject the idea of bodily resurrection. Why? It doesn’t make sense. The late 19^th century was a time of scientific advances and rationality.

The final lines of the anthem say, “The hope that is two thousand years old, To be a free nation in our land, The Land of Zion, Jerusalem.” The late 19^th century was also a time of the first wave of Jewish people making aliyah to Israel. Around this time, France, Spain, Germany and Italy declared statehood. Jews wanted statehood, too – this was a movement. For 19+ centuries, Israelites had been evicted from their land. The people who returned were not seeking a deeper religious experience. They were secular Jews who didn’t want to wait for God anymore – they were taking the land back themselves. And this may be one reason that God is not mentioned in the Israeli national anthem.

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misquotes or misunderstandings in what Rabbi Roberts taught us are the responsibility of Tara Keiter