The Historama
Alex Ben-Arieh
P.O.Box 32128
Tel Aviv, Israel 61321
Phone: +972-547-680-086
Fax: +972-3-546-1971
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The Historama Alex Ben-Arieh P.O.Box 32128 Tel Aviv, Israel 61321 Phone: +972-547-680-086 Fax: +972-3-546-1971 |
| The Army Bands: Lahakot Tzahal |
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Song Title: Dina Barzilai ("Dina Barzilai") Performer: The Nachal Band Video: Nachal Band, 1960's (a later version with performer Sasi Keshet) Year Released: Credits: words by Chaim Hefer; music by Alexander (Sasha) Argov Comments: The Nachal infantry brigade band is the oldest in the IDF, founded in September 1951. Many of Israel's future entertainment stars - singers, performers and writers - got their start in this band and several are featured in the songs posted on this site. Some of the prominent personailities are Yehoram Gaon, Arik Einstein, Chaim Topol, Nechama Hendel, Yoram Arbel (sports-caster), Gavri Banai, Shaike Levy and Israel ('Poli') Poliakov (members of the comedy troupe "The Pale Scout Trio"); the famous lyricist Yochanan Zarai was the band's accordionist in the 1950's. |
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Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One Dina Barzilai Color of the eyes, blue Color of the hair, chestnut The height is one hundred and sixty centimeters Weight, fifty-eight kilograms Dina Dina Barzilai Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One Lieutenant Gad Rafaeli went off to eat lunch And we, threesome, remained alone in the office Closets made of metal Piles of files And around us thousands of service pouches Yes, we know well everybody According to the forms in the service pouch We know everyone, we know everyone But from all the service pouches we knew Just one our hearts touched Dina Dina Barzilai Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One Color of the eyes, blue Color of the hair, chestnut The height is one hundred and sixty centimeters Weight, fifty-eight kilograms Dina Dina Barzilai Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One Lieutenant Gad Rafaeli went off to eat lunch And we, with Dina, remained alone in the office We never saw you Ever, ever But your image here rises from the desert of files She was born on the twentieth of the eight, fourty It was most probably a summer day Grapefruits in the vineyard, figs in the orchard A highschool education where the father is [called] Efraim Six years she's played the piano Lieutenant Gad Rafaeli went off to eat lunch Here on the form it's written that you forfeited family support And your heartbeat when sitting is eighty And the size of your breast is ninety-three Your sports interest is swimming If only we were swimming next to you Laughing in the waves and laughing on the sand You had diptheria when you were little And they jotted down one "c.k." [physically fit] for you Dina Dina Barzilai Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One Color of the eyes, blue Color of the hair, chestnut The height is one hundred and sixty centimeters Weight, fifty-eight kilograms Dina Dina Barzilai Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One Lieutenant Gad Rafaeli went off to eat lunch The time is one and any minute he's due to return You received a reprimand On the eight of the fourth But we know that the guilty party is really the First Sergeant The personal grade in discipline is "B" The general opinion is that you're perfectly fine We'd still be holding the pouch for hours But the Lieutenant is coming back, already finished eating And he too is interested in your file Dina Dina Barzilai Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One Color of the eyes, blue Color of the hair, chestnut The height is one hundred and sixty centimeters Weight, fifty-eight kilograms Dina Dina Barzilai Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One back to menu |
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Song Title: Ammunition Hill ("Giv'at Ha'Takhmoshet") Performer: The Central Command Variety Ensemble Year Released: 1968 Credits: words by Yoram Taharlev; music by Yair Rosenblum Comments: This song celebrates a grueling battle that was waged at the site of a police station built by the British in northern Jerusalem on a site called "Ammunition Hill". During the 1948 War of Independence, the Arab Legion conquered sections of northern Jerusalem which resulted in the creation of an Israeli enclave on Mount Scopus which was cut off from the rest of Israeli Jerusalem. Ammunition Hill became one of the Jordanians' fortified positions preventing the two segments from being united. During the 1967 Six-Day war, on June 6th, Israeli paratroopers were sent to capture the position but had received erronious information seriously underestimating the strenth of the Jordanian force at the position. Made up of bunkers and trenches the paratroopers fought a tough battle in which they conquered the position, enabling Israeli forces to liberate the Old City, though the force lost 37 soldiers. |
