Artist	Song
Klezmer Music	Hava Nagila
from The World of Authentic Jewish Music Poetry (2000)
Mikhail Turetsky & The Male Choir Moscow Choral Synagogue	Shalom alechem
from Jewish Sacred Music (1990)
NEC Chorus & Theodore Bikel	Maoz Tsur
from A Taste of Chanukah (1999)
Dan Crow, Fred Sokolow, J.P. Nightingale, Marcia Berman & Uncle Ruthie Buell	Chanukah, Oh Chanukah
from Chanukah at Home (1988)
Effi Netzer Singers	Hine Ma Tov
from Hallelujah / Have Nagila - the Most Famous Israeli Folk-Songs (2009)
Hankus Netsky & NEC Jewish Music Ensemble	Dayenu
from A Taste of Passover (1998)
Baruch Cohon	Ose Shalom
from The Real Complete Shabat (2000)
Israeli Folk Group	Maym Mayim
from Authentic Israeli Folk Songs & Dances (2006)
Topol	Tradition
from Fiddler On the Roof (Original London Cast) (2001)
John Williams	Hatikvah (The Hope)
from Munich (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2005)
Alisa Fineman	Eli, Eli
from Closing the Distance; Poems, Prayers & Love Songs (2004)
Rabbi Mark Zimmerman	Chad Gadya
from Siddur Audio - Passover Seder Melodies (2008)
Tal Skloot	Avinu Malkenu
from Meditations from the Holy Land (2004)
Shir	Erev Shel Shoshanim
from Israeli Songs (2003)
The Burning Bush	Y'rushalayim Shel Zahav
from Folksongs from Israel (1999)
Klezmer Music	Donna Donna
from The World of Authentic Jewish Music Poetry (2000)
Duo Re'im	Gesher Tzar Meod
from Adon Olam - Traditional Israeli & Jewish Classics (2006)
Idf Rabbinate Choir	Shir Ha'ma'alot
from Adon Olam - Traditional Israeli & Jewish Classics (2006)
Roger Shlomo Gerzi	Numi Numi
from Kabbalah Inspirations (2007)
Kol B'Seder	Shalom Rav
from American Jewish Summer: Songs of the Jewish Youth Camping Movement (2006)

Comment:

Israel: it's a combination of the Hebrew word [i]yisra[/i] (to prevail) with [i]ayl[/i] (the divine). The 12 tribes that arose from the harsh soil of the Middle East have persevered, for millennia, against an almost unimaginable backdrop of brutal obstacles to flourish, not only in their native land, but also throughout the world. And while their numbers are not large — fewer than the inhabitants of Mexico City — the Jews, thanks to their faith and culture, have yielded some remarkable musical gifts. We open with a majestically gorgeous arrangement of "Shalom alechem," the mystical song that welcomes the Shabbat each Friday night, performed here by Mikhail Turetsky & The Male Choir Moscow Choral Synagogue. As Golden Globe®-winning actor Topol sings in [i]Fiddler On the Roof[/i]'s defining moment, the crowd-rousing chest-thumper "Tradition," faith isn't placed solely in the divine, but also in customs that have stood the test of time. And how can we speak of Jewish faith expressed in music without mentioning the Israeli national anthem, "Hatikvah (The Hope)," based upon a poem that anticipated a sovereign Jewish state seven decades before its formation, and conducted here with noble stateliness by John Williams. From Theodore Bikel to Rabbi Mark Zimmerman, we take an ear-opening — if necessarily brief — tour of a culture as rich in music as in the history from which it springs.

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