Naomi Shemer Israeli poet and composer Date of Birth: 13.07.1930 Country: Israel

Biography of Naomi Shemer

Naomi Shemer was an Israeli poet and composer, best known as the author of the unofficial anthem of Jerusalem, "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" (Jerusalem of Gold). She was born into a family of Vilna immigrants, Rivka and Yosef Sapir, in Kibbutz Kfar Giladi, Israel. Her parents, Meir and Rivka Sapir, both arrived separately in the 1920s and met in the kibbutz. They were socialists who did not observe religious traditions. Naomi had one brother and one sister.

After the war, her father became involved in the organization "Bricha," which facilitated the escape of surviving Jews from Europe and their transport to Palestine. As Naomi grew up, she began taking music lessons in Haifa. She later graduated from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and returned to the kibbutz to teach music to children and write songs. Naomi believed that any song, whether Russian, American, or Yemenite, could be transformed into a Jewish song if desired. Her most famous song, "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" (Jerusalem of Gold), was written in 1967.

At the beginning of 1967, Israeli radio asked Naomi to write a song about Jerusalem for a concert dedicated to Independence Day. She was initially hesitant, as there were already many beautiful songs about Jerusalem. However, she couldn't come up with anything by the time Purim arrived. In desperation, she called the radio and asked to be relieved from the honor. The director, Gil Aldema, agreed but requested that she write at least one song for the concert. After hanging up, Aldema told his colleague that now she would surely write about Jerusalem. And he was right.

After Naomi's death in 2004, Aldema revealed that she had taken the melody of "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" from a Basque lullaby. The song was performed at the concert, and it became a resounding success as every Israeli longed for the Old City and the Western Wall. When Israeli forces liberated Jerusalem three weeks later, the song became a hit, symbolizing the joy of the entire nation.

During the Yom Kippur War, Naomi tried to adapt the Beatles' song "Let It Be" into Hebrew words. She wanted to convey the anxiety and bitterness of the losses suffered by Israeli forces caught off guard by Syrians and Egyptians. However, her attempts were unsuccessful. Her husband, who had returned from the war, advised her not to use foreign music and encouraged her to compose Jewish music instead.

Naomi wrote various other songs, including "Lu Yehi" (Let It Be), which was the Hebrew version of the Beatles' song and was performed during the 1973 war. She also wrote "Ish Muzar" (Strange Man), a song dedicated to the settlers of Elon More. Inspired by the sight of tens of thousands of people reclaiming Jewish land after the Six-Day War, Naomi saw it as a return to their roots and a material embodiment of their love for the Land of Israel.

In 1975, Naomi wrote the satirical-tragic song "Pesnja ob Akule" (The Song About the Shark) as a protest against negotiations for the return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. The song's heroine, a sardine, offered herself piece by piece to a shark, hoping to hear the greeting "shalom" in return. When she offered herself whole, the shark opened its mouth and swallowed her along with its response.

Another significant song by Naomi, "Al Kol Ele" (Upon All These), was associated with a painful moment in Israel's history - the transfer of the Yamit region to Egypt and the destruction of the Jewish town of Yamit and its surrounding settlements. Naomi wrote this song as an attempt to console her sister, who had become a widow. The lyrics included the line "Do not uproot that which was planted." In a year and a half, Israel made peace with Egypt and was forced to evacuate the Yamit settlement in the Sinai Peninsula. The activists of the Yamit movement called and thanked Naomi for the song, which expressed their feelings.

Naomi Shemer also wrote numerous songs for children and song cycles for each Jewish holiday. In 1983, she received the Israel Prize for her contribution to culture.

Naomi Shemer held right-wing views and aligned herself with the "Undivided Israel" movement. She sympathized with settlers in Israeli-controlled territories but never allowed her authority and name to be used in political games. Since 2005, Marina Melamed has been performing Naomi Shemer's songs in Russian in a bardic arrangement, accompanying herself on the guitar, with translations by Inna Vinyarskaya. Naomi Shemer remains one of the best and most significant creators of original Israeli song tradition, with some of her songs becoming unofficial anthems and symbolic of pivotal events in the history of the State of Israel.