'Hava Nagila' enters race for Christmas No. 1 in Britain

By Sara Miller, Haaretz Correspondent
December 17, 2007

Lauren Rose

British singer Lauren Rose has released a modern version of traditional Jewish song "Hava Nagila," and gambling pundits have even given odds on the song to take the top spot in the U.K. Christmas pop charts.

According the British newspaper The Sun, bookmaker William Hill has given 17-year-old Lauren Rose a 16-1 shot at having Britain's best-selling song on December 25.

The Sun also reports that Lauren's father, Mark Goldberg, has quit his job as boss of Bromley Football Club to manage his daughter's music career.

Lauren's version of "Hava Nagila" is not the first by contemporary acts from both the pop and classical worlds. The list of musicians to perform the song includes Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Harry Belafonte, Julie Andrews, Ben Folds and violinist and conductor Andre Rieu.

The song, whose title translates as "Let Us Rejoice," is de rigueur at Jewish celebrations, and is widely attributed to Abraham Zvi Idelsohn, who is believed to have penned the song at the close of World War One

Watch Lauren Rose's performance of "Hava Nagila":