שיר משמר [Shir mishmar] [English translation]

Guard your soul, keep your strength, guard your soul,

Guard your life, your wisdom, guard your life,

From a collapsing wall, from a roof on fire, from a shade of darkness,

From sling-stones, from a knife, from claws,

Guard your soul from that which burns, from that which cuts,

From what is near like the earth, like the sky,

From what is silent, from what lies in wait, pulling you in,

And that which kills like well waters and stovetop burners,

Guard your soul and your wisdom, the hair upon your head,

Guard your skin, guard your soul, guard your life.

This is allegedly a summer evening, this is allegedly

Merely a good old familiar summer evening,

That has come for lovingkindness and tender mercies, and not for terrorizing

And neither for whispering suspicions and guilt,

That has come along with the smell of cooking, and a lamp

Which will stay lit even if we rest and sleep.

Merely a good warm summer evening, allegedly,

Merely a warm summer evening which did not come to terrorize.

There goes the wind, reaching out in silence,

Suddenly, a window slowly opens in the dark.

Tell me, why do you laugh as if you're frightened?

Tell me, why do you freeze as if you're happy?

Tell me, why is the world so foreign still

And fire and water gaze upon it from all sides?

Tell me, why does your life flutter within it

Like a scared bird inside a palm?

Tell me, why do you take flight, trembling terribly

Like a bird trapped in a room, seeking an open window?

This is allegedly a summer evening...

Guard your tired soul, guard your soul,

Guard your life, your wisdom, guard your life,

The hair upon your head, guard your skin, guard your beauty,

Guard your kind heart, hold it firmly in your hand.

• Artist:Chava Alberstein