Listen and watch as written and sung by Shlomo Carlebach:
Od Avinu עוד אבינו
Od Avinu עוד אבינו
Od Avinu עוד אבינו
Chai חי
(repeat x3)
Od Avinu Chai! עוד אבינו חי
Am Yisrael chai! עם ישראל חי
Am Yisrael chai! עם ישראל חי
Am Yisrael chai! עם ישראל חי
(repeat x3)
Am Yisrael Chai (עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי; lit. ’The people of Israel live’) is a Jewish solidarity anthem and a widely used expression of Jewish peoplehood.
The song’s lyrics are derived from Genesis 45:3: “Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?'” Carlebach changed the words “Is my father still well” to “Am Yisrael Chai” and the reference from Jacob’s father to God, “as the father of the children of Israel.” The song’s refrain is “Od avinu chai” (lit. ”Our father lives on.”)
The lyrics evoke a sense of the Jewish nation, Jewish survival, and an affirmation of Jewish identity.
The phrase gained popular use with the eponymous 1965 song composed and sung by Jewish songwriter Shlomo Carlebach, which became the solidarity anthem of Soviet Jewry. Carlebach created and performed the song for the first time at the 1965 rally in New York in support of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry.
The song was sung on the second day of the Six Day War and at the end of the Yom Kippur War. It is the final song of Soul Doctor, a Broadway musical about Carlebach’s life. It is often used by the Jewish diaspora to express support and solidarity with Israel, such as during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.