you have opened up a big subject… curious to see the responses.
well, as a parent in the school next year, and since I was asked to do the Convocation at said [and very moving, beautiful] graduation last night, I can promise there will be work around singing the Hatikvah, such as a prayer for peace. One of the good things that has come out of the flotilla event (sorry, I said it) in the Jewish community is creative, serious liturgy and prayers for peace being said across synagogues. personally, it is somewhat refreshing to hear Hatikvah sung – curious how that became this school’s tradition.

I was thinking the same thing!!! While I was singing last night I was thinking how much I missed being at school, which is really my only connection to being Jewish these days. And then in the middle, I wondered what other people were thinking about it, who felt it was inappropriate (for flotilla and non-flotilla reasons), and who was outright offended, if anyone. We have often brought up whether to sing either the Star Spangled Banner or America the Beautiful, not just at graduation, but other all school assemblies. I think that under GWB we were turned off by it- we were so dejected with what being American meant to the rest of the world. This was never stated outright- it is just my perception. So that may have been the start of it. Amy, were either part of assemblies when you were last teaching here? I vaguely remember Sandy feeling it was really important to do both, but now I can’t remember…

A certain parent (won’t mention names on line, but his daughter just graduated from high school) made quite a stink about the kids learning Hatikvah before they learned the Star Spangled Banner at school. I have to admit, I agreed with him (perhaps for the first time ever.) In first grade, I teach easier American songs – God Bless America and My Country Tis of Thee – but I think knowing the pledge and the national anthem are an important part of cultural literacy for Americans. And I think it’s a mistaken message to only honor Israel and not America at school gatherings. But I can’t really recall what we did in the “old days.”

I don’t think I can remember ANY occasion I’ve been at, here in the NY area, where Hatikva has been sung without the Star Spangled Banner. It’s something everyone is very careful about. Sometimes the SSB is sung at the start, and Hatikva at the end.

Is singing Hatikvah and not the Star Spangled Banner any worse than those Jewish parents living in America who opt to give their children YIDDISH, rather than English or Hebrew, first names on their birth certificates?
English is the language of America; Hebrew is the ritual language of Jewry & the state language of Israel. Such names make sense. But Yiddish? To give a Jewish child – in America or Israel- a Yiddish name is anti-American and/or anti-Zionist.

I can’t say I really get the analogy. My feeling is that a song at a public event is a public matter, and choosing a name for one’s child is a highly personal matter. Many people name to honor loved ones, and I think it’s lovely when those names live on for many generations.

I believe that singing both national anthems is wonderful for the diaspora. Yes, we live in America, but we need to feel the connection to Israel as well. I assumer that the children learn about Israel regarding history, culture, etc, therefore, singing Hatikvah continues the connection. As well, the children learning Hatikvah helps to make the children comfortable in their Jewish skin when attending functions where the national anthem will be sung. I cannot tell you how many functions I have been to and people are floundering for the words, making them uncomfortable Jewishly, and some even embarrassed.
Shabbat Shalom

Yup – they probably should have sung both or neither. Still, as Jews, there’s not much we all agree on and yet Hatikvah does seems to be (the?) one song that spans denominations and brings out Jewish pride.
I don’t know if it necessarily has anything to do with Israel. Okay, everybody knows it’s the Israeli national anthem. But how many actually understand all the words – or the fact that expressing a “longing of two thousand years” to be in another land might appear on the surface just a tad disloyal to our welcoming homes here in North America?
Anyway. It’s hard to think of another song that raises the same emotions that everybody might (kind of) know the words to. ))

Well, it might be worth noting that the poem was written in 1878, that it was put to music sometime in the decade following and was used as a Zionist anthem long before the Balfour Declaration… Possibly this raises the question of whether we Jews relate to the Zionist (utopian?) idea as a general statement, regardless of its current status as the national anthem of another country?
While a nice theory, I’m realistic in that most of the organizers of these events are not giving the issue this much consideration. Having taught in several Hebrew School settings, I know that teaching Zionism is one of the curricular goals of most non-Haredi schools in the US. Many T’fillah and/or Shira classes end with the recitation of Hatikvah as a matter of routine, so including it in an end-of-year celebration is not inappropriate, and the students all know the song, even if their parents and teachers don’t…
For other generally Jewish events without a Zionist bent however, I don’t know that Hatikvah is an appropriate choice. The only reason to choose it in this type of setting is for its general universality – American Jews often can sing (or at least recognize) Hatikvah, even if they know no other songs or prayers in Hebrew or Yiddush.
An interesting tidbit from Wikipedia:
When the State of Israel was established in 1948, Hatikvah was unofficially proclaimed the national anthem. However, it did not officially become the national anthem until November 2004, when it was sanctioned by the Knesset in an amendment to the Flag and Coat-of-Arms Law (now renamed the Flag, Coat-of-Arms, and National Anthem Law).
In its modern rendering, the official text of the anthem incorporates only the first stanza and refrain of the original poem. The predominant theme in the remaining stanzas is the establishment of a sovereign and free nation in the Land of Israel, a hope largely seen as fulfilled with the founding of the State of Israel.
Shabbat Shalom!

