Description

Key of Fm

This song was sung by the early Zionist pioneers before the founding of Israel. Many early Zionist pioneers settled in Galilee, and in Yiddish “To Galilee” would translate as “Zu dem Galil”. It is plausible to think that the repetition of “Zum Gali Gali” is not nonsense syllables as many believe, but a “folk Yiddish” pronounciation of “To Galilee”. The second half of the song is in Hebrew:

Hechalutz le’man avodah;
Avodah le’man hechalutz
Avodah le-man hechalutz;
Hechalutz le-man avodah”

In English, it is sung “Pioneers all work as one, all work as pioneers. Peace be for the world. The world shall be for peace”. It has been suggested that since the early Zionists were unsure whether their national language should be Yiddish or Hebrew, the song’s lyrics were written in both.