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Israeli Music ‘Goes Out’ in America

Today on Tablet

by
Marc Tracy
January 07, 2011

Ari Y. Kelman—previously seen helping compile Tablet Magazine’s list of the 100 greatest Jewish songs ever—today tells the story of “Tzena, Tzena” (#47), a 1941 song authored by two Jews in Mandatory Palestine that urged young girls to “Go Out, Go Out” and meet the British soldiers here. “With its romantic depiction of young women lusting after righteous male soldiers,” Kelman argues, “the song fulfilled the expectations of Israel held by many American Jews in 1951.” They heard it after a recording by The Weavers—a folk outfit fronted by a fellow named Pete Seeger—went to #2 on the charts. Check it out:

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.