Jewish Humor Central is a daily publication to start your day with news of the Jewish world that's likely to produce a knowing smile and some Yiddishe nachas. It's also a collection of sources of Jewish humor--anything that brings a grin, chuckle, laugh, guffaw, or just a warm feeling to readers. Our posts include jokes, satire, books, music, films, videos, food, Unbelievable But True, and In the News. Some are new, and some are classics. We post every morning, Sunday through Friday. Enjoy!
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Musical Flashback to 1960: Harry Belafonte Sings Hinei Ma Tov
Hinei Ma Tov is one of those songs, like Hava Nagila and Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, that has broken out of the world of Jewish music to achieve popularity in the general culture.
Its lyrics are the first verse of Psalm 133, which reads, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"
הִנֵּה מַה טוֹב וּמַה נָּעִים שֶׁבֶת אָחִים גַּם יַחַד
We found versions of the song in some unexpected places including Indonesia, where a college choir gave a performance that we shared here a few months ago.
In the 1977 television film Raid on Entebbe, Yonathan Netanyahu and Sammy Berg lead the Israeli commandos in singing the refrain while the commandos' plane is en route to rescue the hostages. It is also played during the closing credits.
In 1960 Harry Belafonte performed Hinei Ma Tov on a TV program in England that was captured and uploaded to YouTube. We hope you'll enjoy this version.
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I always loved him !
ReplyDeleteWikipedia says he is 88 years old
ReplyDeleteHis father was Sephardic; thus, Belafonte recorded many Jewish songs. We cannot always judge with our eyes.😏
ReplyDelete