​What could be more evocative of the Jordan River than Naomi Shemer's famous song "To sing is to be like the Jordan"? The lyrics, familiar to many of us, are about the sources of the river, and the song lends itself admirably to a geography lesson on the subject.

 

Na'ama began sifting through Naomi Shemer's archive at the National Library and came upon an original letter containing the lyrics of the song. This was a working copy with deletions and amendments. Especially exciting for the geography teacher was a note at the bottom of the page, which read: "N.B. The first verse follows in the footsteps of our Bat Mitzvah trip (a mere 29 years ago). You see! Nothing is ever lost."

With the help of Dr. Gila Flam, Director of the National Library's Music Department, and Tamar Zigman, a member of staff, Na'ama Sadan contacted Naomi Shemer's daughter Lali. Lali Shemer looked into the matter and found that the letter, song lyrics and personal note, were addressed to Naomi Shemer's mother in 1972, on the twelfth anniversary of the death of Meir Sapir, Naomi's father.

Indeed, nothing is ever lost. The lyrics of "To sing is to be like the Jordan" are preserved in Naomi Shemer's original hand, along with a note to her mother that memorializes a personal, and typically Israeli, recollection of  a Bat Mitzvah trip to the sources of the Jordan river in 1943.