The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #96557   Message #1890316
Posted By: GUEST,Gerry
21-Nov-06 - 07:22 PM
Thread Name: Origins-Lo yisa goy
Subject: RE: a Jewish song for Christmas-Lo yisa goy
Just a couple of weeks ago, I looked into this song for some friends who sing it,
and here, slightly edited, is the message I sent them.

In Hebrew, the song is known as Lo Yisa Goy,
and there's only one stanza, repeated endlessly:

Lo yisa goy el goy cherev
Lo yilmedu od milchama

Which means,

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.

This is in Isaiah, and also in Micah 4:4. The version
in Micah is,

They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
But they shall sit undisturbed,
every man under his own vine and fig tree.

The first 4 lines are in both Isaiah and Micah,
but the vine and fig tree are only in Micah.
It is odd that the Hebrew song uses only the middle two lines,
while the English version leaves out only those two lines.

The 3rd English verse [my friends] attributed to Sandra Kerr is
very similar to what appears on page 198 of Rise Up Singing:

And every man neath his vine and fig tree
Shall live in peace and unafraid (repeat)
And into plowshares beat their swords
Nations shall learn war no more (repeat)
Love to your neighbor and
Love to the Spirit of all life (repeat)

These verses are credited to Leah M Jaffa and Fran Minkoff,
copyright 1962.