HAKOTEL

HAKOTEL	THE WESTERN WALL

Amda na'ara mul hakotel S'fatayim keirva v'santeir. Amra li, t'kiyot hashofar chazakot hein Aval hash'tika od yoteir. Amra li, Tziyon, Har Habayit Shatka li, hag'mul v'hazchut. Uma shezahar al mitzcha ben arbayim Haya argaman shel malchut. Hakotel - eizov v'atzevet Hakotel - oferet vadam Yesh anashim im lev shel even. Yesh avanim im lev adam. Amad hatzanchan mul hakotel Mikawl maklachto, rak echad Amar li, lamavet ein dmut Ach yesh koter - Rak tish'a millimeter bilvad. Amar li, eineni domei'a V'shav v'hishpil mabatim Ach saba sheli, Elohim hayodei'a, Kavur kan b'Har Hazeitim. Hakotel..... Amda bish'chorim mul hakotel Imo shel echad min hachir Amra li, einav na'ari hadolkot hein V'lo haneirot shebakir. Amra li, eineni roshemet Shum petek litmon ben s'dakav Ki ma shenatati lakotel rak emesh Gadol mimilim umik'tav.	A girl stood facing the kotel (western wall) She drew her lips and chin close to it. She said to me, the shofar's blasts are strong But the silence is even stronger. She told me: Zion, the Temple Mount She was silent, about the reward and the right. And what shone on her forehead at evening Was the purple of royalty. The kotel, moss and sadness. The kotel, lead and blood. There are people with a heart of stone. There are stones with a human heart. The paratrooper stood at the kotel. Of his whole division - the only one. He told me that death has no image But it has a diameter - Nine millimeters only. He told me, I'm not shedding tears And again lowered his glance. But my grandfather, God knows, Is buried here, on Har Hazeitim (the Mount of Olives). The kotel...... She stood, dressed in black, at the kotel. The mother of one of the infantry soldiers. She told me, it's the eyes of my son that are shining And not the candles on the wall. She told me: I'm not writing Any note to hide between the cracks.* Because what I gave to the kotel only last night Is greater than any words or writing.

Click here for the pdf file in Hebrew

Spanish translation	Click here for the music and chord chart

Translator's notes:

* The kotel is the last surviving part of ancient Israel's temple (Beit Hamikdash), one of its surrounding walls.

A holy site symbolic of Judaism and Jewish sovereignty, Jews have visited it to pray for centuries.

After Israel became independent in 1948 and until the Six Day War in '67, the West Bank was owned by Jordan, and the kotel, Temple Mount, Mt. of Olives cemetery and holy Jewish sites in East Jerusalem and the West Bank were inaccessible to Jews.

The song commemorates the soldiers who died fighting in 1967 to regain all of Jerusalem.

** The Temple Mount (Har Habayit) is the site where the temple stood. It is also a sacred site for Islam.
Two mosques are there today: The Dome of the Rock (Mosque of Omar) and El Aksa Mosque.

*** There is a tradition of putting notes in the cracks, as a prayer for God's help.

Note from the Spanish translator:

The Mount of Olives is a traditional burial site, facing one of the Gates of Jerusalem.
(the idea is that when the Messiah comes and the dead arise, they will be able to be the first to enter)


LYRICS	Yossi Gamzu
MUSIC	Dubi Zeltser
SINGER	Numerous singers have covered this song.
CD	The Ofra Haza version is on Shirey Moledet Part 3 Track 13

Words transliterated and translated by Malka Tischler of New York, USA

Spanish translation by Heidi Cazes de Sevilla of Mexico City, Mexico

Contact the publisher of Hebrew Songs.com

Spanish translation

EL MURO DE LOS LAMENTOS

Una muchacha estaba ante el kotel.
Acercó sus labios y su barbilla
Me dijo, el sonido del shofar es fuerte, pero el silencio lo es todavía más.
Me dijo: Zion, el Monte del Templo.
No dijo nada sobre la recompensa y el derecho Y lo que brilló sobre su frente en la noche Era el púrpura de la realeza.

El kotel, musgo y tristeza
El kotel, acero y sangre
Hay gente con corazón de piedra
Hay piedras con corazón humano

El paracaidista estaba ante el kotel
de su división, el único que quedaba
Me dijo, la muerte no tiene imagen
mas tiene un diámetro: de apenas nueve milímetros.
Me dijo, no estoy llorando;
De nuevo bajó la mirada.
Pero Dios sabe que mi abuelo está sepultado Aquí en el Monte de los Olivos

El Kotel...

De negro, parada ante el kotel
La madre de un soldado de infantería.
Me dijo, lo que brilla son los ojos de mi hijo y no las velas sobre el muro.
Me dijo, no escribo ninguna nota
para ocultar entre tus grietas
pues lo que yo le entregué al kotel anoche es más grande que cualquier palabra o escrito.

El Kotel...

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