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"It was then the morning of the second day of the war in Jerusalem. The horizon paled in the east. We were at the climax of the battle on Ammunition Hill. We'd been fighting there for three hours. A fierce battle was under way. Fatal. The Jordanians fought stubbornly. It was a position fortified in an exceptional manner. At a certain point in the fight there remained next to me only four soldiers. We went up there with a force of two platoons. I didn't know where the others were because the connection with Dudik, the platoon commander, was cut off still at the beginning of the battle. At that moment I thought that everyone had been killed." At two, two-thirty We entered through the stoney terrain To the field of fire and mines Of Ammunition Hill Against bunkers which were fortified And 120mm mortars A hundred and some boys On Ammunition Hill The pillar of dawn had not yet risen Half a platoon lay in blood But we were already there at least On Ammunition Hill Among the walls and the mines We left only the medics And we ran ahead without our senses Towards Ammunition Hill "At that same moment a grenade was thrown from outside. Miraculously we weren't hit. I was afraid the Jordanians would throw more grenades. Someone had to run from above and cover. I didn't have time to ask who would volunteer. I sent Eitan. Eitan didn't hesitate for a moment. He climbed up and began to fire his machine gun. Sometimes he would overtake me and I'd have to yell to him to remain in line with me. That's how we crossed some 30 meters. Eitan would cover from above and we would clear the bunkers from within, until he was hit in the head and fell inside." We went down into the trenches Into the pits and channels And towards the death in the tunnels Of Ammunition Hill And no one asked where to Whoever went first fell One needed lots of luck On Ammunition Hill Whoever fell was dragged to the back In order not to disrupt the movement forward Until fell the next in line On Ammunition Hill Perhaps we were lions But whoever wanted still to live Should not have been On Ammunition Hill "We decided to try blowing up their bunker with a bazooka. The bazooka made a few scratches in the concrete. We decided to try with explosive material. I waited above them until the guy came back with the explosives. He would throw me package after package, and I would lay them one by one at the entrance of their bunker. They had a system of their own: first they threw a grenade, afterwards they fired a volley, and then they rested. Between volley and grenade, I would approach the entrance of their bunker and place the explosives. I triggered the explosives and moved away as far as I could. I had four meters in which to move because also behind me were [Arab] Legionnaires. I don't know why I received a commendation, I simply wanted to get home safely." At seven, seven-twenty To the police school Were gathered all those who remained From Ammunition Hill Smoke arose from the hill The sun in the east rose higher We returned to the city, seven From Ammunition Hill We returned to the city, seven Smoke arose from the hill The sun in the east rose higher On Ammunition Hill On fortified bunkers And on our brothers, men Who remained there aged 20 On Ammunition Hill back to menu |
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Song Title: Halfon Hill is Not Replying ("Giv'at Khalfon Aina Onah") Performer: The Pale Scout Trio ("HaGashash HaChiver") Year Released: 1976 Credits: lyrics by Asi Dayan; music by Naftaly Alter Comments: The soundtrack of what is probably the most popular Israeli comedy film which went by the same name. The film came out 2 years after the surprise Yom Kippur War and a year before the fall of the Labor Party after 29 years in power. In the wake of the shock after the war the film poked fun at the military establishment which many felt had suffered from overweening pride prior to the war and failed to prepare for it, poked fun at the UN, and lampooned the reserve service on whom the outcome of the war depended, although the jokes have since been absorbed into popular culture. The three members of the comedy trio began their careers in the Nachal brigade band. Asi Dayan, an actor and director - and the lyricist here - is incidentally also the son of Moshe Dayan, the former Chief of Staff and Defense Minister. |
