Naomi Shemer's personal pocket diary where she wrote the words for the fourth verse of the song "Jerusalem of Gold."
At the beginning of 1967, Teddy Kollek, mayor of Jerusalem, commissioned a song about Jerusalem from the famous songwriter Naomi Shemer. This song, "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" (Jerusalem of Gold), was written for the Israel Song Festival and became one of the most famous Israeli songs ever. Written during the Jordanian occupation of the Old City, at a time when Jews could not enter the Old City and worship at their holy places, it describes the longings of the Jewish people for Jerusalem.
The song also includes hints to both the Talmudic story of Rabbi Akiva, who created a jewel named "Jerusalem of Gold" for his wife, and to a poem about Jerusalem written in the Middle Ages by Rabbi Yehuda Halevi.
"Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" was performed by the young singer Shuli Nathan at the Israel Song Festival in May 1967 and became an overnight success. Less than a month later, the Six Day War broke out and on June 7, 1967, the IDF captured the Old City, enabling the Jewish people to return to their holy places. Naomi Shemer's new song about Jerusalem became the unofficial anthem of the Jewish people the world over. However, the song, written as a lament for the abandoned city, was no longer relevant, so Naomi Shemer added a final verse which countered the mournful second verse:
"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.
We will go down to the Dead Sea by way of Jericho."
This photograph is a page from Naomi Shemer's personal diary. You can see that on one of the pages, together with a phone number she had jotted down, she had written out the words for the new fourth verse of the song "Jerusalem of Gold."
Naomi Shemer's personal archive is housed in the music department of the National Library of Israel. In addition to the original words and musical score of the song, many other related documents can be found including letters and translations of the song into many languages.
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Naomi Shemer - Naomi (Sapir) Shemer, “Israel’s first lady of song,” was born on July 13, 1930 at Kvuzat Kinneret. She served in the IDF’s Nahal entertainment troupe and studied at the Israel Academy of Music (Rubin Academy). Shemer composed many original songs and set to music famous poems by poets such as Rachel and Walt Whitman. Her songs range from children’s songs to songs about the beauty of Israel and the history of Israel. Her most famous song, “Jerusalem of Gold,” was written a month before the Six-Day War and was adapted after the war to reflect the reunification of Jerusalem. Later, after the Six-Day War, she sang the song with the new verse adapted for the historical reunification of Jerusalem, stating that “we have returned to the wells.” Other popular songs by Naomi Shemer include “Lu Yehi” (Let it Be) and Al Kol Eleh" (For All These Things).
In 1983 Naomi Shemer was awarded the Israel Prize for Hebrew song. The judges said:
"The Israel Prize is awarded to Naomi Shemer for her songs, which everyone sings because of their poetic and musical merit and the wonderful blend of lyrics and music and also because they express the emotions of the people"
Naomi Shemer died in 2004 after a long battle with cancer. She is buried in the cemetery at Kibbutz Kinneret. In accordance with her requests, no eulogies were said at her funeral, which was broadcast on national television; instead, three of her songs were sung.
