Hava Nagila, Grandpa!

by Sarah Karasik

I love music. I easily listen to music for ten hours a day, nearly every day. Many of the songs I listen to bring back memories for me. Whether I recall the last time I heard them or events from years prior; music definitely gives me a sense of time warping.

Recently, my best friend sent me a song I never expected to receive from her. "Hava Nagila." Wow, was I surprised. I am Jewish, so I obviously know "Hava Nagila," but my friend has no religion, and this version of of the song is sung by Chubby Checker. Yes, THAT Chubby Checker. Now you understand my surprise.

At first I stared at my computer. Then as this song played from its speakers I burst out laughing. I asked her why she was sending me this song. "It's a traditional Jewish song of rejoicing. Of course I'd send it to you, you dork." (Did I mention my friend is also lovingly insulting? She is, but back to the subject at hand.)

I was raised in a traditional Jewish household. My sister and I were both bat mitzvah'd at the required age of 13 and our Mom would take us to synagogue on Friday nights. Every Jewish holiday, the whole extended family would gather at my Grandpa's house. So, hearing "Hava Nagila" sung to me with the zest and vigor of Chubby Checker brought back many incredible memories. One of those memories is of learning the hora, the dance done during "Hava Nagila."

"Hava Nagila" is a song that you simply MUST dance to, and the hora is such a fun dance. The dancers gather in a circle and hold their neighbors' hands. When the music starts, the dancer steps to the side by moving the left foot behind the right foot. Then the right foot moves beside the left foot. Stepping to the side again, the dancer is passes the left foot in front of the right this time. This simple side-stepping is continued as the circle keeps spinning while adding a little hop to the steps as the dance speeds up.

The group then moves toward the center of the circle and throws their hands upward into the air. After the dancers lower their hands and back up, the entire circle again moves to the center in their celebratory hands-up motion. After this is done several times the dancing continues in the side-stepping fashion around the circle again. The first time you do it, it can be confusing, but you get the hang of it quickly ... or you get trampled. Dancing the hora is as traditional in my religion as matzoh balls and gefilte fish. The last time I danced it or heard "Hava Nagila" was during my cousin's wedding in 2000, the first and last time I heard it since my grandfather's death. I miss my grandfather.

I can remember walking into Grandpa's kitchen on any given morning when he'd be eating breakfast. It was always bagels, with lox or herring. He'd always get a huge smile on his face and call me over for a kiss. To this day, while I smile fondly at the memories of my grandfather eating them and of his kisses and hugs, I cannot stand the smell of either fish. I can smell them a mile away and I always gag. My two-year-old son loves both. It's probably his way of keeping grandpa alive: torturing mommy by eating the two fish she can't stand the smell of.

The brain is a powerful tool, capable of storing every memory we've ever forgotten. Listening to Chubby Checker sing "Hava Nagila," I see my grandpa's kitchen and the rest of his house as if I am standing right outside his front door. It's been almost nine years since I lost my grandpa. It's amazing how one song can take me back in time, back to such memories.

Grandpa was always one of the first ones up dancing the hora when "Hava Nagila" came on. At my bat mitzvah, he was one of the four people holding the chair I was held up on. I HATE that part! I am not a huge fan of heights, so being held on a chair by four men who are still trying to dance is not my idea of fun. While it makes me smile today, I can assure you I was clutching at the sides of the chair waiting for the song to be over that time.

Until I got that music file from my friend, I had almost forgotten about "Hava Nagila." Now I am rejoicing to it again, the way I learned to do from my Grandpa. Chubby Checker has taken me back to that chair above my grandpa's head. In my mind I reach down and touch his hand one more time.

Hava Nagila, Grandpa, Hava Nagila!

The Author

Sarah R. Karasik is a mild-mannered Management Administrative Assistant by day and a full-time single mother, writer and friend in her spare hours. Having spent the past year learning to explore her universe, she has now deemed herself the supreme goddess of it. The only question she seeks the answer to is -- Got Cow?