Will the building freeze in Jerusalem and in our holy homeland be extended? That depends...
After the Six-Day War in 1967 when Jerusalem was recaptured from the Jordanians, Naomi Shemer wrote a beautiful song called Yerushalayim Shel Zahav, or Jerusalem of Gold. Sung by Shuli Natan, it became Israel's unofficial national anthem. With Hashem's loving help, my dear friend Chezi Levy, Israel's favorite troubador, will now sing the song for you right here at the Beams:
If we yearn a little more for our holy city, perhaps we won't lose entire chunks of it. In fact, to strengthen our threatened hold on our beloved homeland, we must immediately strengthen our emuna and our love for Hashem, His Torah, His holy Land of Emuna, and for each other.
Politicians don't decide what will happen here, Hashem does. The politicians haven't made the building freeze in Judea and Samaria, Betar and Kiriat Sefer; Hashem did. Whether or not the freeze will be extended is up to Hashem, not to the politicians; they are only rubber stamps of Divine Will. So, to thaw out the building freeze in our beloved homeland, we have to thaw out our relations with Hashem. How? Less material and bodily appetites, and more Torah and emuna. Fast. There's no time to waste.
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Hezy Levy sings Jerusalem of gold on a concert tour in France.
Jerusalem of Gold
The olive trees that stand in silence
Upon the hills of time
To hear the voices of the city
As bells of evening chime
The shofar sounding from the temple
To call the world to prayer
The shepherd pauses in the valley
And peace is everywhere.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem
Forever young, forever old
My heart will sing your songs of glory
Jerusalem.
Yerushalaiym shel zahav
Veshel nechoshet veshel or
Halo lechol shirayich
Ani kinor
How many songs, how many stories
Her stony hills recall
Around her heart my City carries
An ancient lonely wall
My simple voice cannot acclaim thee
Too weak the words I choose
Jerusalem -- if I forgot thee
My right arm may I lose
Jerusalem of Gold
The olive trees that stand in silence
Upon the hills of time
To hear the voices of the city
As bells of evening chime
The shofar sounding from the temple
To call the world to prayer
The shepherd pauses in the valley
And peace is everywhere.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem
Forever young, forever old
My heart will sing your songs of glory
Jerusalem.
Yerushalaiym shel zahav
Veshel nechoshet veshel or
Halo lechol shirayich
Ani kinor
How many songs, how many stories
Her stony hills recall
Around her heart my City carries
An ancient lonely wall
My simple voice cannot acclaim thee
Too weak the words I choose
Jerusalem -- if I forgot thee
My right arm may I lose
