Hevenu shalom aleichem

"Hevenu shalom aleichem" is based on the traditional greeting in Hebrew, Shalom aleichem. The three words are its only text, repeated several times. The composer of the melody is unknown,[1] however scholars assert that the tune is of Hasidic Jewish origin.[2][3][4] While perceived to be an Israeli folk song,[2] British music journalist Norman Lebrecht stated that the melody of "Hevenu shalom aleichem" originated among Hasidic Jews in Romania.[4] The Hebrew-language text of the song was added to the traditional Hasidic melody by jews in Palestine prior to the foundation of Israel in 1948.[2]

The melody of "Hevenu shalom aleichem" has been used and adapted in several classical compositions beginning in the 19th century. These include the last third of Franz Xaver Haberl's Salem Aleikum: Orientalisches Marsch-Intermezzo,[5] and the opening of the third movement of Felix Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphony.[4] The melody was later used by composer Frank Ticheli in his work Angels in the Architecture which premiered at the Sydney Opera House in 2008.[6]

The song became popular with the creation of Israel. It is well suited to be repeated often, and dance to it,[7][8] for example at Jewish weddings[8][9][10] and bar and bat mitzvah (b'nei) celebrations.[8]

According to Israeli music scholar and Israel Prize winner Eliyahu Hacohen (b. 1935), he himself had learned the lyrics back in kindergarten. Hacohen maintained that the song's melody became known in Israel through an advertisement for Salem Aleikum cigarettes in Germany, which was performed by a Turkish ensemble.[5]

The song has been adapted to be sung in many languages, such as English, "May there be peace in the world", German, "Wir wollen Frieden für alle" (We want peace for all), French, "Nous voulons paix pour le monde" (We want peace for the world), and Italian, "Vogliamo pace per tutti" (We want peace for all).[7] It became sung increasingly in Germany after the Second Vatican Council that ended in 1965, encouraging Christians and Jews to remember their common heritage.[11] It was included in Protestant hymnals in German,[11] including as No. 433 in the Evangelisches Gesangbuch[12] by the 1970s.[13] The song became popular and remains popular,[11] contained in many German songbooks, including the Mundorgel (2001).[7]

The song is in march rhythm.[8] It has been arranged for singers, choirs, bands and orchestra.

Daliah Lavi in 1966

The music has been recorded often.[14] The Israeli singer Daliah Lavi recorded the song in Germany in 1974, to open her album I'm Israeli – I'm A Sabra;[15] it was reissued in 2022. With James Last and his orchestra, she appeared in a 1975 series of the popular Starparade. Adon Olam recorded the song in 1999 in a collection of most popular melodies from Israel.[14] The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra included it, as part of a medley, in a collection Jewish Wedding Songs.[9] The Rubinstein Klezmer Project released an album Fiddler on the Road in 2013, including the song.[14]

According to the Israeli newspaper Davar, the song was used to protest British rule in Mandatory Palestine (1945),[16] to welcome Jewish refugees into the country (1946),[17] and later as a popular children song (1947).[18] In 1948, the song was sung at the end of El Al's maiden voyage, which brought president Chaim Weizmann from Geneva to Tel Aviv, after which the song was commonly sung by passengers upon landing safely in Israel.[19]

Upon the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin referenced the song in his address to President Jimmy Carter and the citizens of Israel; stating in his concluding remarks a desire to sing "Hevenu shalom aleichem" with the people of his nation upon his return to Israel.[20]In 2008 the song was included in a concert given for Pope Benedict XVI at the Park East Synagogue in New York City during his first visit to the United States.[21] In 2018, the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance performed the song in Ben Gurion Airport.[22] Choirs performed the song at a meeting with competition of European Jewish choirs in Ferrara in 2019.[23]

The song was suggested by the German music association for choir and orchestra to be sung together with refugees from Ukraine after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in public events with the motto "Deutschland singt für Hoffnung und Frieden" (Germany sings for hope and peace), inspired by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in April 2022.[24] It was sung in an action following the call on 3 October 2022 in Maßweiler, in an open singing with solo performers and the crowd singing together.[25] On the anniversary of the invasion, the association called for activities on 3 October 2023, recommending to sing peace songs such as "Dona nobis pacem", "We shall overcome", "Von guten Mächten" and "Where have all the flowers gone".[26] Holocaust survivor Tamar Dreifuss has used the song, inviting to sing it together, to concluded lectures about the Holocaust as an eye-witness in schools in Germany.[27]