Religion:Am Yisrael Chai

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Short description: Jewish solidarity anthem

Am Yisrael Chai (Hebrew: עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי; lit. The people of Israel live) is a Jewish solidarity anthem and a widely used expression of Jewish peoplehood and an affirmation of the continuity of the Jewish people. The phrase gained popularity during the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, when Jewish songwriter Shlomo Carlebach composed the song for the movement's 1965 solidarity rally in New York City.

The Forward has placed "Am Yisrael Chai" second only to Hatikvah, the national anthem of Israel, as "an anthem of the Jewish people".

History

Am Yisrael Chai graffiti in Tel Aviv

In the circa 1938 songbook Songs of My People, compiled in Chicago, appears the song "Am Yisrael Chai". The lyrics are the words "Am Yis-ra-el, am Yis-ra-el chai. [/] Am-cha Yis-ra-el chai," in varying order.[1]

According to Professor Monty Penkower of the Lander Institute, after the Holocaust, Jews around the world embraced the Zionist thesis that Jewish powerlessness had to undergo a radical transformation if the Holocaust were not to be repeated. Most Holocaust survivors had little doubts about Jewish sovereignty in Palestine. On April 20, 1945, five days after the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was liberated, British Army chaplain Rabbi Leslie Hardman led a Friday evening Shabbat service for a few hundred survivors at the camp. Knowing the service was being recorded by Patrick Walker of the BBC radio service, a Jewish army chaplain proclaimed "Am Yisrael chai!, the children of Israel still liveth" after the group sung the Zionist anthem Hatikvah at the conclusion of the service.[2][3][4]

The front of the stage of a concert in Munich in 1945 or 1946 by the St. Ottilien Ex-Concentration Camp Orchestra displayed the words "Am Yisrael chai".[5]

Carlebach song

The phrase gained popular use in 1965, when Jewish songwriter Shlomo Carlebach composed "Am Yisrael Chai" as the solidarity anthem the Soviet Jewry movement at the request of Solomon Birnbaum, founder of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry. Carlebach and Birnbaum knew each other, and their respective grandfathers had met at the First Zionist Congress in 1897 in Basel. By 1965, Carlebach was already popular for his melodies put to Hebrew prayers, and Birnbaum reached out to him in the hopes of composing a song ahead of a planned major SSSJ rally in front of the Soviet Mission to the United Nations in New York on April 4, 1965.[6]

While in Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia, Carlebach wrote and first performed "Am Yisrael Chai" before a group of youth in Prague. On April 2, 1965, Carlebach phoned Birnbaum with news that the song was completed. Carlebach publicly performed the song for the first time at rally on April 4. The song became the centerpiece of the SSSJ's annual solidarity rally between 1972 and 1991.[6][7]

According to musicologist Tina Frühauf, Carlebach's lyrics evoke a sense of the Jewish nation, Jewish survival, and an affirmation of Jewish identity.[8] Birnbaum interpreted the song's dominant phrase to signify "a rebirth of Jewish life, including music" in the post-Holocaust world.[6]

It is the final song of Soul Doctor, a Broadway musical about Carlebach's life.[8]

Contemporary use

The song and its core phrase widely became a defiant expression and affirmation of Jewish continuity, especially during times of war and heightened antisemitism.[9] The song was sung on the second day of the Six Day War and at the end of the Yom Kippur War.[10]

It is often used by the Jewish diaspora to express support and solidarity with Israel, such as during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[10][better source needed] In 2009, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inscribed the words "Am Yisrael Chai" in the guestbook of the Wannsee Villa in Berlin.[11] US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield uttered the phrase at an Israel solidarity rally during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[12]

On October 17, 2023, in the aftermath of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, popular Hasidic Jewish singer Benny Friedman released a song called "Am Yisrael Chai" to capture the spirit of the Jewish people during the war.[13] Jewish a cappella groups Maccabeats, Y-Studs, and Six13 released Avinu SheBashamayim as a reaction to the attacks, ending with the words "Am Yisrael Chai."[14]

Composition

Hebrew[15] Transliteration English
עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי (repeat 3x)
עוֹד אָבִינוּ חַי (repeat 3x) 		Am yisrael chai
od avinu chai 		The people of Israel live,
our Father still lives!

