Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Elder of ZiyonThe band wrote on Facebook:
Happy almost Hanukah, friends! I'm sharing a clip of "Am Ne'mamay," a Hanukah song from Divahn's new album, Shalhevet (which literally means "flame" in Hebrew). We hoped that our album could offer some light amidst dark times...even before the pandemic! This performance is from our March 7, 2020 album release at Joe's Pub (and the last time we performed together). The song is one of the most popular Chanukah songs among North African Jews. The text was written by the most renowned Morrocan paytan (composer of sacred songs) of his generation, David Buzaglo, and the melody comes from Ya um alabaya (“The girl who wore an abaya”), made famous by Iraqi singer Badria Anwer. Special thanks to Yossi Ohana and Kehillot Sharot for sharing this piyyut with me years ago and to Zafer Tawil for helping me track down the song in Arabic. You can hear/see lyrics/purchase the full song here: https://divahn.bandcamp.com/track/am-neemanay. Enjoy! We hope you'll sing it this year and that it brings you some needed light! "
They had made a different Chanukah-themed music video in 2017, Banu Choshech (We've Come to Chase Away the Darkness):
(h/t Yerushalimey)
