ISRAEL’S NATIONAL ANTHEM
About 70 years after the birth of Messiah, Titus led his Roman soldiers in their destruction of Jerusalem. Many of the Jews were carried away as captives and scattered around the world.
During the two thousand years of exile, the Jewish people always kept a heartfelt prayer in their hearts to be able to return to the Land of Israel. They said special daily prayers for return and they celebrated the holidays according to the feasts of the Lord given in the Torah.
When the Jewish people pray, their eyes, hearts and prayers are directed toward Israel and Jerusalem. For many long painful years, the land of Israel was in the hands of foreigners. The Jews who lived in the Land of Promise were not free, yet their hope for freedom and independence never died. “Hatikvah”, which means “The Hope”, recalls the undying hope of the Jewish people throughout the generations, both Jews who lived in other countries and Jews who had remained in The Land.
Whenever we sing Hatikvah, we are doing much more than just singing a nice song. In honor of Yom HaZikaron, Memorial Day, and Yom HaAtzma’ut, Israel’s Independence Day, let us endeavor to do all we can to bring the good news to the Jewish people, both in the Land and around the world. The everlasting Hope, Messiah Yeshua, has indeed come to truly set His people free.
HATIKVAH (The Hope)Kol od balevav p’nimahNefesh Yehudi homiyahUlfa’atey mizrach kadimahAyin l’tzion tzofiyahOd lo avdah tikvatenuHatikvah bat shnot alpayimL’hiyot am chofshi b’artzenuEretz Tzion v’Yerushalayim
As long as deep in the heart,The soul of a Jew yearns,And forward to the EastTo Zion, an eye looksOur hope will not be lost,The hope of two thousand years,To be a free nation in our land,The land of Zion and Jerusalem.May 2011