This past summer I attended the North American Jewish Choral Festival, where one of the visiting Israeli conductors introduced us to one of her favorite songs. Called “Lalechet Shevi Acharayich” meaning “Captivated by You,” the song was written by Nurit Hirsh and Ehud Manor (the same pair who brought us Bashana Haba’a and many other songs) in 1974 in response to the sullen mood the country faced in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War. It is a song of love and loyalty to the Land of Israel, despite and perhaps because of the difficulties and horrors the Israelis face. 

The lyrics read:
Being born anew every morning,
For every farewell word dying a little
And bringing to the world another boy or girl
In this land of milk, bitter herbs and honey

Being captivated by you
Breathing the burning sun
Dreaming of you before your sky
Aching for you, and again falling in love

Bringing a dream from inside, from generations
Seeking consolation from your springs
Living among and inside
This dreadful and beautiful land

The song is unfortunately newly relevant 50 years after its writing: the combination of despair and determination to continue that it expresses is as true today as it was then. The double entendre of “lalechet shevi acharaich” “being captivated by you” also comments on the sorry state of the many hostages that remain captive by the enemy, yet the same word can also express an intense longing and loyalty to the land and the people. Even the music expresses loyalty: as you’ll see in a moment, the beginning phrase of the second part is a direct quotation of the music for the phrase “od lo avda tikvateinu” in Hatikva, Israel’s national anthem. 

I’m mentioning all this now because in the last stanza, Ehud Manor’s words are in deep dialogue with the prayer we are about to say, Ya’aleh Tachanuneinu. This prayer is an expression of what we hope will occur between this evening, over the course of the next day through tomorrow evening: May our prayers rise up, be accepted and reveal a beneficial outcome for us. 

 Of the 20 words in that last  stanza, 10 of them are drawn from this prayer. 

It reads:
עם עֶרֶב הֵד קוֹלֵנוּ יַעֲלֶה
At evening the echo of our voices will rise up
מבֹּקֶר יוֹם אֵלֵינוּ הוּא יָבוֹא
In the morning it will come to us
וּפדיוֹנֵנוּ יֵרָאֶה עם בּוֹא עַרבּוֹ
And our salvation will be seen with the coming of evening
מָתַי סֻכַּת שׁלוֹמך עָלֵינוּ תּגָּלֶה
“When will the canopy of your peace be revealed?”


There’s too much overlap for this to be an accident-although he was a secular Jew, Manor clearly knew his stuff and was able to harness the age-old Jewish prayerbook to express his hope and longing for the salvation of peace. 

50 years later, peace in the land seems as distant as it did back then. But I want to return Ehud Manor’s favor and close the circle: tonight we will sing this prayer to the melody of “Lalechet Shevi Acharayich” with a fervent hope that our voices rise tonight and, just perhaps– in ways we can’t quite observe or articulate–salvation, grace, atonement, beauty and peace will be our lot by next evening.

Ya'aleh

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