Neorius Scott on Instagram: ""Hava Nagila" is one of the first modern Jewish folk songs in the Hebrew language. It went on to become a staple of band performers at Jewish weddings and b'nai mitzvah celebrations. The melody is based on a Hassidic Nigun. It was composed in 1918 to celebrate the Balfour Declaration and the British victory over the Ottomans in 1917. It was first performed in a mixed choir concert in Jerusalem. Abraham Zevi Idelsohn (1882–1938), a professor at Hebrew University, bega