At the crossroads - על אם הדרך

At the crossroads a tree stood.	על אם הדרך עץ עמד.
Stood and fell bent over.	עמד נופל אפיים.
Sleep well, child. The night fell.	נומה, בן. הלילה רד.
A stormy night in the water.	ליל סער על המים.
Hush, child. The boat is leaning	הס, ילד. הספינה על צד
Bent from the raging wind.	נוטה מזעף רוח.
At the crossroads a tree stood,	על אם הדרך עץ עמד,
No flowers and no fruits.	אין ציץ ואין תפוח.
To this tree, son, a long time ago	אל זה העץ אי פעם, בן,
Your mother’s father came.	אבי אמך הגיע.
And he took shelter in the tree’s evening shade	וצל ערבית בעץ קינן
And no branch was disturbed.	ובד הוא לא הניע.
Your mother’s father raised his head,	כבש בו ראש אבי אמך,
His face towards Jerusalem.	פניו לירושלים.
Crying, he carried out the Mincha prayer,	נשא בבכי תפילת מנחה,
One with his G-d.	עם אלוהיו בשניים.
To this tree, son, your father	אל זה העץ אביך, בן,
Was tied, bound by rope.	נקשר, עקוד בחבל.
With iron and a whip they struck him, son,	ברזל ושוט הכוהו, בן,
And his warm naive soul started leaving his body.	וחם תימר ההבל.
And when it was like red hot fire	וכשהיה כאש אדום
The sharper-than-a-sword whip,	השוט החד מחרב,
Your father silently collapsed to the ground,	צנח אביך ארצה דום,
At the time of Mincha, with the evening.	לעת מנחה, עם ערב.
He slowly collapsed from his altar,	צנח ממזבחו לאט,
His face towards Jerusalem.	פניו לירושלים.
Hush, child. The boat is leaning	הס, ילד. הספינה על צד
Kneeling, kissing the water.	כורעה, נושקת מים.
The boat is kneeling on its side,	כורעת הספינה על צד,
Rising, drawing out its nails!	עולה שלופת ציפורן!
At the crossroads a tree was cut,	על אם הדרך עץ נכרת,
Was cut and made into a mast…	נכרת ויהי לתורן…
Hush, child. The gate of glory	הס, ילד. שער התהילה
To the mast will open.	לתורן יפתח.
Today it is also a praying lectern,	הוא גם היום עמוד תפילה,
Today it is also an altar.	הוא גם היום מזבח.
At the crossroads a tree stood	על אם הדרך עץ עמד
And will not fall bent over.	ולא יפול אפיים.
Hush, child. The boat is leaning	הס, ילד. הספינה על צד
Rowing, splitting the water.	חותרה, בוקעת מים.

English does not do this song justice. I translated this song as best I could, but every word of this song is a beautiful metaphor that does not work in English. I took some creative liberty to restructure some of these phrases and remove many of the metaphors.

This is a Zionistic poem turned song written by the renown Israeli poet Nathan Alterman. It shows a tree's relationship with three generations of a Jewish family. The third generation, a boy, is being told the story of the tree likely by his mother or grandmother.

The tree where the boy's grandfather prayed is the same tree where is father was killed, and is the same tree which eventually served as the mast that carried him all the way to the land of Israel (after the Holocaust).

The poet, Nathan Alterman, wrote this song with a specific boat in mind, 'Homeland', which really did start tipping over to one side on its way to Israel. This boat was smuggling Jews to Israel, but eventually the tipping became so bad that they had to put out an SOS signal (SOS meaning Save Our Ship). The British got the ship to Haifa, where they consequently transferred the passengers to Cyprus in early 1947. Presumably, a year later, the passengers were able to return to the state of Israel for good. See the ship depicted below:

This song isn't particularly deep as far as I can tell, it is just expertly written, very beautiful and poetic. I urge you to try reading the Hebrew and try deciphering the motifs for yourself (not you MGNNK). If you have any ideas on how to improve my translations, please post a comment below or contact me, I think everyone should enjoy from this literary work.

A song for peace - שיר לשלום

Let the sun rise	תנו לשמש לעלות
The morning to shine,	לבוקר להאיר,
The purest of prayers	הזכה שבתפילות
Won’t bring us back.	אותנו לא תחזיר.
He who extinguished their flame	מי אשר כבה נרו
And was buried in the dirt,	ובעפר נטמן,
Bitter tears won’t wake him up	בכי מר לא יעירו
Won’t bring him back here.	לא יחזירו לכאן.
No man shall return us	איש אותנו לא ישיב
From the dark and somber pit,	מבור תחתית אפל,
Here we won’t be helped	כאן לא יועילו
By neither the joy of victory	לא שמחת הניצחון
Nor the songs of praise.	ולא שירי הלל.
Therefore just sing—a song for peace	לכן, רק שירו שיר לשלום
Don’t whisper a prayer	אל תלחשו תפילה
Even better—sing a song for peace	מוטב תשירו שיר לשלום
In a loud shout!	בצעקה גדולה.
Let the sun penetrate	תנו לשמש לחדור
Through the flowers.	מבעד לפרחים.
Don’t look back,	אל תביטו לאחור,
Make peace with those who have gone.	הניחו להולכים.
Set your sights on hope,	שאו עיניים בתקווה,
Not through the scopes (of rifles)	לא דרך כוונות
Sing a song for happiness	שירו שיר לאהבה
And not for wars.	ולא למלחמות.
Don’t say ‘the day will come’—	אל תגידו יום יבוא —
Bring on that day!	הביאו את היום!
(Because it’s not a dream)	)כי לא חלום הוא(
And in all the town squares	ובכל הכיכרות
Cheer only for peace!	הריעו רק שלום!
Therefore just sing—a song for peace…	לכן, רק שירו שיר לשלום...

