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"Naomi Shemer left us an immortal legacy of Hebrew works on which many generations of Israelis will be raised," said Education Minister Limor Livnat.
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Naomi Shemer was awarded the Israel Prize in 1987 for her contribution to Israeli music.
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| By Ellis Shuman June 27, 2004 |
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Renowned songwriter Naomi Shemer, composer of the 1967 Six Day War anthem "Jerusalem of Gold," will be buried this evening at Kvutzat Kinneret overlooking the Sea of Galilee, where she was born. Shemer, an Israel Prize laureate, died yesterday after a serious illness at the age of 73.
"Naomi Shemer's Hebrew songs left bookmarks on the country's history," said President Moshe Katsav. "Her songs expressed an intense love for the country and for the people of Israel. The words of her songs are her legacy, and they will accompany us forever," he said.
Education Minister Limor Livnat instructed schools around the country to devote part of their studies today to Shemer's lifetime work. "We have had a great privilege that a giant like Naomi Shemer has lived and created in our generation," Livnat said. "Naomi has left us an immortal legacy of Hebrew works on which many generations of Israelis will be raised," she said. "The kingdom of Hebrew song has today lost its queen."
MK Shimon Peres (Labor) said Naomi Shemer was a rare example of Israeli consensus. "Few people have been able to unite the nation with their personality, with their actions and creations, and with sadness at their deaths," Peres said. "She left us with song, taught us to mourn, and to rejoice as a nation, and as individuals."
"Naomi Shemer's death is a great loss," said actor Shaike Levy, who as part of the Gashash Hahivair entertainment troupe performed many of Shemer's songs. "There are composers whose creations flow like a river. There are others whose works are like a fountain. But with Naomi Shemer it was like rain, because we all got wet," he said.
"Jerusalem of Gold" becomes Six Day War anthem
Naomi Shemer was born in 1930 at Kvutzat Kinneret, where her parents were founders. She started playing piano at the age of 6, and began writing songs in her 20s. After serving in the Nahal's entertainment troupe, she left the kibbutz to study music at Jerusalem's Rubin Academy of Music and later moved to Tel Aviv to devote herself to songwriting.
Many of Shemer's songs were composed for army entertainment troupes. She composed for the Batzal Yarok troupe (Green Onion), which starred Haim Topol. Many of her texts were taken from the poems of Rachel, which describe the landscape of the Kinneret and the Jordan Valley, where they both lived.
In 1967, then Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek asked Shemer to write a song about the city. Several weeks after Yerushalayim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold) was first performed by Shuli Natan at a Hebrew Song Festival, the Six Day War broke out, and the song became the war's anthem. After the war, Shemer added an additional verse to reflect Jerusalem's new reality.
After the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Shemer wrote Lu Yahi (May it Be). The song was originally conceived as a Hebrew version of the Beatles' "Let It Be," because Shemer didn't like the way radio broadcasters translated the name of that song into Hebrew.
In 1977, Yehoram Gaon recorded Shemer's Lo Ahavti Di (I Have Not Loved Enough), which quickly became a favorite, especially among folk dance enthusiasts. In 1979, the line "Do not tear up that which is planted" from the song Al Kol Aleh (For All these Things) became the slogan of the campaign against the evacuation of Yamit.
Shemer was awarded the Israel Prize in 1987 for her contribution to Israeli music. She is survived by her husband, two children and four grandchildren. Prior to her death, she asked that no eulogies be delivered at her funeral. Instead, three songs will be sung: her own Hurshat Haeucalyptus (Eucalyptus Grove) and Noa," and Sham Harei Golan (There, the Hills of the Golan Heights) written by the poet Rachel.
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