Way to go, Joe! I just came to paste in a copy of a message from Bracha Ben Avraham. She gave me English and transliterated Hebrew words; she says if she posted Hebrew characters, they would appear as Greek letters instead! - Felipa

Jerusalem of Gold - Yerushalayim shel Zahav

1.
The mountain air is clear as wine.
The scent of pine trees is carried on the late afternoon wind
Together with the sound of bells.
Within the sleep of stone and tree, imprisoned in her dream, lies the city alone and in its heart is a wall.*
1.
Avir harim tzalool kayayin
V'rayach oranim
Neesa beruach ha'arbayeem
Im kol pa'amonim
U'betardemat ilan va'evan
Shvooya bachaloma
Ha'ir asher badad yoshevet
U'b'libah choma.

Chorus:
Jerusalem of gold, of copper and of light
I will be a violin (lyre) for all your songs.
Chorus:
Yerushalayim shel zahav
V'shel nechoshet v'shel or
Hallo lechol shirayich ani kinor.

2.
Alas, The water cisterns have all dried up.
The market square is empty.
None visit the Temple Mount
In the old city.
Winds wail in the rock caves.
None go down to the Dead Sea
By the road through Jericho.
2.
Eicha yabshu borot hamayim
Kikar hashuk raykah
V'ain poked et har habayit
Ba'ir ha'atikah.
Ubema'arot asher basela
Meyalelot ruchotv V'ain yordim el yam hamelach
Bederech yericho.

3.

But when I come to sing to you
And to place crowns upon you
I am smaller than your youngest sons
And your lesser poets.
For your name burns the lips
Like a burning kiss
If I forget you, Jerusalem
That is all gold.
3.
Ach bevo'ee hayom lashir lack
Velach likshor ketarim
Katanti mitza'ir banayich
Umeacharon ha'meshorerim.
Ki shmech tzorev et hasfatayeemv Keneshikat saraf
Eem eshkachech Yerushalayim
Asher koola zahav.

4.
We have returned to the water cisterns
To the market and the square
A shofar * sounds on the Temple Mount
In the old city.
A thousand suns shine in the stone caves
We will again go down to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho.

4.
Chazarnu el borot hamayim
Lashuk ve'lakikar
Shofar koray behar habayit
Ba'ir ha'atikah.
U'bama'arot asher basela
Alfay shamshot zorchot
V'shuv nered el yam hamelach
Bederech yericho.

*Referring to the Western wall of the ancient temple
*A shofar is a ram's horn which is blown by Jews in synagogue on the high holidays and which is still used as a call of alarm or call to celebration.

The song was written by Naomi Shemer, a very well known Israeli songwriter, before the six - day war, when Jerusalem was still divided and the old part of the city inducing the Temple Mount and the road to Jericuo were still in Jordanian hands. The fourth verse was written after 1967 as an answer to the second.