Jerusalem of Gold

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"Jerusalem of Gold" (Hebrew: ירושלים של זהב‎, Yerushalayim Shel Zahav) is a popular Israeli song written by Naomi Shemer in 1967. The original song described the Jewish people's 2000-year longing to return to Jerusalem; Shemer added a final verse after the Six-Day War to celebrate Jerusalem's unification under Jewish control.

Naomi Shemer wrote the original song for the Israeli Music Festival on May 15, 1967, the night after Israel's 19th Independence Day. She chose the then-unknown Shuli Nathan to sing the song. At that time, the Old City was under Jordanian rule; Jews had been barred from entering, and many holy sites had been desecrated. Only three weeks after the song was published, the Six-Day War broke out. The song was the battle cry and morale booster of the Israeli troops. Shemer even sang it for them before the war and festival, making them among the first in the world to hear it. On June 7, the Israel Defense Forces captured the eastern part of Jerusalem and the Old City from the Jordanians. When Shemer heard the paratroopers singing "Jerusalem of Gold" at the Western Wall, she wrote a final verse, reversing the phrases of lamentation found in the second verse. The line about shofars sounding from the Temple Mount is a reference to that actually happening on June 7.

This song has been translated loosely into many languages. It was also chosen as the "Song of the Year" in Israel in 1967.

The song is the corps song of the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. The corps sings it before every competition.

Many artists recorded their own versions for the song.

  • The Greek singer Demis Roussos recorded his version of the song as well.
  • It also features prominently at the end of the film Schindler's List (with the exception of the Israeli release), when the remaining Jews leave the camp and walk over the hill in the direction of a nearby town. Initial Israeli audiences were amused by the use of this song, due to it being written over 20 years after the Holocaust and being totally unrelated to the subject of the film. Following this, it was replaced with Hannah Szenes's song "Eli Eli" for Israeli showings.
  • The late Israeli singer Ofra Haza sang a poignant version of the song at Pa'amonei Hayovel (Bells of the Jubilee), Israel's 50th anniversary celebration in 1998.

Many of the lyrics refer to traditional Jewish poetry and themes. "Jerusalem of Gold" is a reference to a special piece of jewelry mentioned in a famous Talmudic legend about Rabbi Akiva; "To all your songs, I am a violin" is a quote from a poem by Rabbi Yehuda Halevi; and others.

In May 2005, after her death, it was revealed that some of the melody was based on a Basque lullaby Pello Joxepe by Paco Ibañez, who visited Israel circa 1965 and sang this song to a group that included Naomi Shemer and Nehama Hendel. Shemer wrote acknowledging hearing Hendel perform Pello Joxepe in the mid-1960s. Shemer based her melody on the lullaby unconsciously, and said she felt very bad about it when she found out that she had done so.

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