Thanks to J.J. Surbeck, Charles Wax for spotting this.
JJ Surbeck writes:
Our good friend Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, whom we know for her exemplary work as activist and coordinator extraordinaire in her fight against anti-Semitism within the University of California system, is also, let’s not forget, first and foremost a scholar. And she reminded us of this basic fact by sending us these interesting details regarding the Russian Army rendition of “Jerusalem of Gold”. Something was missing, and I wouldn’t have known it without her. Enjoy.
J.J. Surbeck
Executive Director
Training and Education
About the Middle East
http://www.sandiegoteam.org
E-mail: info@sandiegoteam.org
Tel. 760-613-9993
____________________________________________________________________________
JJ,
Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kolek commissioned Naomi Shemer to write a song about Jerusalem in the depressing period before the ’67 war, figuring that it could help lift the very low spirits of Jerusalemites. The pre-war version had 3 stanzas :
1. 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
Captured in her dream
The city that sits solitary
And in its midst is a wall.
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.
2. 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…
3. 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…
Jerusalem of gold…
Here is Shulie Nathan’s gorgeous performance of the original piece at the 1967 Israel Song Festival, shortly before the war: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yR9KDduDVA
After the 1967 war, Shemer added the 4th stanza, which hearkens back to, and essentially reverses, the second stanza:
4. We have returned to the cisterns, to the market and the square
The shofar calls on the Temple Mount in the Old City
And from the caves in the rocks a thousand suns glow again
And we will once again go down to the Dead Sea by way of Jericho.
Yerushalim shel zahav…
A popular version of the song replaces the second stanza with the new post-67 stanza. Here’s a beautiful rendition of that version by Ofra Haza:
http://www.bing.com/search?q=ofra+haza+jerusalem+of+gold&pc=MOZI&form=MOZSBR
The Red Army version just included stanzas 1 and 3.
Feel free to share.