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If your life is pillage and ruin If your nerves are inflamed Then climb rightaway onboard a 'special' [minibus/taxi line] And come down to miluim [the reserves] If your pulse is going wild And the blood pressure is taking off Then take a homeland-holiday And fly off to miluim Tzahal, Tzahal, we're on the way Run finally, finally to miluim And if to us they call - from the bank or the taxes Then please pass on in a relaxed voice "Halfon Hill is not replying" The wife at six goes to sleep Between the creme and the blankets So gave a farewell hug to the [hair] curlers And come down to miluim And apart from that, if you're not yet broken And you still believe That "Hatikvah" ['The Hope' - the national anthem] is not just a song And come down immediately to miluim Tzahal, Tzahal, we're on the way Run finally, finally to miluim And if to us they call - from the bank or the taxes Then please pass on in a relaxed voice "Halfon Hill is not replying" back to menu |
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Song Title: Flowers in the [Rifle] Barrel ("Prakhim Ba'Kaneh") Performer: The Artillery Corps Band (soloist: Yehudit Shwartz) Video: The Artillery Corps Band (Yehudit Shwartz? with glum-looking soldiers) Year Released: 1968 Credits: words by Dudu Barak; music by Effie Netzer Comments: |
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When the spring goes to sleep, the pallor is aroused On the fields of fire the last battle will end And a wonderful morning from the valley to the hill Then will rise in music and joy The sun will stand still between Gaza and Rafah The moon will whiten the peak of the Hermon [mountain] Flowers in the barrel and girls in the turret Will return to the city the soldiers in mass A single little girl with laurels in her hand To the white city [Tel Aviv] will set out in songs And on a flattered soldier will put a yellow-weed in the lapel And the skies are so clear The sun will stand still between Gaza and Rafah The moon will whiten the peak of the Hermon Flowers in the barrel and girls in the turret Will return to the city the soldiers in mass The soldiers to the city will arrive as a large crowd With young girls and song, with golden flowers And all which knew grief and mourning Will no longer know fall [of autumn leaves] and battle The sun will stand still between Gaza and Rafah The moon will whiten the peak of the Hermon Flowers in the barrel and girls in the turret Will return to the city the soldiers in mass back to menu |
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Song Title: In Sayeret Shaked ("Beh Sayeret Shaked") Musician: The Southern Command Variety Ensemble Video: From the 1972 program "From the South Will Come Good Tidings" Year Released: 1970 Credits: words by Dahlia Rabikovich; music by Rafi Ben-Moshe Comments: "Sayeret" in Hebrew means 'reconnaisance unit' though it usually synonymous with "special force"; the "Shaked" unit (pronounced "shah-ked", it means "almond") was formed in 1955 as the "special force" for Southern Command (Sayeret 'Egoz' [means "nut"] was Northern Command's special force, and Sayeret 'Kharuv' [means "carob"] served Central Command) and existed until 1974. Shaked was a small force made up of volunteers, charged with protecting Israel's southern frontiers, and served along the Suez, in Gaza, the Negev and Jordan Valley. The Southern Command's band was formed in 1967, after the Six-Day War. Impressed with the troupe's performance in 1970, the Command's commander, Ariel Sharon, wrote in his greetings, "I don't see the band as the jam accompaniment to the bread, but rather as the bread itself". Matti Caspi, a very popular singer, musician and lyricist (with a baritone voice), was a member of this band during his compulsory service and is among the performers in this song. The song was originally called "Sayeret Shaket" ('shaket' meaning "quiet") under pressure from the military censor in order to keep the formation's name a secret, and is still often published under this name. |
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In Sayeret Shaked They turn on at nights a strong light in the command room And every eye in the light is gleaming And for whomever there is nothing to do at night Enters and sits there until past midnight On the northern sector, in Sayeret Shaked The face of a youth and this is the commander In Sayeret Shaked There's an old car that turned into a club With quiet light in orange, green and red And for whomever there is nothing to do at night Hammers nails and pastes pictures On the northern sector, in Sayeret Shaked The face of a youth and this is the commander In Sayeret Shaked There go out every day three scouts to the envoys of the [command] center And in the evening you see them returning And there isn't one there that didn't tread on a mine On one of those days in the paths of fire On the northern sector, in Sayeret Shaked The face of a youth and this is the commander In Sayeret Shaked They go out to reconnoiter even before sunrise, while the sand is fluttering And return only after night-fall And the comrades they lost in the dusty paths They keep in their hearts from every watch On the northern sector, in Sayeret Shaked The face of a youth and this is the commander On the northern sector, in Sayeret Shaked The face of a youth and this is the commander back to menu |
