Over the Rainbow, Best Jewish Song Ever?

  

By the rivers of Babylon—  there we sat down, and there we wept
    when we remembered Zion.
 On the willows there  we hung up our harps.

For there our captors asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

 How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!
 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.

                                                          Psalm 137:1-6 NRSVue

There are lists of best songs from the 20th century that put Somewhere Over the Rainbow at the top. I once listened to a music wonk explain how the progressions in the song brilliantly convey the message of the lyrics and draw the listener in. It's hard to argue with these accolades. I even managed to learn Somewhere Over the Rainbow on the mandolin and there is a wonderful version by the late, great Hawaiian musician Isarael Kamakawiwoʻole. 

How about Somewhere Over the Rainbow as the best Jewish song ever written? I heard a fascinating interview from a week ago with Stephen Colbert and Rabbi Angela Buchdahl. She points out to the audience that the song was written by two Jewish musicians, composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Yip Harburg.  She suggests that it is essentially a story of longing for return from exile, an essential biblical theme. The song was written in 1938 as the mass persecution of Jews was underway in Germany before World War II resulted in the horror of the Holocaust/Shoah. 

We know Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz film and it became Judy Garland's signature tune. Studio executives didn't like it because it was too sentimental and why would Dorothy be singing a schmaltzy ballad in a farmyard.  It was almost cut from the picture.

There is an introduction to the song that didn't make it into the movie but the opening lines reflect the stormy reality of Europe at the time. 

When all the world is a hopeless jumble
And the raindrops tumble all around
Heaven opens a magic lane
When all the clouds darken up the skyway
There's a rainbow highway to be found
Leading from your window pane
To a place behind the sun
Just a step beyond the rain.

Best Jewish song ever? I don't know the genre well enough to comment but I enjoyed Buchdahl's perspective. She and Colbert sang it together (their conversation is on Instagram). You can understand why she was a cantor for years before she was named the Senior Rabbi of the Central Synagogue, the first woman and the first Asian-American in that position. She has written a book about her experience of being a stranger and moving toward belonging and I imagine it's worthwhile.