This song is again a song related to war, but it's written in a very different perspective. Try to guess through who's voice we're hearing this song. If you aren't sure, I urge you to go back and reread it, trying to see who is singing this song.

Spoiler below:

In any case, this song is sung by those who have already passed away. If you didn't already see that, try rereading again to see what meaning you may have missed.

This first 3 stanzas are talking about the singer(s) themselves. The key idea is that nothing and nobody can return the fallen back to life, that even if their army won the war, it doesn't have any effect on those who have fallen. This all sets the stage to the key conclusion of this song—pretty unsurprising from the song title—that the only way to end war casualties is to not have war—to have peace.

There reasonable conclusion is therefore to sing a song for peace, and they seem adamant about it. When this song is sung, it is shouted strongly and confidently, as they say, you do not whisper a prayer (peace).

The last 3 stanzas of the song direct the listeners (the living) on how to continue their lives. First, don't cry over spilt milk, let go of those who have fallen, nothing good will come from clinging on to them. Next, focus your efforts towards hope, happiness, avoid wars and conflict. And finally, it points out that many people will just hope for the day of peace to come, but won't actively do anything to bring it on. It affirms to the listeners that the days of peace are not a dream, and that it is on them to bring on that period.

This song was originally created by and for the Israeli army and was commonly sung by soldiers to soldiers. Most Israeli army songs are about the sadness of war, far fewer about the glory. Going along with the theme of this song, the Israeli army is known as the Israeli Defense Force(s), whose purpose is primarily to defend Israel against its many enemies.

To sing with you - לשיר איתך

I was meaning to thank you for quite some time,	לך רציתי להודות מזמן,
My songs sprouted from your warm sunlight.	באורך החם נבטו שירי.
You brought me an anemone (flower) from Yemen,	כלנית הבאת לי מתימן,
To the well.	אל הגיא.
Like a lost knight wandering the garden	כמו פרש אבוד סובב בגן
And in my hands two lilies bloom,	ובידי פורחים שני שושנים,
One red, the other white.	האחד אדום, שני לבן.
Suddenly I am singing with you (fem),	שר אני איתך פתאום,
It’s like a dream, it’s like a dream.	זה כמו חלום, זה כמו חלום.
The gate of wishes has opened,	שער משאלות נפתח,
To sing with you, to sing with you.	לשיר איתך, לשיר איתך.
The moon that’s hanging up above	הלבנה אשר תלויה מעל
Is now directing its gaze.	מישירה עכשיו את מבטה.
She’s yours (masc) now, don’t ask,	היא שלך הלילה אל תשאל,
Take her.	קח אותה.
It’s good to sing with you (masc) suddenly,	טוב לשיר איתך פתאום,
To weave a dream, to weave a dream.	לרקום חלום, לרקום חלום.
Two voices and a promise,	שני קולות והבטחה,
To sing with you (fem), to sing with you (masc).	לשיר איתך, לשיר איתך.
Until the morning in a single boat,	עד הבוקר בסירה אחת,
Together we row, and together we pray,	יחד לחתור ולקוות,
Waiting on the water for tomorrow	מחכים על מים למחר
That will come.	שיבוא.
It’s good to sing with you suddenly...	טוב לשיר איתך פתאום...

This song is by two Yemeni singers, Boaz Sharabi and Shoshana Damari. Shoshana Damari was considerably older than Boaz, and was a very famous singer while Israel was in its infancy. Two of her hit songs were called "Anemones" and "Two Lillies." "Anemones" is named after the red flower common to the land, used as an analogy to the British in their red outfits. In the song "Two Lillies," one of them is red, and another is white (this should explain the second paragraph.

This song was written and composed by a young Boaz, picking up his career, who was able to sing with the famous Shoshana Damari. He tells her how much he looks up to her, how influential she has been to his life and career. He's so happy, feeling like his wishes has come true, now that he's singing with her, it's like a dream. Then she gives his some life advice, telling him to live for the present, wishing him luck (at least I think that's the gist of it). Then she says how good it is to sing with him and help fulfill his dream, and they both promise to sing together. Finally, they both are waiting together, hopeful for the future.

This song in and of itself is very nice and pleasant, but it becomes even sadder to hear Boaz sing it when he's older, and with a recording of Shoshana because she passed away. Lines like, "Suddenly I'm singing with you, it's like a dream," and "Two voices and a promise to sing with you" really gnaw at my heart.

You can watch that here.