78. Golden Aliyah

Galia Hacco, Simcha Yosef. Recorded at NSA studio, June 9, 2002. CD Track 42; I-40.

Pŏnnaliya pṟaśnaṃ vannu, pŏṅṅivaruṃ neraṃ
Ā marattil siyyon koḍi pāṟiḍunnu nammaḷ, pāṟiḍunnu, nammaḷ
X2

1. Now the issue has been raised of golden aliyah. 
The flag of Siyon flies on the pole, flying in the air.
It's flying in the air.  
X2

2. Schmidt has come for immigration,
Doctor has come for examination.
We must go there; we must go there,
Go to Palestine.

Aṅṅupokāṃ—aṅṅupokām
Aṅṅupokāṃ, aṅṅupokām—Isrāĕlil pokām
Isrāĕlil pokām

3. We must go now; we must go now.
We must go; we must go, 
To Israel we must go now,
Go to Israel. 

4. Take up a rifle …………...Take up a rifle; take up a rifle 
For our very own land, 
For our very own land.
[Repeat Stanza 1]

Perhaps the most popular of the mid-twentieth century Zionist Malayalam songs, this one refers to questions that were raised and finally resolved during a long and trying period of delay before the largest group of Jews left Kerala for their aliyah to Israel in 1954. It names one of the Israeli government emissaries who came to India to make the arrangements (Shlomo Schmidt) and refers to the unwelcome experience of required medical examinations. Among all the recorded Kerala songs, this exhortation to “take up a rifle” is the only mention of a need and willingness to defend the new nation of Israel militarily.

The lyrics of “Golden Aliyah” were composed by two Ernakulam Jews, Moshe Joseph Ḥai and Yaakov Itzhak, according to Esther Abraham from Ernakulam (interviewed 2004 in Moshav Nevatim). Its catchy melody is that of a well-known Kerala song from which they also adapted the title, transforming Ponnarivāl (“The Golden Sickle”) into Ponnaliyā (“The Golden Immigration”). In both cases, the term “golden” referred to something political and highly precious in value.

“The Golden Sickle” is a poetic love song in which the sickle carries a double reference to the lovers’ crescent moon in the night sky and the symbol of Kerala’s Communist Party. Its lyrics were written by O.N.V. Kurup (1931–2016), a highly acclaimed poet, lyricist, and university professor of Malayalam; and its melody was created by G. Devarajan, composer of musical scores for more than 300 films. This hit song appeared first in the very popular Malayalam drama “You Made Me a Communist”— produced by the Kerala People’s Arts Club (KPAC) in 1952—which was later made into a film with the same title. Hear “The Golden Sickle” at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1e0HX1xemA.^[1]

After the independent and democratic Republic of India was declared at the end of British colonial rule in 1947, the process began to establish the boundaries of its new states. Many were ultimately defined on the basis of language—including Kerala, which combined the former kingdoms of Kochi and Travancore with other Malayalam-speaking areas of southwest India. In 1957, voters in Kerala’s first state election chose the Communist Party of India to lead their state government.  

By this time the great majority of Kerala’s Jews had made their “golden aliyah” to Israel. 

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^[1] Accessed February 9, 2023.