Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Nepalese Students Sing "Hevenu Shalom Aleichem"

Hevenu Shalom Aleichem is such a popular Hebrew song that it's sung all over the world. Over the years we've shared videos of it being performed in Indonesia, by Mayan children in Guatemala, and in a Korean musical stage show. 

Among the 22 versions that we've posted you'll find it in France, India, and in an Irish pub in Phoenix.

So we weren't too surprised to come across another rendition of this song by students in Nepal. It's coupled with them singing Shabbat Shalom.

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Hinei Ma Tov with a Brazilian/Argentinian Twist

Yzreel and Fanny are from Brazil and Argentina. They have lived in Israel since June 2021 and have created a YouTube channel on which they share their family Aliya experience and content related to Israel. 

They upload videos every week about the weekly Torah portion and Biblical and Modern Hebrew classes. They do not seem to be affiliated with any organization.

Here is their version of Hinei Ma Tov. Enjoy!

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Tumbalalaika Around the World: A Yiddish Jazz Version by Sharon Brauner in Leipzig, Germany

The Yiddish folk love song Tumbalalaika originated in Eastern Europe in the 19th century, but its exact origin is hard to pinpoint. That hasn't prevented it from being sung and played over and over, not only in places where Yiddish songs are sung, but just about everywhere in the world, in vocal and instrumental versions, in cabarets and in the movies.

Just as we have followed the songs Hava Nagila, Adon Olam, Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, and Abanibi as they took different forms as interpreted by a wide variety of singers, musicians, and dancers, we're continuing the series today that we started back in 2012, bringing you many interpretations of this universal courting and love song. 

The company J. Ariowitsch was one of the leading companies in the Leipzig smoked goods trade in the Weimar Republic. Now their building is a center for Jewish culture in Germany. Numerous cultural events, concert and reading series, exhibitions, lectures and seminars take place here every year.

Last week Sharon Brauner, Karsten Troyke, Daniel Weltlinger & Harry Ermer performed a live concert of Jewish music at Ariowitsch-Haus in Leipzig, including their version of Tumbalalaika.

Born in West Berlin in 1969, Brauner attended a musical school and took a job as a bouncer, bartender, and go-go dancer in Berlin's trendy clubs. Then she studied acting at the Lee Strasberg institute in New York while singing jazz standards at night in various clubs.

Brauner launched a singing career, and dedicated herself to popularizing Yiddish classics that she knew from her childhood. She reinterpreted the songs, some of which are centuries old, in swing, jazz and pop, Balkan polka, Arab arabesques, South American rhythms, reggae, waltz, country, and tango elements. The songs captured the joy and the soul of the music.

Enjoy!

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Nissim Black Merges Hip-Hop with Hasidic Finery in "Mothaland Bounce"

Mothaland Bounce is Nissim Black's latest hip-hop production. It's definitely not your typical Jewish song.

But as Henry Abramson wrote for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,

Fans of mainstream Jewish music may find Nissim Black’s latest single “Mothaland Bounce” jarring and alien, but they’re just not listening with an ear to the rhythm of Jewish history.

Set against the aural backdrop of an African basso profundo beat, and framed by scenes of gritty urban blight, the popular African-American-Israeli Hasidic artist boldly intones his rap-staccato credo in a manner that’s hard to square with his woolen tzitzit, long Polish bekishe and towering shtreimel.

Nissim Baruch Black (born Damian Jamohl Black) is an American rapper and producer from Seattle, Washington. Originally performing under the name D.Black, he released two albums, The Cause and Effect (2006) and Ali'yah (2009), and was featured on producer Jake One's debut album White Van Music (2008). 

He retired in 2010 to focus on his conversion to Orthodox Judaism, but returned in 2013 under his Hebrew name, Nissim, and began writing from a more positive standpoint.In 2016, he collaborated with Gad Elbaz on the song "Hashem Melech 2.0". The song was an instant hit peaking at #3 on iTunes world charts and over 350,000 Total downloads. 

In the fall of 2016, Nissim went on to release his single "A Million Years", which hit more than 1 million views on YouTube in one month. He followed up with his hit song "Fly Away" and the release of his latest LP "Lemala" in spring of 2017. Since then Nissim has been touring the world with dates in USA, Canada, Israel, Germany, Brazil, UK, South Africa, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and more. 

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Mezinke Wedding Dance in Bulgarian Swimming Pool

The Mezinke dance is a dance done at Ashkenazi weddings when a youngest child is married off, after all of the elder siblings are already married.

The parents, siblings and their spouses take part (there are both mixed and separate versions). Each dancer is armed with an ornate tinsel-decorated broom and dustpan. With these festive implements, they mime sweeping the youngest child out of the door as the dance music rises to a joyous, frenzied tempo.

The origins of the Mezinke dance are obscure, but it appears to be a Chasidic custom. There are obviously a number of politically correct reasons not to do the Mezinke dance - it may hurt the feelings of guests who have older, unmarried children, and it suggests that the parents are, heaven forbid, delighted to be offloading their youngest child.

We never expected to see the dance performed, minus the broom and dustpan, in a swimming pool in Bulgaria. But that's exactly where the video below was recorded and posted by folk dance teacher Ira Weisburd.

Enjoy!

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Hava Nagila Around the World - Sabbathsong Klezmer Band in Budapest Concert

One of the joys of posting videos on Jewish Humor Central is discovering new versions of traditional Jewish and Hebrew songs as they are performed around the world, often in unexpected places.

