Chad Gadya means one little goat and it is a playful cumulative song sung in Aramaic and Hebrew at the end of the Passover Seder. Chava Alberstein is one of Israel’s greatest musical performers - in 1989 she released a modified version of this song. Hers is a powerful attack on the Israeli governments response to the first Palestinian intifada (uprising) Starting with the traditional words, the lyrics then focused on the relationship between oppressor and oppressed and conclude, “Today I know who I am.” An angry response followed. A music-store owner in Beersheba told Alberstein he had dumped all her records out of his store. Then the Israel Broadcasting Authority and local radio stations banned the recording, and Alberstein received death threats. Although then attorney general Yosef Harish declared the ban an “unjustifiable violation of free expression,” the song has hardly been played since. I am currently working on a translation and will present the song at the Alzabo open mic on the 30th of September. I will have the lyrics ready for the Tongue Threat Tuesday on the 23rd.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 21:32:14 +0000
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