This is a draft of Naomi Shemer’s song “Lu Yehi” which was written in 1973.
The idea for the song originated before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, when Naomi Shemer wanted to adapt the Beatles’ song “Let it Be” into Hebrew. She wrote the lyrics during the first days of the war, expressing hope and prayers that the soldiers would come home in peace. Shemer played the song to Chava Alberstein in its original tune, but at the suggestion of Shemer’s husband, Mordechai Horowitz, she decided to compose a new tune for it. This process can be seen in the draft where the words “from the song of the Beatles: a Hebrew version” are crossed out and changed to: “Words and melody: Naomi Shemer.”
At the height of the war, on the eve of Sukkot, 1973, Shemer played the updated song on Israeli television. The live performance, on the program “Mifgash Omanim,” attracted an incredible amount of attention. The nation was in the midst of the Yom Kippur War, and the song provided a morale boost to the families waiting for news of their loved ones. The song immediately became popular also among soldiers, thanks to a version of the song performed by Chava Alberstein and the group HaGashash HaHiver.
The second verse of the song was omitted from most versions, since Shemer thought that it touched on the particularly gruelling experience of receiving a message about the death of one’s soldier (“the messenger standing at the door”), despite the fact that the verse expresses the hope that the messenger will come bearing good news.
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"Lu Yehi" and the Yom Kippur War - Within Israeli national culture, the song “Lu Yehi” is the song that best symbolises the nation’s response to the Yom Kippur War. The National Library has a number of original letters that were written to Naomi Shemer by the public in response to the song. Here is an excerpt from one of those letters written by Corporal Ilan Bachar at the end of December, 1973:
A few weeks ago we sat and, as usual, talked about them...those who aren’t with us. Suddenly, in the background of this sad conversation, we heard your song and fell quiet. We felt as if we found the answer to what we were trying to express… all that we seek…all that we seek…and indeed, we unashamedly found ourselves wiping away tears.”
Naomi Shemer - Naomi Shemer was probably the most famous female song composer in Israel, most famously known for her song “Yerushalayim shel Zahav” – “Jerusalem of Gold.”
Connections to Parashat Vayishlach
At the start of Parashat Vayishlach, Jacob has returned to the Land of Israel and is preparing to meet his brother, Esau. The brothers had not met for 34 years, and Esau had sworn to kill Jacob, and, according to some commentators, had even sent his son to kill Jacob.
The medieval commentator Rashi mentioned that Jacob took three steps to prepare for his meeting with Esau: 1) he made military preparations by dividing his camps into two (verses 8-9); 2) he prayed to God that his family would survive the meeting (verses 10-13); and 3) he sent gifts to his brother ahead of the meeting (verses 14-22).
During the war of 1973, people hoped for peace and salvation just as Jacob did before his meeting with Esau. Naomi Shemer's song Lu Yehi, can definitely be viewed as a modern Israeli prayer hoping that "All that we seek – may it be" just as Jacob prayed thousands of years ago:
And Jacob said: Oh God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Oh Lord who said to me: Return to your country, and to your family, and I will do good for you; I am not worthy of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which you have done for Your servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray you from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and destroy me, and the mother with the children. And You said: I will surely do you good, and make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted due to their size.
