Sinai Shalom – A real songpoem gem

SINAI SHALOM – A REAL SONGPOEM GEM

Sifting through my collection of David Ben Reuven songs recently, I came across one which I consider a real gem particularly in view of its historical context – the 1979 peace agreement with Egypt which necessitated the handing back to Egypt of the Sinai Desert. The majestic melody and the amazing song lyric combine to sublimely express the mixed feelings of Israelis about giving up the Sinai and also the hope for real peace with Egypt at last.

The song was written in the early 1980s and has never been broadcast, like so many of his songs, and I feel that now, almost forty years after the event, the time has come for this unique song to at last come into its own and be seen for what it truly is – a national cultural treasure.

SINAI SHALOM

Words and Music: Ben ReuveN

(Written in sorrow and hope in 1982 during the return of Sinai and Yamit)

 The mighty desert leaves behind

Magic memories in the mind

And sadly we leave the golden sand

That knew the love of a people’s hand.

It’s a song of Sinai

It’s a sad sad  song

Goodbye to Sinai

Sinai Shalom!

The ancient names that won our hearts

Eternal peaks now torn apart

We’ve been and gone and all for peace

We’ve paid the price that war may cease.

It’s a song of Sinai……

SPOKEN:

  Who can understand this love

  For endless sands parched of rain?

  But those who have known the love

  They alone can understand the pain.

It’s a song of Sinai….

The sands of time have ebbed away

Another’s footprint in the sand

And time alone will tell

If we have bought a better day.

It’s a song of Sinai

It’s a sad sad song

Goodbye to Sinai

Sinai Shalom!

 Copyright David Ben Reuven, POB 3576, Jerusalem 91035

And here now is the video link to access this historic song:

https://youtu.be/zYuMvMiO6SA