Hatikvah at the Kotel

“Hatikvah” (Hebrew: הַתִּקְוָה‎, Hebrew Pronunciation: Ha/Teek/vah, lit. English: The Hope) is the national anthem of Israel. Its lyrics are adapted from a poem written by Naphtali Herz Imber, a Jewish poet from Złoczów, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austro-Hungarian Empire, (today, Zolochiv, Ukraine) Imber wrote the first version of his poem in 1877 while being hosted as a guest by a Jewish scholar in the city of Iasi, Romania. The romantic anthem’s theme reflects the nearly 2000-year-old hope of the Jewish people to return to the Land of Israel—their ancient homeland—and to restore it and reclaim it as a sovereign nation.