JERUSALEM OF GOLD

YERUSHALAYIM SHEL ZAHAV 

 

Avir harim tzalul kayayin
Vereiach oranim,
Nisa beru'ach ha'arbayim
Im kol pa'amonim.

Uvetardemat ilan va'even
Shvuyah bachalomah,
Ha'ir asher badad yoshevet /nitzevet
Uvelibah chomah.

Chorus:
Yerushalayim shel zahav
Veshel nechoshet veshel or
Halo lechol shirayich ani kinor.

x2

Eicha yavshu borot hamayim
Kikar hashuk reikah,
Ve'ein poked et har habayit
Ba'ir ha'atikah.

Uvame'arot asher basela
Meyalelot ruchot,
Ve'ein yored el yam hamelach
Bederech Yericho.

Chorus:

Ach bevo'i hayom lashir lach
Velach lik'shor k'tarim,
Katonti mitze'ir bana'ich
Ume'acharon ham'shorerim.

Ki shmech tzorev et hasfatayim
Keneshikat saraf ,
Im eshkachech Yerushalayim
Asher kulah zahav...

Chorus:

Chazarnu el borot hamayim
Lashuk velakikar,
Shofar kore behar habayit
ba'ir ha'atikah.

Uvame'arot asher baselah
Alfei shmashot zorchot,
Nashuv nered el yam hamelach
Bederech Yericho!

Chorus...

JERUSALEM OF GOLD

 

The mountain air is clear as wine
And the scent of pines
Is carried on the breeze of twilight
With the sound of bells.

And in the slumber of tree and stone
Captive in her dream
The city that sits solitary
And in its midst is a wall.

Chorus:
Jerusalem of gold
And of copper, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

x2

How the cisterns have dried
The market-place is empty
And no one frequents the Temple Mount
In the Old City.

And in the caves in the mountain
Winds are howling
And no one descends to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho.

Chorus:

But as I come to sing to you today,
And to adorn crowns to you (i.e. to tell your praise)
I am the smallest of the youngest of your children (i.e. the least worthy of doing so)
And of the last poet (i.e. of all the poets born).

For your name scorches the lips
Like the kiss of a seraph
If I forget thee, Jerusalem,
Which is all gold...

Chorus:

We have returned to the cisterns
To the market and to the market-place
A ram's horn calls out on the Temple Mount
In the Old City.

And in the caves in the mountain
Thousands of suns shine -
We will once again descend to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho!

Chorus...


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Hebrew words
Singable Italian    Singable English    Spanish    Portuguese

Note:
Please note in the DANCE version the first and third verses are sung.

Also sung by: Hedva, David & Larry Adler (The Adler Trio),
Arik Einstein, Ge'ula Gil, Hagiv'atron, Haparvarim, Zohar Argov, Chava Alberstein, Izhar Cohen, Mak'helat Tzadikov, Ninet Tayeb, Ninet Tayeb & Ran Danker, Nira Gal, Ronit Ophir, Rika Zara'i, Ran Eliran, Shalva Berti, Sarit Haddad, Theodore Bikel & many others.

Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Interestingly, "Jerusalem of Gold" was also a special piece of jewelery mentioned in a famous legend about Rabbi Akiva. Shemer had this in mind when she wrote the song.

The first three verses of this song were written by Naomi Shemer and sung by Shuli Natan at the Israeli Music Festival on May 15, 1967, shortly before the Six Day War. Only 3 weeks later, the Israel Defense Forces captured the eastern part of Jerusalem and the Old City from the Jordanians. Under the period of Jordanian rule, Jews had been barred from entering Jerusalem, and many holy sites had been desecrated, trashed with toilets, or used as animal pens. At that time of Jerusalem's liberation, Shemer wrote the final verse. When the old city was liberated, shofars indeed blew from Temple Mount, which is part of what inspired Shemer to write the line about shofars sounding from the mountain top. Shemer said she had thought of the 2,000 years the Jews were absent from Israel, and not the 19 years since the declaration of Israeli independence.

The song was popularly sung by Shuli Natan and was once considered by the Knesset as a possible replacement to Hatikva, Israel's national anthem.

Later in 1967 the Israeli Knesset introduced a bill to make Yerushalayim Shel Zahav the official national anthem of Israel, instead of Hatikvah. It was never passed.
Jerusalem of Gold website
Wikipedia Link
Read about Jerusalem Day

LYRICS
Naomi Shemer
MUSIC
Naomi Shemer
SINGER
Shuli Natan
Naomi Shemer
Ron Eliran
Yaffa Yarkoni
Zehava Ben
CHORDS
Chords for this song
CD
Asif - Part 1 Disk 2 Track 1
DANCE CHOREOGRAPHER
Oren Shmuel
DANCE FORMAT
Circle 2000
DANCE
Click on "view the dance"
DANCE
Click on "see the teaching" (English or Hebrew)

Words transliterated and translated by Yael Levine of Israel.
Singable Italian translation by Daniel Shalev of Rishon Le Zion, Israel.
Singable English translation by Chaya Galai of Israel.
Spanish translation by Nora y Diego Serebrennik of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Portuguese translation by Cris Senna of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Contact the publisher of Hebrew Songs.com

Singable Italian

 
Gerusalemme tutta d'oro (1)

Inebria l'aria come il vino,
tra i colli s'ode un suon,
sussurra il vento, odora il pino,
campane fan din-don.
Dormono i sassi nella sera
e tra le mura sta
come in un sogno prigioniera,
da sola la Città:

Gerusalemme tutta d'oro,
di rame e luce, che splendor!
Suona un violino, innalza un inno
il tuo cantor.

