Historical Bits

 

"Hevenu Sha-lom" has been here since the 1930s, at least.

It has no known father or mother. It's one of those folk songs that someone started singing somewhere, and from there it rolled on – to communal singing evenings in kibbutzim and Moshavim, to school classrooms and students who went on trips along the country's trails, to the underground fighters against the British Mandate rule, to the Jews who fought in the American army in World War II.

After the war, emissaries went from here to the Jewish displaced persons camps and the remnants of the destroyed communities in Europe.

They brought with them folk songs from the Land of Israel, including "Hevenu Shalom," whose words and rhythm held symbolic meaning for that period – optimistic, uplifting, and sweeping.

When the refugees became "Ma'apilim" (illegal immigrants who came by sea) who immigrated to the Land, the song echoed among those who welcomed them at Haifa port or in the British detention camps in Cyprus.

 

After the establishment of the state, the song was already part of the national repertoire, and spread from here to Jewish communities in all diasporas. Official representatives of Israel who were invited to formal meetings with world leaders, were greeted by local bands that played "Hava Nagila" and "Hevenu Shalom" for them. These were the representatives of the "Sabra" (native-born Israeli) folklore from Israel. In the 1970s, the song was popular among immigrants from the Soviet Union, and since then it has been a mandatory song at every welcoming ceremony for new immigrants at Ben Gurion Airport.

 

Ben Gurion Airport was the song's home port until the 2000s. In the 80s and 90s, when the trend of international travel began to flourish, it was heard inside planes, at the moment of landing. This was a unique Israeli ritual – Israelis from all walks of life could afford to fly and visit the wide world, and they returned home full of excitement and awe.

Approaching the landing of the "Aviron" (airplane), they were full of anxieties, of the kind known to all plane passengers everywhere. The pilot lowered the plane towards the ground, and the moment its wheels touched the asphalt and the engine shut off – a collective sigh of relief was heard among the Israeli passengers, and immediately "Hevenu Shalom" singing erupted within the metal walls of the plane.

 

Since then, millions of Israelis have flown repeatedly abroad, for short and long trips, and landing, like takeoff, was no longer "a big deal."

The song is hardly heard on landing planes anymore. It is also no longer heard at communal singing evenings.

The song has moved to nostalgic corners of the Israeli experience, to the folklore department, and to places where Israeli patriotism has some value in Israel and around the world, such as emotional welcoming ceremonies.