Naomi Shemer ( he, נעמי שמר; July 13, 1930 – June 26, 2004) was a leading

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wr ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, hailed as the "first lady of Israeli song and poetry." Her song " Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" ("Jerusalem of Gold"), written in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, became an unofficial second

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...

after

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

won the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

that year and reunited

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Early life

Naomi Sapir () was born to Rivka and Meir Sapir (Sapirov) in kvutzat Kinneret, an Israeli

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

her parents had helped found, on the shores of the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest ...

. In the 1950s she served in the

Israeli Defense Force The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

Nahal Nahal ( he, נח"ל) (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training ...

entertainment troupe, and studied music at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem, and in Tel Aviv with

Paul Ben-Haim Paul Ben-Haim (or Paul Ben-Chaim, Hebrew: פאול בן חיים) (5 July 1897 – 14 January 1984) was an Israeli composer. Born Paul Frankenburger in Munich, Germany, he studied composition with Friedrich Klose and he was assistant conductor t ...

Abel Ehrlich Abel Ehrlich (Hebrew: אבל ארליך; September 3, 1915 – October 30, 2003) was an Israeli composer. In 1997, Ehrlich won the Israel Prize for Music. Biography Erlich was born in 1915 in Cranz, East Prussia. In 1934 he and his family fled ...

Ilona Vincze-Kraus Ilona Vincze-Krausz or Kraus (''née'' Krausz; he, אילונה_וינצה-קראוס; 14 December 1902 – 17 August 1998, Israel) was a Hungarian-Israeli teacher of current classical piano pedagogues. Education and professional history Vin ...

and

Josef Tal Josef Tal ( he, יוסף טל; September 18, 1910 – August 25, 2008) was an Israeli composer. He wrote three Hebrew operas; four German operas, dramatic scenes; six symphonies; 13 concerti; chamber music, including three string quartets; ins ...

Songwriting career

Shemer did her own songwriting and composing, set famous poems to music, such as those of the Israeli poet,

Rachel Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

, and the American

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

. She also translated and adapted popular songs into

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, such "Lu Yehi", an adaptation of the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

song " Let It Be" in 1973. In 1963, she composed ''"Hurshat Ha'Eucalyptus"'' ("The Eucalyptus Grove"), a song that evokes Kvutzat Kinneret where she was born.Profile
''Haaretz'', July 7, 2008. It was covered in a recent version by

Ishtar Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Su ...

. In 1967, she wrote the patriotic song, " Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" (Jerusalem of Gold), which was sung by

Shuli Natan Shulamit "Shuli" Natan ( he, שׁוּלָמִית „שׁוּלִי” נָתָן (born March 16, 1947) is an Israeli singer. She is best known for singing "Jerusalem of Gold" (''Yerushalayim Shel Zahav''), written by Naomi Shemer. Singing care ...

and became famous. She wrote it for the Israeli Music Festival. After Israel's victory in the

that year, she added another verse celebrating the

reunification of Jerusalem The Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem, known to Israelis as the reunification of Jerusalem, refers to the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War, and its annexation. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separate, internatio ...

. The song "gained the status of an informal second national anthem."Saxon, Wolfgang. "Naomi Shemer, 74, Poet and Composer, Dies"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' obituary, June 29, 2004; accessed August 3, 2012.

Personal life

She first married actor Gideon Shemer and had a daughter, Lali. They were later divorced. She later married an attorney, Mordechai Horowitz. The two had a son Ariel Horowitz, who also became a musician. Shemer continued to write her own songs. She died in 2004 of cancer, aged 74. Shortly before her death, she wrote to a friend, saying she had used a Basque folk melody as the basis for her 1967 "anthem," "Jerusalem of Gold". She had always denied it before. The friend and her family decided to publish the account.Idit Avrahami, Nurit Wurgaft, "Naomi Shemer had no reason to feel bad, says Basque singer"
''Haaretz'', May 6, 2005; accessed August 3, 2012 In 1962, singer

Paco Ibáñez Francisco "Paco" Ibáñez (born 20 November 1934 in Valencia) is a Spanish singer and musician. He never composed his own lyrics, but used famous poems, like those of Federico García Lorca, Luis Cernuda, Rafael Alberti or Miguel Hernández. He ...

performed the Basque melody " Pello Joxepe" (Joseph The Fool), in Israel, when Shemer might have heard it. Shemer was buried in the cemetery at Kvutzat Kinneret, her place of birth. Alongside her are buried many of the socialist ideologues and pioneers of the

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ea ...

and

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

waves of immigration. Shemer was buried near the famous Israeli poet

, according to Shemer's wish.Grishaver, Joel L., and Barkin, Josh. ''Artzeinu: An Israel Encounter''. Los Angeles: Torah Aura Productions, 2008. 99. ''Google Books''. Retrieved October 25, 2011.

Awards

In 1983, Shemer received the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

for Hebrew song (words and melody).

Works

* ''All My Songs (Almost)'', 1967, published by ''

Yedioth Ahronoth ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' ( he, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, ; lit. ''Latest News'') is a national daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Founded in 1939 in British Mandatory Palestine, ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' is the largest paid n ...

'' * ''The Second Book'', copyright 1975, published by Lulav * ''Number Three (Sefer Gimel)'', copyright 1982, published by Lulav * ''Book Four (Sefer Arbah)'', copyright 1995, published by Shva Publishers

References

External links

Obituary for Naomi Shemer
Jewish Federations
''Tikkun Toronto''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shemer, Naomi 1930 births 2004 deaths Deaths from cancer in Israel Israel Prize in Hebrew song recipients Israel Prize women recipients Israeli female composers Jewish Israeli musicians Israeli women songwriters Jews in Mandatory Palestine People from Northern District (Israel) Israeli women poets 20th-century Israeli women singers