Yerushalayim Shel Zahav - Performed by Cantors Lisa Peicott and Jacqueline Rafii

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To celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel's Independence Day) and Israel's 72nd birthday, Cantors Peicott and Rafii join together virtually while sheltering at home with a classic, beloved song from Israel.

Vocals: Lisa Peicott and Jacqueline Rafii
Piano and Arrangement: Jacqueline Rafii

Yerushalayim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold)
Lyrics and Music by Naomi Shemer

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.

Chorus:
Jerusalem of gold
And of copper, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.
x2

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!

Source (full lyrics and translation): http://hebrewsongs.com/?song=yerushal...