Idelsohn arranged the song for a mixed choir and performed it at a celebration in Jerusalem. It was an instant hit. Unlike older, more somber traditional music, "Hava Nagila" was fast, modern, and communal. Hava Nagila Original
The song’s "original" modern form was born in during a period of immense historical shift. Following the Balfour Declaration and the British capture of Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire, the local Jewish community wanted to celebrate. Idelsohn arranged the song for a mixed choir
: It became synonymous with the Horah , a circle dance brought to Israel by Romanian settlers. more somber traditional music