Notes from Cantor Avima

     I grew up listening to alot of Jewish music. My parents had a collection of record albums featuring the music of the early years of the State of of Israel. We would sing these songs on our long car rides from Massachusetts to Brooklyn to visit family and to the Poconos to go to summer camp. Hebrew music was as much the soundtrack of my formative years as was American pop, rock  and folk music. I still have some of the albums that I listened to on our old HiFi Stereo. 

     Israeli music today is extremely diverse. I thought it might be fun during these summer weeks to explore some of the more popular songs, song writers and performers in my weekly blog. I am not attempting to teach a course on Israeli music or even to go in any kind of chronological order, simply to share with you some of my favorite songs and performances and perhaps give you some insight into songs near and dear to your own hearts. 

     This week, I thought I would start with Naomi Shemer who is likely very familiar to all of you from her most famous song, "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav/Jerusalem of Gold". It would be impossible to overstate the impact of Naomi Shemer on the music of Israel. Born on a kibbutz in the Galilee that her parents helped found,  she was active from the 1950's until her death in 2004. She studied with some of the most well known Israeli composers at the Conservatory of Tel Aviv and the Jersualem Academy of Music and Dance. Her first hit song, ""Mishirei Zemer Noded/Song of the Wanderer" heard here sung by the Duda'im. In 1963, she wrote the beautiful song "Chorshat Ha'Ika-lyp-tus/The Eucalyptus Grove" which describes the grove planted in Kibbutz Galilee in 1912 in order to dry out the swamp. Here is a link to the song: Horshat HaIkalyptus. You will see a picture of a plaque naming the Grove after Naomi Shemer in the video. 

     Her most well known song, is of course "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav/Jerusalem of Gold". It was actually commissioned by Teddy, Kollek, the mayor of Jerusalem prior to the Six Day war for a song festival in1967. The first three stanzas described the pain of the "divided city", the last stanza being added after the reunification.  This song elevated Naomi Shemer to being held as the unofficial "National Songwriter" of Israel. Before her death she admitted that she may have been influenced by the melody she had heard (Basque Folk Music). The song was recorded by the unknown Shuly Nathan who catapulted to fame due to this song. Enjoy this performance in 1968: Yerushalayim Shel Zahav, Shuly Nathan 1968

     Her song "Lu Yehi", a Hebrew adaptation of the Beatles song "Let it Be", was written shortly before the Yom Kippur War and sung by Chava Alberstein. When the husband of Chava Alberstein first heard it, he protested that this was a Jewish song written for a Jewish war and she should write a Jewish melody for it.  Naomi Shemer added a new melody to the lyrics, and the song became one of the war's symbols. Here is the song: Lu Yehi sung by Chava Alberstein with subtitles. 

     Naomi continued to write her own poems and songs and to set poetry of other writers to music. She even wrote many children's songs which have become classics. Although she was not known for her singing voice, she did sometimes record and perform her own songs. She became quite controversial later in her life as her own views were seen as "right wing". In 1980, Naomi Shemer wrote "Al Kol Eleh/The Bitter and the Sweet" which reads like a prayer. The chorus beckons God to protect us and for us to accept the bitter along with the sweet. Here is a beautiful performance by Koololam in celebration of Israel's 70th Independence Day. This is sung by 12,000 people and accompanied by the Jersusalem Street Orchestra.The translation and lyrics appear under the video: Al Kol Eleh

    Naomi Shemer died June 26, 2004 which corresponded to the 9th of the month of Tammuz. Coincidentally, years before her death she wrote a song titled "Sad to Die in the Middle of Tammuz" before undergoing a necessary surgery. Four of her songs were sung at her funeral. She was buried alongside her parents near the Kibbutz where she was born.