Israeli singer, actor, director, comedian, producer, TV and radio host, and public figure (he was elected to the Jerusalem Municipal Council in 1993) Yehoram Gaon, 84, this week released an homage to the city of his birth, Jerusalem, ahead of Jerusalem Liberation Day.
Written by Yehuda Karni (1884-1949), With Each Rolling Stone is a love song for Jerusalem and the Jewish people.
“I sang many songs to the city of Jerusalem, full of yearning and longing for the city,” said Gaon and, and added that when he had been asked by composer Udi Turgeman to find a suitable song for the celebrative day, “I searched a lot until I was reminded of a poem by the wonderful poet Yehuda Karni, who went all the way with his feelings and wanted his love to be tangible.”
“I admit with all my heart that in all the songs I have sung, I have not found a greater love than this for the eternal city, humbly wishing to be a stone of the wall, anticipating under the plaster the coming of Moshiach.”
With each rolling stone, wedge me in the breach
And tighten me with mallets,
Maybe I’ll atone for my homeland, and let be forgiven
The iniquity of the nation that didn’t fortify the ruins.
How good would it be to know, that I am a stone like all the stones of Jerusalem,
And how happy would I be when my bones merge with the wall,
Why should my body merit less than my soul, which in fire and water
Walked with the nation, crying or silent.
Take me along with the Jerusalem stone and wedge me in the walls
And plastered over me,
And from the city wall, my wearying bones will sing
Yearning for Moshiach.
