Coptic Hava Nagila?

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In my research of Coptic Catholicism, I found a clip from the Coptic church in Los Angeles. This Christmas carol, as it’s dubbed in this video, is none other than the Jewish folk tune Hava Nagila.

youtube.com/watch?v=QH0DYIeA-rI

I’m wondering if Hava Nagila was originally a Coptic tune somehow or if this is just another pathetic watering down of heritage on the part of this church?
 
Hava Nagila is definitely NOT a Coptic or Egyptian tune. It is 100% hassidic/Jewish originally but today it is sung and danced to by everyone, regardless of race or religion.

Hava Nagila, meaning “let us rejoice,” is Hassidic in origin. It was, in the eighteenth century, a niggun (a wordless melody) of the Sadigorer Hassidim from the town of Sadigora in what is now the Ukraine, the home of the Rizhiner Rebbe, Reb Yisroel Friedman (1798-1850).

The song was transcribed by musicologist Avraham Tzvi Idelsohn, who arranged it into four parts and added lyrics.

Hava nagila, hava nagila Let us rejoice, let us rejoice
Hava nagila ve-nismeha Let us rejoice and be glad

Hava neranena, hava neranena Let us sing, let us sing
Hava neranena ve-nismeha Let us sing and be glad

Hava neranena, hava neranena Let us sing, let us sing
Hava neranena ve-nismeha Let us sing and be glad

Uru, uru ahim Awake, awake brothers
Uru ahim be-lev sameah Awake brothers with a joyful heart

REPEAT second two lines.
 
Listen to the link I posted from youtube. Why are Coptic Catholics signing a Christmas hymn to the tune of Hava Nagila? There’s no denying that’s what the tune is.
 
You should ask on the YouTube comment section, sounds like the choir director took a lot of creative license for this concert
 
jschwartz said:
Listen to the link I posted from youtube. Why are Coptic Catholics signing a Christmas hymn to the tune of Hava Nagila? There’s no denying that’s what the tune is.
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I listened to it. Did you read my post, it was very clear.

You will have to ask them why they are singing it, not a question for us to answer.
 
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