Hatikvah The Hope
National anthem of Israel · Hebrew, Russian, English in progress
"Hatikvah", "The Hope", began as an 1878 Hebrew poem by Naftali Herz Imber and became the anthem of the State of Israel in 1948. This sheet holds three layers: the canonical Hebrew, Olga Anikina's 2017 Russian poetic adaptation sung by Elechka, and line-by-line English so everyone can follow along.
נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה,
וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח קָדִימָה,
עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה;
הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם,
לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ,
אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם.
A Jewish soul still yearns
And toward the eastern edges onward
An eye still watches toward Zion
The hope of two thousand years
To be a free people in our land
The land of Zion and Jerusalem
Сердце хранит свой древний закон
Вечно душа моя рвётся сюда
Где на востоке стоит Сион
Двадцать веков её мы храним
Будет свободным мой народ
Там где Сион Иерусалим
Будет свободным мой народ
Там где Сион Иерусалим
О душа крылатая моя
Взглядом надежды смотрю я вдаль
Аин ле Цион цофия
Двадцать веков её мы храним
Будет свободным мой народ
Эрец Цион Ерушалаим
Будет свободным мой народ
Эрец Цион Ерушалаим
The heart keeps its ancient law
Forever my soul reaches here
Where in the east stands Zion
Twenty centuries we have guarded it
My people will be free
There where Zion is Jerusalem
My people will be free
There where Zion is Jerusalem
O my winged soul
With a glance of hope I look into the distance
Ayin le Tzion tzofiya
Twenty centuries we have guarded it
My people will be free
Eretz Tzion Yerushalaim
My people will be free
Eretz Tzion Yerushalaim
Talk about it, then sing it
"Hatikvah" means "The Hope." It is the hope of a people who, even after being scattered for two thousand years, kept looking toward one place: Zion and Jerusalem. The melody was arranged by Samuel Cohen around 1888 from a folk tune of his Bessarabian childhood, part of a European folk family that includes Smetana's "The Moldau."
1. What does "Hatikvah" mean in English? The Hope.
2. How many years of hope does the song name? Two thousand years.
3. In what year did it become Israel's national anthem? 1948.
Activity: Draw the thing you most hope for, then sing the Hebrew refrain together and talk about what hope means to your family.