Hine (or Hinay or Hinei) Ma Tov ( he, הִנֵּה מַה טוֹב) is a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

hymn traditionally sung at

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

feasts.

Origins

Its lyrics are from the first verse of

Psalm 133 Psalm 133 is the 133rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity". In Latin, it is known as "Ecce quam bonum". The psalm is one of ...

, which is translated by the

JPS Tanakh The New Jewish Publication Society of America Tanakh, first published in complete form in 1985, is a modern Jewish 'written from scratch' translation of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible into Jewish English Bible translations, English. It is ...

as "How good and how pleasant it is that brothers dwell together."

Lyrics and transliteration

Popularity

Hine Ma Tov continues to be a popular hymn for several

Israeli folk dance Israeli folk dance ( he, ריקודי עם, ''rikudei 'am'', lit. "Folk dances") is a form of dance usually performed to songs in Hebrew, or to other songs which have been popular in Israel, with dances choreographed for specific songs. Israeli ...

s and is a common song sung by school children and Jewish and Israeli scouting groups. It has been recorded by artists as diverse as

Theodore Bikel Theodore Meir Bikel ( ; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He appeared in films, including '' The African Queen'' (1951), ''Moulin Rouge'' (1952), ' ...

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Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...

, Meir Finkelstein,

Ishtar Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in S ...

, the

Miami Boys Choir The Miami Boys Choir (MBC) is a boys choir specializing in Orthodox pop. History In the early 1970s while studying in yeshivah in Toronto, Yerachmiel Begun created, directed, and recorded three successful albums with the Toronto (Pirchei) Bo ...

, Joshua Aaron, the

Abayudaya The Abayudaya (''Abayudaya'' is Luganda for "People of Judah") are a community in eastern Uganda, near the town of Mbale, who practice Judaism. They are devout in their practice, keeping kashrut and observing Shabbat. There are several differ ...

of Uganda and the dub group Adonai and I.

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

recorded a version on his 1960 album,

Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall ''Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall'' is a live double album by Harry Belafonte. It is the second of two Belafonte Carnegie Hall albums, and was recorded May 2, 1960. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Pop albums charts. Belafonte shares the stage ...

. '60s rock band

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

recorded an original adaptation for their second studio album, The Family That Plays Together, simply titled "Jewish." The lyrics of Hine Ma Tov, when translated into English, form the basis for several songs in contemporary Christian music, as well as in various hymnals.

Version by the Miami Boys Choir

One version Hine Ma Tov was arranged by Yerachmiel Begun, the director of the Miami Boys Choir. Silvio Berlfein choreographed the dance.

In popular entertainment

In the 1977 television film Raid on Entebbe, Yonathan Netanyahu and Sammy Berg lead the Israeli commandos in singing the refrain while the commandos' plane is en route to rescue the hostages. It is also played during the closing credits. The song also features in the 1990 film ''

Europa Europa ''Europa Europa'' (german: Hitlerjunge Salomon, lit. "Hitler Youth Salomon") is a 1990 historical war drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland, and starring Marco Hofschneider, Julie Delpy, Hanns Zischler, and André Wilms. It is based on the 19 ...

'' where the lyrics are translated as ''How sweet it is to be sitting, surrounded by all of your brothers''.

References

External links

Several tunes for Hine Ma Tov.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hine Ma Tov Hebrew-language songs Hymns Shabbat Songs based on the Bible