Before HaTikvah was chosen, Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik’s “People’s Blessing” (בִּרְכַּת עָם, also known by its incipit תֶחֱזַֽקְנָה Teḥezaqnah) was once considered for the State of Israel’s national anthem. Bialik was 21 years old when he composed the work in 1894. It later was chosen as the anthem of the Labor Zionist movement. We hereby present the first ever complete English translation of this poem. . . .

The poem, Hatiḳvah, in its original composition by Naphtali Herz Imber, later chosen and adapted to become the national anthem of the State of Israel, with a full English translation, and the earliest, albeit abbreviated, Yiddish translation . . .