Jerusalem of Gold was written by Naomi Shemer three weeks before the unification of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War, which ended 19 years of illegal occupation of Jerusalem by the Jordanians. The song was performed by Shuli Nathan at the Israel Music Festival on May 15, 1967, which was attended by many Israeli soldiers.
The poem alludes to the Biblical book of Lamentations, written by the prophet Jeremiah after the destruction of the First Temple:
The empty marketplace, the dry cisterns, and the abandoned Temple Mount are all mentioned in the Book of Lamentations. The references from Lamentations used by Shemer in this song are well known in the global Jewish community.
When Israeli paratroopers liberated the Old City and Eastern Jerusalem from Jordanian occupation in 1967, they were heard singing Jerusalem of Gold at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.
Captured in an iconic photograph, the Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, Shlomo Goren, blew a ram's horn (shofar) at the Wall. After the war, Shemer added verses to Jerusalem of Gold to reflect the new reality.
The poem alludes to the Biblical book of Lamentations, written by the prophet Jeremiah after the destruction of the First Temple:
"How dark the gold has become,The gold in the Temple of Jerusalem melted when the Temple was destroyed by Babylonian soldiers during the reign (634 - 562 BCE) of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II.
How the pure gold has changed!"
– Bible, Lamentations 4:1
The empty marketplace, the dry cisterns, and the abandoned Temple Mount are all mentioned in the Book of Lamentations. The references from Lamentations used by Shemer in this song are well known in the global Jewish community.
When Israeli paratroopers liberated the Old City and Eastern Jerusalem from Jordanian occupation in 1967, they were heard singing Jerusalem of Gold at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.
Captured in an iconic photograph, the Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, Shlomo Goren, blew a ram's horn (shofar) at the Wall. After the war, Shemer added verses to Jerusalem of Gold to reflect the new reality.
The Western Wall June 7, 1967
Jerusalem of Gold Lyrics by Naomi Shemer
JERUSALEM OF GOLD(1) Bible, Isaiah 6: 6,7
(Yerushalayim Shel Zahav)
by Naomi Shemer (1930 - 2004)
The mountain air is clear as wine
And the scent of pines
Is carried on the breeze of twilight
With the sound of bells.
The trees and stones there softly slumber
Captured in her dream.
The city that sits solitary
And at its heart is a wall.
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold, I am a violin for all your songs.
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.
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold, I am a violin for all your songs.
We have returned to the cisterns
To the market and the square
A ram's horn [shofar] Calls out on the Temple Mount
In the Old City.
And in the caves in the mountain
Thousand suns shine
We will once again descend to the Dead Sea
By the way of Jericho!
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold, I am a violin for all your songs.
But as I come to sing to you, my city,
And to adorn you with crowns
I am the smallest of the youngest of your children
Of all the poets born.
For your name scorches the lips
Like the kiss of a Seraph, (1)
If I forget you Jerusalem (2)
Which is all gold.
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold, I am a violin for all your songs.
(2) Bible, Psalm 137:5
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