Com' è che si seccò la fonte
e al ‘Suk' (2) non posso andar?
Com' è che là, sul Sacro Monte
non vanno più a pregar?
Là, tra gli anfratti della roccia
ulula il vento, sai.
Per Via di Gerico, al Mar Morto,
nessuno scende mai.

Gerusalemme tutta d'oro...

Un serto in capo, rose e gigli,
t'intreccio con amor,
sono il più giovane dei figli
e l'ultimo de' tuoi cantor.
Mi bruci il labbro un Serafino
se il Nome scorderò,
Gerusalemme, d'oro fino,
per sempre canterò:

Gerusalemme tutta d'oro...

Siamo (3) tornati a quella fonte,
al ‘Suk' a passeggiar,
ci chiama là, dal Sacro Monte,
un suono di Shofàr. (4)
E tra gli anfratti della roccia,
tra mille soli d'or,
per Via di Gerico, al Mar Morto
discenderemo ancor.

Gerusalemme tutta d'oro...


Footnotes

1. Questa canzone, ormai classica,
è un po' il rappresentante ufficiale
di tutte le canzoni di Eretz Israel.

2. Il mercato (arabo)

3. La canzone è stata composta
poco prima della Guerra dei Sei Giorni.
Questa strofa è stata aggiunta
dall'autrice subito dopo la guerra stessa

4. Corno d'ariete che veniva usato
anticamente per chiamare in adunata
il popolo.
Viene suonato durante la festività del capo
d'anno e del giorno dell'espiazione
(Yom Kippur) o in particolari occasioni
solenni, come la presa di Gerusalemme
durante la Guerra dei Sei Giorni.

Singable English

 
JERUSALEM OF GOLD

The mountain air is clear as water
The scent of pines around
Is carried on the breeze of twilight,
And tinkling bells resound.

The trees and stones there softly slumber,
A dream enfolds them all.
So solitary lies the city,
And at its heart -- a wall.

Chorus:
Oh, Jerusalem of gold,
and of light and of bronze,
I am the lute for all your songs.
x2

The wells are filled again with water,
The square with joyous crowd,
On the Temple Mount within the City,
The shofar rings out loud.

Within the caverns in the mountains
A thousand suns will glow,
We'll take the Dead Sea road together,
That runs through Jericho.

Chorus...

But as I sing to you, my city,
And you with crowns adorn,
I am the least of all your children,
Of all the poets born.

Your name will scorch my lips for ever,
Like a seraph's kiss, I'm told,
If I forget thee, golden city,
Jerusalem of gold.

Chorus...

Spanish

 
JERUSALEM DE ORO

El aire es claro como el vino
Y esencia de pinar,
Lo lleva la brisa en la tarde
Dulce como un cantar.

En el dormir de árbol y piedra
Metida en su soñar,
La ciudad está solitaria
Y un muro en su mitad.

Jerusalem de oro,
De bronce y de luz,
Para cantar tus canciones,
Soy un laúd.

Las cisternas se han secado,
Nadie al mercado va,
Vacío está el monte del templo
En la vieja ciudad.

Canta en las cuevas de los montes
El viento su canción,
Y nadie baja hasta el Mar Muerto
Camino a Jericó.

Jerusalem de oro…

Y al venir hoy a ensalzarte
Y a darte mi amor
Soy el más joven que te canta
Tu último pastor.

Tu nombre quemará mis labios
De un beso angelical
Si te olvidase, ciudad vieja
De oro espiritual.

Jerusalem de oro…

Volvimos luego al mercado,
Y al muro en su mitad,
Un shofar del monte del templo
Llamando a la ciudad.

Y en las cuevas de la montes
Mil soles brillan hoy
Bajando hacia el Mar Muerto
Camino a Jericó.

Jerusalem de oro…

Portuguese

 
JERUSALEM DE OURO

Ar das montanhas limpo como o vinho
e o cheiro dos pinhais
é carregado pelo vento com som de sino atrás.
Pedras e árvores que dormem
um sono que é prisão
nesta cidade solitária
um muro é o coração.
Jerusalém que é de ouro,
que é de bronze e é de luz,
todas as músicas que emites amor produz.
Nós retornamos às fontes de água
e à feira na praça
shofar nos chama do monte do templo
que a cidade abraça.
E nas cavernas que ficam nas rochas
mil sóis parecem um só
e nós voltamos ao Mar Morto
passando em Jericó.
Jerusalém que é de ouro,
que é de bronze e é de luz,
todas as músicas que emites amor produz.

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