WhatsappThere is a ton of Jewish music about different aspects of the Jewish religion. Some songs are about Jerusalem. When you hear a Jerusalem song, you can’t help but to feel the deep connection between Jerusalem and the Jewish people.
Where the Words Originated
Gad Elbaz and Gershon Veroba sing this beautiful tune to the words “Im Eshkachech,” a common Jerusalem song. What’s so beautiful is that the Jewish people and Jewish musicians have been singing these words for thousands of years. They originated from the Book of Psalms. Below are the words to this Psalm, Psalm 137.
Psalm 137
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, we also wept when we remembered Zion. On willows in its midst we hung our harps. For there our captors asked us for words of song and our tormentors [asked of us] mirth, “Sing for us of the song of Zion.” “How shall we sing the song of the Lord on foreign soil?” If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget [its skill]. May my tongue cling to my palate, if I do not remember you, if I do not bring up Jerusalem at the beginning of my joy. Remember, O Lord, for the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem, those who say, “Raze it, raze it, down to its foundation!” O Daughter of Babylon, who is destined to be plundered, praiseworthy is he who repays you your recompense that you have done to us. Praiseworthy is he who will take and dash your infants against the rock (Chabad.org translation).
Jewish Jerusalem
The Arab world makes claims that Jerusalem doesn’t belong to the Jewish people. And the rest of the world believes them! As that idea flows freely throughout people’s minds, these words are so powerful. How can such claims be made when Jews have been reciting these words for thousands of years?
The world will keep claiming, and the Jews will keep singing.
