October 7th, 2023
I pulled an all nighter between the 6th and the 7th of October, 2023, recording my translation for an old, comforting song called “Days of Silence” (“Yamim Shel Sheket”) just before sirens started blaring, warning of missiles fired from Gaza towards Israel, that signaled the beginning of the heinous attack and massacre that occurred that day.
Unbeknownst to me, a musician friend of mine was DJing at a party (Psyduck) near the border with Gaza. It took three days for the conformation of his murder at the hands of terrorists to come through.
I’ve been working on my music and this site for the past 6 months, ever since I got a new lease for life after a complex spinal cord surgery (my 11th) that halted my body’s motor function & neuropathic pain deterioration, which has been happening for the past 10 years, and more intensely the past 4 years.
Suddenly, everything seems so small, so meaningless. I’m still trying to figure out how to tell my story in the midst of so many awful, horrific stories coming to light. But while still working hard on rehabilitating my body, my soul needs rehabilitation as well – and the most effective way of soul rehabilitation I ever knew was creating.
That said, it’ll take time before I’ll allow myself to release any music that’s centers around my personal struggle, and I accumulated hundreds of songs about it over the past 4 years.
I have – however – curated and recorded 6 translations of songs I consider masterpieces that I find fit and relate to the current horrifying landscape. They are all demos and won’t be released onto any other platforms in the foreseeable future. I hope the fighting will end soon, with Hamas dismantled and dreams of a peaceful coexistence rejuvenated, with the minimum amount of innocent civilian casualties as possible.
I dedicate these translations to Daniel Cohen, and to all the 1400+ Israeli casualties of the atrocities commited by Hamas since the 7th of October, and hope for the swift return of the 240+ kidnapped men, women, children and elderly.
1. Eli Eli (Walk to Caesarea) (אלי אלי) – An old Hebrew song that was written by Hannah Szenes. She volunteered to fight along side the British in the second world war, eventually got captured by the Nazis, tortured and executed. The poem was discovered only after her death, composed into a song by David Zehavi.
Hebrew Version (Cover) – English Version – Side-By-Side Translation Player
2. Ponar (פונאר) – Originally written in Yiddish by Shmerke Kaczerginski & Noah (Leon) Wolkowyski, later translated to Hebrew by Avraham Shlonski, and composed by Alexander Tamir – was written in 1943 in Ghetto Vilna. Its a lullaby for a child who’s father was murdered in Ponar by the Nazis. The lyrics were read at the end of the prosecution’s closing statements in Adolf Eichmann’s trial.
Hebrew Version (Cover) – English Version – Side-By-Side Translation Player
3. It Becomes (האמנם; את תלכי בשדה) – Written by Lea Goldberg and composed by Haim Barkani. It first came to light in the midst of the second world war. Its a song about sorrow, forgiveness and optimism in the face of unspeakable horrors and immeasurable pain.
Hebrew Version (Cover) – English Version – Side-By-Side Translation Player
4. Fathers and Kin (אבות ובנים) – Written and composed by Eviatar Banai and featured on his first eponymous album, It is a song about grief and mourning, about parents and grandparents dealing with the loss of their children. It was featured in the movie “Beaufort” (2007) – sung by a soldier after his friend loses his life to an IED.
Hebrew Version (Cover) – English Version – Side-By-Side Translation Player
5. Nation (אין לי ארץ אחרת) – Written by Ehud Manor and Composed by Corinne Allal, Its one of Israel’s most famous songs. It deals with the question of patriotism in the midst of a country losing it’s way, and a reminder that eventually, Israel is the only homeland and refuge of the Jewish people. We have no other nation.
Hebrew Version (Cover) – English Version – Side-By-Side Translation Player
6. The Prayer of Francois Villion (Molitva) – Written & Performed by Bulat Okudzhava. A song by Russian troubador Bulat Okudzhava, written under Soviet Russia’s regime, that details the pleas and prayers of a convict sentenced to death rowards god. Bulat’s family was persecuted by the Soviets, with members of is family sent to the Gulag and labor camps, his anti-Soviet sentiment grew fierce. Many consider this song, and the prayer within it, as ironic and tongue-in-cheek.
Russian Version (Cover) – Hebrew Version – English Version – Side-By-Side Translation Player
Thank you for taking your time to listen, hope it was comforting, in a way.
May we know better, peaceful days, soon.