I think that both Hatikvah and the anthem of the country
of residence , in my case, Canada should be sung.
And for those of us who dont know all the words,
how about publishing them here?

Just as a personal comment, I have attended many small events in which only a Jewish audience had been invited, and the Hatikvah when sung, often brought many to tears. It is a reminder of our struggles as Jewish people to finally see a homeland become a reality, an homage to the millions slaughterd in the Holacaust, a unique pride in our heritage.
In those gatherings there was no National Anthem of the U.S. sung.
When, however, we are aware that the audience is filled with peoples of various denominations, it is only our show of respect that should cause us to include, as well as our pride in living as citizens of this country, the national anthem of the United States. In which order these Anthems occur, do not particularly matter. In this, we acknowledge that we are living together,here,in this moment,& striving together with understanding and respect, for a better tomorrow. – Claire Cameron, daughter of the late Rabbi Edward Shapiro.

Yes, have Hatikvah but also have the Star Spangled Banner. Both are important.

Having attended Jewish day school from K-12 I grew up singing both… at EVERY assembly… especially after Sept. 11. The way I remember it, we always sang the Star Spangled Banner at the beginning of the Assembly and Hatikvah to close. I feel singing both is appropriate. It recognizes both where we are and who we are. Just my 2 cents.

I don’t know the lyrics too Oh Canada very well, but the lyrics to Hatikvah are linked in the original post, in Hebrew and English-

i’m with you on the need for both. just like on the bima of our synagogue, we have an american flag and an israeli flag. both.

Every Jewish event I’ve ever been to in Canada both anthems are sung.

here a patriotic song for the USA (almost always the National Anthem) and Hatikvah is sung as it should be. The school is dreadfully wrong!

actually it has nothing to do with israel – it’s all a smetanic plot to pay eternal homage to a river.
just thank god it wasn’t hanuka and you didnt have to do maoz tzur – a song nobody – but NOBODY – understands, even aramaic experts say it’s been yiddishized.

I’m with Laura & you the school is wrong! The National anthem (Star Spangle Banner) should be song first than Hatikvah. It’s as simple as that.

As Rabbi Riqi said–you opened up a BIG subject. If, as Cantor Risa Askin stated: “Yes, we live in America, but we need to feel the connection to Israel as well”, Jews feel dual connections, that would be OK in my view. The problem comes in with the subject of divided loyalties–an accusation that Jews have had thrown at them for a couple of thousand years.
If Jews are going to live in the Diaspora outside of Israel (which has been a permanent thing since the Babylonian exile), then they need to sing the Hatikva AND their national anthem and celebrate both connections.

I like the idea of a prayer for Israel and a prayer for America better than anthems, except for the “Marseillaise.”I think “Hatikva” would sound better in converted to a major tonality whereas the Star Spangled Banner would have a little more dignity if moved into a minor. And the music would express the meaning and mood of each song better.
I really don’t like any focus on Israel other than that of American defender of Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign nation and Jewish homeland. It would be nice if Reform Jews in Israel had equal protection under the law for their form of Judaism — in Israel. I don’t think a convinced Reform Jew could ever be accused of dual loyalty, except if pogroms began in the U.S., but I guess that’s the point, isn’t it!

Count me with those that say both the Star Spangled Banner and Hatikvah should be sung. Most American Jews know just how great we have it in this country, and it is only fitting to express that at our events. As for the Challah recipes, I really don’t think Challah needs any embellishments, especially sweet ones. Not as bad as the abominable sweet bagels, but still…

Agreed, Lloyd. The challah was terrible.

Having taught in a day school for over 10 years, I feel that both should be sung. In the school where I taught, we were always careful to have both flags displayed and sing both anthems at any assembly.

Regarding the singing of “Hatikvah”. I am not at all Jewish or Israeli. Keeping in mind the great melting pot that America is, it saddens me when people from different countries too quickly or intensely abandon the culture of their own heritage. It also saddens me when they do not embrace the character of the America that has become their home. I believe the best idea is to sing both Hatikvah and America’s national anthem. After all, it is best to be thankful for both. And that is a balanced, logical way to behave.

When it’s sung on its own, I feel like it’s more of a Day School brag or show-off (and I don’t mean that as negatively as it sounds, my vocab doesn’t wake up till at least 7, lol!) – ‘look how invested in Israel we are,’ or ‘look, all of the kids who go here can sing the HaTikvah’ — as much as a nod to Israel itself.