For your amusement: Dylan's Hava Nagila

Or, in what universe did this concert take place?

Bob Dylan, Harry Dean Stanton, and Peter Himmelman perform "Hava Nagila" at the Chabad 25th Anniversary telethon.

Posted on YouTube.com with this bit of commentary:

Hava Nagila is a Hebrew folk song, the title meaning "Let us rejoice." It is a song of celebration, especially popular amongst Jewish communities. In popular culture, it is used as a metonym for Judaism, and is a staple of band performers at Jewish festivals.


In the decades after Hava Nagila first appeared, it became a world-wide fixture of Jewish life. Already in the 1920s and 1930s it was sung in Zionist circles in the United States and Europe. Soon the song was included in Jewish children's songbooks in Palestine, Europe, and North America. At the same time, cantors and Jewish folk singers began to issue commercial recordings of Hava Nagila. By the 1940s, the song had become a staple of Jewish weddings, bar mitzvahs, and youth groups, where it was sung and danced as an Israeli-style hora folk dance.

Remember, folks, you heard it here first (after the 100,000 other people who heard it first on YouTube, of course).

And don't miss:

"A Hard Day's Day: A Day in the Life of a Beatles Tribute Band."



This "A Hard Day's Night" parody features Quinton Flynn ("Metal Gear Solid", also a co-writer) and members of the L.A. tribute band The MopTops and was directed by the writer and stand-up comic Dave Kessler (www.DaveKessler.com)

If you, like Bob, Harry Dean and Peter, have never been quite sure of the lyrics to Hava Nagila, here they are:

Transliteration Hebrew Text English Translation
Hava nagila הבה נגילה Let's rejoice
Hava nagila הבה נגילה Let's rejoice
Hava nagila הבה נגילה Let's rejoice
Hava nagila הבה נגילה Let's rejoice
Venis'mecha ונשמחה And be happy
(repeat stanza once)

Hava neranenah הבה נרננה Let's sing
Hava neranenah הבה נרננה Let's sing
Hava neranenah הבה נרננה Let's sing
Venis'mecha ונשמחה And be happy
(repeat stanza once)

Uru, uru achim! !עורו, עורו אחים Awake, awake, brothers!
Uru achim b'lev sameach עורו אחים בלב שמח With a happy heart
(repeat line three times)
Uru achim, uru achim! !עורו אחים, עורו אחים Awake, brothers, awake, brothers!
B'lev sameach בלב שמח With a happy heart

Rejoice and be happy. (Or Grumpy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, Bashful or Doc, if that suits you better.)