The song's lyrics are derived from Genesis 45:3, "Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?'" (Hebrew: הַעוֹד אָבִי חַי‎)[16] Carlebach added the words "Am Yisrael Chai" (the nation of Israel lives) and, for the song's refrain, changed the words "is my father still alive" to "our father still lives" (Hebrew: עוֹד אָבִינוּ חַי‎)[17] in a possible reference to the Jewish tradition that "Jacob/Israel did not die." According to musicologist Tina Frühauf, Carlebach changed the reference from Joseph's father to God, "as the father of the children of Israel."[8]

Legacy

During the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, The Forward, a major Jewish news organization, placed "Am Yisrael Chai" second only to Hatikvah, the national anthem of Israel, as "an anthem of the Jewish people".[6] Judaic scholar Arnold Eisen has called "Am Yisrael Chai" the "civil religion" of American Jewry.[18]

In 2023, Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, debuted a 50-meter-long mural titled Am Yisrael Chai that covers 4,000 years of Jewish history.[19]

References

  1. ↑ Coopersmith, Harry (1937). Songs of My People - שירי עמי. Chicago: Anshe Emet Synagogue. pp. 153–4. https://archive.org/details/songsofmypeopleandprayersandreadingscoopersmithandgoldman1938/Songs%20of%20My%20People%20%28Harry%20Coopersmith%201938%29/page/n161/mode/2up. 
  2. ↑ Penkower, Monty Noam (2021). After the Holocaust. Academic Studies Press. ISBN 9781644696811. https://books.google.com/books?id=sLFFEAAAQBAJ&dq=Am+Yisrael+Chai+bergen+belsen&pg=PT12. Retrieved 16 January 2024. 
  3. ↑ Doroudian, Milad (2014-09-14). "Am Yisrael Chai: The Story Behind The Bergen-Belsen Recording". Jewish Journal. https://www.commentary.org/articles/meir-soloveichik/bergen-belsen-hatikvah-israel/. 
  4. ↑ Soloveichik, Meir (May 2021). "The Nation of the Dry Bones". Commentary. https://www.commentary.org/articles/meir-soloveichik/bergen-belsen-hatikvah-israel/. 
  5. ↑ Bohus, Kata (2020). Our Courage – Jews in Europe 1945–48. De Gruyter Oldenbourg. p. 207. ISBN 978-3110649208. https://books.google.com/books?id=wrH8DwAAQBAJ&dq=am+yisrael+chai+1945&pg=PA207. Retrieved 20 November 2023. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Rosenblatt, Gary (2023-11-03). "'Am Yisrael Chai' has become an anthem for the Jewish people — but where did it come from?". The Forward. https://forward.com/culture/568200/am-yisrael-chai-jewish-anthem/. 
  7. ↑ Bensoussan, Barbara (2011-12-28). "Rallying Cry". Mishpacha. https://mishpacha.com/rallying-cry/. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Frühauf, Tina (12 June 2018). Experiencing Jewish Music in America: A Listener's Companion. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 90. ISBN 978-1442258396. https://books.google.com/books?id=PupXDwAAQBAJ&dq=am+yisrael+chai&pg=PA90. Retrieved 9 October 2023. 
  9. ↑ "Am Yisrael Chai". Jewish English Lexicon. https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/2358. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Jewish Diaspora expresses solidarity with Israel amidst attacks". Jerusalem Post. 2023-10-07. https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-762121. 
  11. ↑ Brackman, Levi (2009-01-09). "Meaning of Am Yisrael Chai". Ynet News. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3769384,00.html. 
  12. ↑ Magid, Jacob (2023-10-12). "Biden's UN envoy at Israel solidarity rally: 'Never again' is now. Am Yisrael Chai'". Times of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/bidens-un-envoy-at-israel-solidary-rally-never-again-is-now-am-yisrael-chai/. 
  13. ↑ "Benny Friedman Releases 'Am Yisrael Chai'". Collive. 2023-10-17. https://collive.com/benny-friedman-releases-am-yisrael-chai/. 
  14. ↑ Zaltzman, Lior (2023-10-27). "The Maccabeats, Y-Studs and Six13 Band Together for a Song About Israel". Kveller. https://www.kveller.com/the-maccabeats-y-studs-and-six13-band-together-for-a-song-about-israel/. 
  15. ↑ "Am Yisrael Chai". Zemirot Database. https://www.zemirotdatabase.org/view_song.php?id=383. 
  16. ↑ "Genesis 45". https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.45.3. 
  17. ↑ "The revolution is not over, says Neshama Carlebach". Jewish Telegraphic Agency (Times of Israel). 2013-10-23. https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-revolution-is-not-over-says-neshama-carlebach/. 
  18. ↑ Eisen, Arnold (June 2019). "Boomers, Millennials and the Shape of American Judaism". Contemporary Jewry 39 (2): 345. doi:10.1007/s12397-019-09297-z. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45217163. Retrieved 18 October 2023. 
  19. ↑ "Mural titled 'Am Yisrael Chai' unveiled at Ben-Gurion Airport". Jerusalem Post. 2023-06-20. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-746916. 

External links

  • Entry in the Jewish English Lexicon dictionary



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