Libi
| This is HoraWiki, a treasury of Israeli folkdance information that anyone can edit! To get started, visit the Home Page. |
Hebrew: לבי. Circle dance by Yuval Ma'ayan Tabashi. Not to be confused with Libi Er, circle dance of the same era by Gadi Bitton.
The melody is composed by Anshi Friedman and sung by Levy Falkowitz.
The words of the song are based on the piyyut צמאה נפשי (Tsama Nafshi - my soul thirsts). This is typically found in Hebrew songbooks for Erev Shabbat (Friday evening). This piyyut was written by the famous medieval philospher and poet Abraham ibn Ezra.
A speaker of Modern Hebrew may find it difficult to understand the song lyrics. The song is sung in an Eastern European Ashkenazic Hebrew accent commonly spoken by several ultra-orthodox sects such as Belz, Satmar, and Vizhnitz. In fact according to his Facebook page, Levy Falkowitz is a member of Satmar.
At the Karmiel Festival of 2019, Libi won first place among the year's circle dances. Levy Falkowitz travelled from his home in the USA to perform the song live. Out of respect for the performer's religious aversion to mixed dancing, and at the request of Gadi Bitton, the participants did not dance during the live performance. Afterwards, Levy watched with amazement as thousands danced Libi to his recording. He later said, "I will remember that moment my entire life.”
Links
Information on the piyyut (in Hebrew)
Information on the song (in Hebrew)
Song words and links: https://www.hebrewsongs.com/?song=libi