Jerusalem of Gold ( in Hebrew: ירושלים של זהב – Yerushalayim shel zahav) is the title of an Israeli song written by Naomi Shemer in 1967. Sung by Shuli Nathan three weeks before the Six-Day War, it quickly became a worldwide hit, to the point of being covered by numerous artists from all over the world, such as Les compagnons de la chanson, Rika Zaraï, Chava Alberstein, Ofra Haza, Demis Roussos, Klaus Meine, Roberto Carlos, Hélène Ségara….
According to the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers of Israeli Music (ACUM), there are over 300 different versions of this song, translated into numerous languages, including Esperanto.
In the playlist below, we’ve included 12 versions of this song: the first sung by Naomi Shemer, the second is the original version sung by Shuli Nathan during the May 15, 1967 Song Festival, and the 3rd is the version sung by Ofra Haza in 1998 for the ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel. The following versions are sung in French (Les compagnons de la chanson, Rika Zaraï), English (Demis Roussos, Scorpion and Liel), Spanish (Leah Chaye), Finnish (Carola Standertskjöld) and even Yiddish (David Eshet)!
Enjoy!
Read the article about Jerusalem of Gold, a song by Naomi Shemer
