Ufaratza!

Woke up with a spirited Jewish song in my head, "Ufaratza," a song we sang/shouted on a weekly basis at Camp Shalom every summer of my childhood. Above, some amazing footage of Chasidic rabbis singing the song in the 1970s.

The song is based on the Old Testament verse in Genesis (28:14) in which god tells Jacob that his people will spread out like the dust of the earth, to the west, east, north, and south, and that all people will be blessed by this spreading out. In the most Zionist/evangelical interpretation, this is a mandate for the Jewish people to populate the entirety of Israel. Thankfully, I grew up quite liberal/secular, and so my own meaning from the song is simply an affirmation of the Jewish diaspora, that our people and culture have spread out throughout the world, and that this sharing of culture is a benefit to all humans.

In looking up this song, I came across a great progressive Jewish blog, written by Rabbi Jared Saks. Here are some of his thoughts on the teaching in the song. His blog entry also includes a new interpretation of the song, reggae-style.

Artist/Year: unknown (Saks credits Avi Maslo with the original song, but I'm not sure that's correct. Anyone know?)
Rating: Warm

Tumbalalaika

An old Russian-Yiddish folk tune that only came into my life a few months ago. My sister Jodi requested it for our family songbook at the annual retreat in Monterey this year. I didn't get to adding it this time, but this mournful/hopeful love song still resonates. See a translation here.

Artist: The Barry Sisters
Year: Unknown, c. 1920s-1930s; Barry Sisters version, c. 1940s.
Rating: Warm

Tzena Tzena Tzena

No idea why this Israeli folk song was in my head this morning. Its melody is most familiar to me, because it was repurposed as the Camp Shalom alma mater that I sang on an almost daily basis every summer of my life from age five til my early twenties. The above version is by the Wellingtons from 1964.

The most popular version of the song was the Weavers' spin, in which the simple Hebrew lyrics (encouraging the girls to go find a good army man) were replaced by English words with an entirely different narrative (about dancing and celebrating in the city square). The web search for this song yields some surprisingly wonderful results, including an Arlo Guthrie rendition in which he riffs, in signature trickster style, on the "Gaelic" language in the song, and even a cover of the Weaver's version by trashpop icon Mink Stole and L.A. drag queen Vicky Boofont! Enjoy 'em.

Artists: The Wellingtons, 1964; The Weavers, 1950; Arlo Guthrie, c. 1978; Mink Stole/Vicky Boofont, 2005.
Written by: Issachar Miron, c. 1941; English lyrics by Gordon Jenkins
Rating: Warm

Boi Kallah

This old Camp favorite entered my mind the other day. Can't find a link to the whole song, but here's a snippet for you from Brooklyn-based Jewish singer and educator Shira Kline.

A transliteration of the Hebrew is: Boi Kallah/Lecha dodi, likrat kala, p’ney shabbat n'kablah which means "Welcome the bride. Come my beloved, my bride." It's a Shabbat song, welcoming the "Sabbath bride," or Shekhinah, the divine presence of god, to consecrate the Sabbath. Fascinating metaphor, to welcome god as a "bride" and in a feminine form. Anyone know more about this concept?

Year: unknown
Rating: Warm