Israelis remember the past by singing along today

Anyone who hasn’t seen a folk song evening at the Genki Club in Tel Aviv has never seen real joy. The club is brimming with happy, singing people. Some of them are dancing on the tables. The stage where Einat Sarouf is performing — who has become a leading singer at Hebrew sing-along evenings in recent years — is crowded with excited audience members begging for a moment at the microphone. Even former Finance Minister Yair Lapid, who was a regular on the Genki stage before he became a politician, still sings sometimes with Sarouf.

The tradition of Hebrew folk song evenings started sometime during the First Aliyah, at the end of the 19th century, when at the end of a workday the pioneers would gather to sing together. The center of folk singing was at the town of Rishon LeZion, where regular folk singing evenings were held at several locations. Sing-along evenings became the ultimate entertainment for pioneers and laborers. Singing around the campfire served the same purpose for youth battalions and fighters of the Palmach — the elite troops of the Haganah (the army of the Yishuv – the Jewish community in pre-state Israel, and the basis for the Israel Defense Forces).

Although 140 years have passed since the birth of folk song evenings, and even though many traditions and characteristics of the Yishuv and Israeli society have faded with the years, or were thrown off with disdain in light of modernity or intergenerational changes, the vitality of folk song gatherings hasn’t waned and has even flourished, even among young people.

According to Eliyahu Hacohen, who received the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement for his research on Hebrew song, today there are about 500-600 active singing groups in Israel. These are groups of people who meet regularly to sing together. Folk song evenings take place at bars, clubs and public institutions.