In June 1967, I sat in a makeshift bomb shelter in Talpiot,
Jerusalem, listening to mortar shells whiz overhead and explode all around us.
A few days later, on the holiday of Shavuos,
I stood in awe by the Western Wall.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
One day, I was walking along the street in Jerusalem and the
first line of this song came to me. Later that night, I wrote the rest. You can
listen to the song or download it (free) here.
Come walk with me through the streets of this city.
Let her living stones welcome you home.
Let us walk her winding roads, lanes and alleys.
Walk the streets of Jerusalem
Jerusalem calls aloud
And we are her echo.
Jerusalem shimmers
And the world is set aglow.
City of souls
And the soul of a People.
Come to Jerusalem
Come back home!
All our struggles, hopes, passions, tears, desires,
All that was promised us, in the shape of earth and stone.
All our prayers, we pray, facing toward Jerusalem.
Dear Lord, make our prayers Your own.
Jerusalem calls aloud
And we are her echo.
Jerusalem shimmers
And the world is set aglow.
City of souls
And the soul of a People.
Come to Jerusalem
Come back home!
A wall of stone, where each stone is a beating heart.
A thousand streets and alleys that ring with song and
prayer.
Learn, love, laugh, and live in the city of Jerusalem.
Walk her streets; breathe her air.
Jerusalem calls aloud
And we are her echo.
Jerusalem shimmers
And the world is set aglow.
City of souls
And the soul of a People.
Come to Jerusalem
Come back home!
These songs about the actual events in Jerusalem and both thoughts and feelings of the composer shows how pitiful the situation in that country is. It wakes up the soul on helping the needy and their hope for a peaceful life once more. Come to think of it, it's been ages since the war with their neighboring countries started. My prayers are on the people of Jerusalem.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mordechai. It is a beautiful song, and you are a beautiful person. What a privilege it was for me to first hear you play this song many years ago, back in your apartment in Givat Mordechai, with baby Na'ama Blumeh sleeping in her crib. What a zechut, to hear it again now thru Hashem's internet!
ReplyDeleteMay it be Hashem's will, that the Divine Presence will infuse all the works of your hands, just as it does in this song.
Great Song... Great Voice... we have a hidden talent in Modzitz!
ReplyDeleteBrings back memories of Givat Ada ... and Jerusalem. Thanks Mordekai.
ReplyDelete