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Song Title: Seashores ("Khofim Hem Lifamim") Musician: The Nachal Spirit Team Video: The Nachal Spirit Team featuring Yardena Arazi on lead vocals Year Released: Credits: lyrics by Natan Yonatan; music by Nachum Haimann Comments: |
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Sea shores are sometimes longings for the stream I saw once a shore that the streams left With a broken heart of sand and stone And Man, and Man He sometimes can also remain Deserted and without strength Just like the shore Even the sea shells, like the shore, like the win Also shells are sometimes longings For home which we always loved Which was, and just the sea Sings alone there its songs Like between the shells of the heart of Man Sings his adolescence Sea shores are sometimes longings for the stream I saw once a shore that the streams left With a broken heart of sand and stone And Man, and Man He sometimes can also remain Deserted and without strength Just like the shore back to menu |
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Song Title: Serenity ("Shalvah") Musician: The Nachal Brigade Band (soloist: Ofira Gluska) Year Released: Credits: lyrics by Avi Koren; music by Yair Rosenblum Comments: |
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On the camp alit the moon On the encampment a star shines And time, like a gummy [rubberband], spreads out A Saturday night without desire [a taste for] and without smell And the quiet, the heart it tears What a serenity, and there's nothing to do What a quietude and another week has passed The sabbath is absolutely not passing We've already read the evening paper We sang already songs of swords and scythes We've already stitched up the hole in the sock And we solved crosswords without limit What a serenity, and there's nothing to do What a quietude and another week has passed Not a single letter from you has arrived yet In a little while the commander will appear And surely will return and promise That soon to regularity I will return That you will buy two [seats] in the audience What a serenity, and there's nothing to do What a quietude and another week has passed back to menu |
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Song Title: On Hot Summer Nights ("Beh Leilot Ha'Kaitz Ha'Khamim") Musician: The Artillery Corps Spirit Team (soloist: Mali Brunstein) Video: The Artillery Corps Spirit Team (soloist: Mali Brunstein) Year Released: 1978 Credits: lyrics by Danny Minster; music by Matti Caspi Comments: Though performed separately by Matti Caspi on an album of his own (and featured here in our music room), this song was originally written for the Artillery Corps Spirit Team, and Caspi filled in for the drummer who didn't arrive on the day of the song's recording. The soloist, Mali Brunstein, recounts that Caspi wrote songs for the Spirit Team as part of his annual reserve service ("miluim"), and prepared the music for this piece in it's style in particular at her request - it was originally written with a jazz/blues tone. |
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On hot summer nights Nothing happens Perhaps a fading star peeps Through an open window Perhaps a cricket is heard from far away But even the clock doesn't tick On hot summer nights Nothing happens Perhaps a cricket is heard from far away But even the clock doesn't tick On hot summer nights Nothing happens Underneath the mulberry tree in the village People sit and talk The read a book with an old smell Close their eyes and go silent Nothing else happens On hot summer nights Underneath the mulberry tree in the village People sit and talk Nothing else happens On hot summer nights Underneath the mulberry tree in the village People sit and talk Nothing else happens Nothing else happens Underneath the mulberry tree in the village People sit and talk The read a book with an old smell Close their eyes and go silent Nothing else happens On hot summer nights Underneath the mulberry tree in the village People sit and talk Nothing else happens On hot summer nights Underneath the mulberry tree in the village People sit and talk back to menu |
