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Songs/
Jerusalem Day
Jerusalem of Gold

Lyrics and Music: Naomi Shemer

The mountain air is clear as wine

The aroma of pine trees

Is carried on the twilight breeze

With the sound of bells

 

And when the tree and stone slumber

Captured in their dream

The city that sits alone

And in its heart a wall

 

Jerusalem of gold and of copper and of light

I am a violin for all your songs

 

How did the cisterns dry up

The market place is empty

And no-one visits the Temple Mount

In the Old City

 

And in the caves in the rocks

The winds howl

And no-one goes down to the Dead Sea

By way of Jericho

 

Jerusalem of gold and of copper and of light

I am a violin for all your songs

 

However when the day comes to sing to you

And garlands shall be placed on you

I am the smallest of your sons

And the last of your poets

 

Because your name burns my lips

As a kiss of a seraph

If I forget thee Jerusalem

Which is all of gold…

 

Jerusalem of gold and of copper and of light

I am a violin for all your songs

 

We have returned to the cisterns

To the market and the town square

The shofar calls us to the Temple Mount

In the Old City

 

And in the caves in the rock

Thousands of suns are shining

Again we will go down to the Dead Sea

By way of Jericho!

 

Jerusalem of gold and of copper and of light

I am a violin for all your songs.

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