Since we started Jewish Humor Central ten years ago we have posted 80 different versions of Hava Nagila. The song has shown up in many countries, including some unexpected ones (Scroll down the left column on this page and click on "Hava Nagila" in the Keywords list and you'll see what we mean.)

Today we're posting a version of Hava Nagila that was performed at the 2019 New Year's Concert in Budapest, Hungary by the Sabbathsong Klezmer Band.

As Tamas Masa, founder of the group, explains on its website,

Our band started in 1998 at the closing ceremony of Chief Rabbi László Deutsch in a small synagogue in Budapest, where we performed our beloved Israeli songs in gratitude. The chief rabbi then said a prophecy in the book of Isaiah (Isaiah) that "comfort, comfort my people ...", which has been accompanying our actions ever since, is said to be the foundation of our work.

In our repertoire, besides the Eastern European klezmer, Yiddish and Israeli traditional and. modern songs and dances also play an important role. Our aim, beyond a high-level interpretation of the melodies of Judaism, is to return to the spiritual root and source of these songs, the reality of the Bible. That's why we got the slogan: "More than klezmer."

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: A Wild Rosh Hashanah in Uman, Ukraine

Rosh Hashanah in Uman, Ukraine is an event that takes place annually over the Jewish New Year. It attracts over 60,000 people from around the world, from all different religious and non religious backgrounds - all coming together to celebrate Rosh Hashanah together at the resting place of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. 

As Yossi Katz wrote last year on the Breslov.com website,

Not too long ago, Breslover Chassidim were so ridiculed that they were often compelled to hide their affiliation. When their friends and neighbors would hear that the Chassidim were willing to pay thousands of dollars to travel halfway across the globe to a backward town in the Ukraine for Rosh Hashanah, leaving their wives behind, they would loudly conclude that the Breslovers had lost their minds altogether.

How times have changed. Today upwards of 60,000 Jews, including many prominent rabbis, politicians, intellectuals and celebrities, join the annual pilgrimage to Uman for Rebbe Nachman’s Rosh Hashanah gathering. Many who are not Breslover chassidim come for a once in a lifetime spiritual boost, only to discover that they can’t fathom spending Rosh Hashanah anywhere else. What is the allure of Uman?

To describe Rosh Hashanah in Uman to the unaffiliated is nearly impossible—but I’ll give you a glimpse. Imagine the schlep of a lifetime. You pack your bags with whatever modern amenities you can squeeze in for a weeklong plunge into a country where most people are still living in the eighteenth century. Then you board one (or more) overbooked flights to Kiev filled with ecstatic Chassidim.

You immediately notice that your fellow Jewish travelers seem to have nothing in common. They hail from every conceivable background—young, old, rich, poor, religious, secular, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and everything else. There is, however, one common denominator—they are all spiritual seekers. While some may be great “ovdei Hashem” and pious Chassidim, others are just simple Yidden whose lives haven’t turned out as planned. They, too, make the trek to Uman, hopeful for a new year and a new lease on life.

After the plane lands, there’s a three-hour shared van ride from Kiev to Uman. You peer through the window at a Ukraine that is a mix of ancient and modern, of horses and buggies alongside Mercedes SUVs, of dilapidated huts leaning on soaring skyscrapers. No doubt the awkward drive to Uman causes one to slowly let go of his day-to-day “norm” and expectations. Personally, I feel transported out of my perceived reality and into something entirely unknown. These feelings are replicated when I arrive in Uman. As I stare at the unremarkable streets and houses, I think, “How in the world am I going to spend an entire week in this place? What am I doing here?” But sure enough, at the end of this year’s voyage, I once again marvel how time flew by so quickly.

Meir Kalmanson has been posting funny Jewish videos on YouTube under the name Meir Kay. An Orthodox Jewish filmmaker from Brooklyn, his aim is to spread "happiness and positivity. In this video from last year's pilgrimage to Uman, Meir Kay gives us an up close and personal view of what it's like to travel to Uman and be among the multitudes celebrating the run-up to Rosh Hashanah in the streets of the ancient city.
 
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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Inside Nigeria's Jewish Community

There are currently 26 synagogues of various sizes in Nigeria. An estimated 30,000 Igbos were practicing some form of Judaism in 2008.

Some Nigerian communities with Judaic practices have been receiving help from individual Israelis and American Jews who work in Nigeria, out-reach organizations like Kulanu, and African-American Jewish communities in America. Jews from outside Nigeria founded two synagogues in Nigeria, which are attended and maintained by Igbos. Because no formal census has been taken in the region, the number of Igbos in Nigeria who identify as either Israelites or Jews is not known. 

Seven years ago we posted a portion of a documentary called Re-emerging: The Jews of Nigeria.

The Israeli TV Station i24 News recently broadcast an update on the Jews of Nigeria. Here is their video on the subject.

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Hava Nagila Around the World: Yoonseok Lee Plays Onstage in South Korea

Harmonica music is not usually performed by a solo performer in concert. Its unique style is not only present in original compositions but throughout many different genres.

Yoonseok Lee, a Korean harmonica virtuoso, has a repertoire that ranges from popular and folk music to original compositions and contemporary music, from Bach to the Beatles.

And now he has incorporated Hava Nagila into his recitals.

Born in 1992 in South Korea, Yoonseok Lee started learning the harmonica at the age of 11 and majored in musicology at the Seoul National University where he graduated in 2017. In 2012, he gave his first public recital and orchestral debut.

In this video, Yoonseok Lee plays Hava Nagila with piano accompaniment. 

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