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Song Title: The Settlements of the 'Nachal' in Sinai ("Ha'Akhazot Ha'Nakhal Beh Sinai") Musician: The Nachal Brigade Band Year Released: Credits: lyrics by Nomi Shemer; music by Yair Rosenblum Comments: The "Nachal" brigade has been mentioned on these pages many times but not formally introduced to the reader: the "Nachal" formation is named after the abbreviation of the Hebrew letters for "Noar Khalutzi Lokhem" (meaning "Fighting Pioneer Youth"; the word "nachal" when not formed from an abbreviation also means "brook" or "stream" in Hebrew), and the unit draws its roots from the early days of the State, when elements of the Zionist youth movement asked the Defense Minister (David Ben Gurion, also the Prime Minister) to create a a unit within the military which would promote development of the land within the framework of the defense establishment - a sucessor to the pre-State "Palmach" formation and ideology. In late 1948 the Palmach was integrated into the IDF and in September 1949 the "Nachal" Brigade was established. Within its framework, members would serve a compulsory term (now three years), combining military duties with social / Zionist-related activities, such as establishing new settlements (not necessarily in "occupied" territories), cultivating the land, developing neighborhoods, and assisting with social welfare initiatives. The Nachal brigade includes infantry, paratrooper and special forces units - as well as a special battalion serving the needs of religious Jewish soldiers (called the "Nachal Ha'Kharedi"). |
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In the settlements of the 'Nachal' in Sinai Many beautiful things saw my eyes [more words to come; still looking for the lyrics] back to menu |
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Song Title: The Third Mother ("Ha'Em Ha'Shlisheet") Musician: The Female Armoured Corps Recruits Band Year Released: Credits: lyrics by Natan Alterman; music by Yair Rosenblum Comments: |
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Mothers sing, mothers sing A fist of thunder melts, a strong silence In the empty squares marched lines Torches with red beards A fatal autumn, autumn will arrive and not console And a torrent without end or beginning And without a candle on the window sill, and without light in the world Sing mothers three And one says "I saw him now I will kiss his every finger and nail A ship wanders on the silent sea And my son is on the head of the mast" And says a second [mother] "my son is big and quiet And I'm here him sewing a holiday nightgown He's walking in the fields, he will come to here He bears in his heart a lead bullet" And the third mother, her eyes lost "I had no one dearer than him How can it be that there's haziness around him and I don't see I don't know where he is" So her cries wash her eyelashes And perhaps he's not yet resting, and perhaps He measures in kisses, like a dispatched Nazirite The course of your world, my Lord back to menu |
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Song Title: The Song of Peace ("Shir Ha'Shalom") Musician: The Nachal Brigade Band (soloist: Miri Aloni) Year Released: 1969 Credits: lyrics by Ya'akov Rotblit; music by Yair Rosenblum Comments: Written during the "summer of love" in 1969 by Ya'akov Rotblit, the band's musical director, Yair Rosenblum, inspired by the musical "Hair", instilled a rock sound into the song making it the first of the IDF bands with such a style. The song was performed within the framework of the band's program of that year, called "The Settlements of 'Nachal' in Sinai", and was received with a mixture of reactions. Some, mourning lost relatives, objected to the lines of the fifth verse, calling for people to not look back and leave the dead in peace, feeling that it compelled them to forget or minimize their scarifices. And in light of the IDF's recent victory in the 1967 6-Day War, the song's conciliatory tones drew the ire of the then chief of Central Command, Rekhavam Ze'evi [former Member of Knesset and government minister, murdered in 2001 by terrorists], who tried to ban the playing of the song altogether. The poignant moment of this song's presence in our popular culture came on the eve of 4 November 1995, when at a rally for peace (under the Oslo Accords), on a stage before a crowd of around a hundred thousand in Tel Aviv's municipal square, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin sang the song together with his former political rival, Shimon Peres, and the original soloist Miri Aloni and other government ministers; moments after Rabin was assassinated. |
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Let the sun arise the morning alight The purest of prayers will not bring us back He whose candle was snuffed out who is buried in the earth bitter cries will not awake, will not return him to here No one will return us from a dark underground pit Here won't be useful not the joy of victory nor the songs of praise Therefore just sing a song for peace Don't utter a prayer Better that you sing a song for peace with a great shout Let the sun penetrate through the flowers Don't look back Let rest those who have departed Bear your eyes with hope not through [gun] sights Sing a song for love and not for wars Don't say "a day will come" Bring the day itself Because a dream it is not And in all the squares they will applaud only peace Therefore just sing a song for peace Don't utter a prayer Better that you sing a song for peace with a great shout back to menu |
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