To listen to The Covenant, click here
There were stones
that broke the windows
There were fires
in the cellars, it was almost noon
And I don’t
believe in God
But the sign upon
my house said I'm a Jew
Then they took awaythe children, they burned the Sepher Torah,
They held me till
my body’s veil was torn
There was weeping
in the village, there was thunder in the mountains
There was blood
and there was fire and there was storm
And on the blood
of my forefathers
On the dry bones
of Masada
On the bodies of
my children I do swear
That I’ll see you,
I’ll see you, I’ll see you
In Jerusalem next year
The desert sun was
burning
It carved a
pyramid upon my feet
And my heart was
tired of searching
And the sign upon
the gate said "Work Makes Free"
There was oil for
the candles, there were ovens primed for cooking
There was meat
that had grown fat upon the bone
But my eyes were
blind with tears, my heart was sick with fever
My hand upon the
law was carved in stone
Who will be my
witness
Who will not
forget to call my name
My skin is made of
lampshades
The temple of my
spirit rocks with pain
I'm the one who
killed your Saviour, I put poison in your water
I carried off your
child and ran him through
But you will not
find me kneeling, no you will not hear me wailing
I’m proud to sing
out loud "I am a Jew"
No your ghettos
cannot hold me
Your laws cannot
deny me – I’m a Jew
And your fire will
not tame me
Your wire will not
chain me – I’m a Jew
From the graves my
song is rising, pure and free of all despising
My heart protects,
my spirit calls the Name
Israel fell in blood and fire, Israel now in blood and fire
Shall rise, and
rise, and rise again
According to
legend, when the Israelites fled out of Egypt and crossed the Sinai desert,
their way was lit by a pillar of smoke in the daytime and a pillar of fire by
night. The pillar guided their destiny; the fire marked it - the flames of a
thousand future pogroms.
You can find David Prashker at:
If
you would like to include "The Covenant" in your repertoire,
either for paid public performance or to record for commercial
purposes, or if you would like to re-use the recordings attached to this
blog-page for commercial purposes, contact
argaman@theargamanpress.com.
Use of this song, and/or these recordings, for
non-commercial purposes, is not simply permitted but invited.
Words and music by David Prashker
Copyright © 2014 David Prashker
All rights reserved
The Argaman Press
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