This last Shabbat I spent Seudah Shelisheet sitting around an expansive table, singing z’mirot, our songs as Shabbat was coming to a close. We looked at the Israeli song “Sharm El-Sheikh, We Have Come Back Again,” and all of a sudden that song, and its deep meaning, hit me tenfold.

As we know, the song was written after the 1967 Six-Day War, with lyrics by Amos Ettinger and music by Rafi Gabay. It quickly became one of the celebratory songs associated with Israel’s capture of Sinai and the strategic town of Sharm el-Sheikh. The melodic refrain captures this yearning and joy at our victorious return:

“You’re Sharm el-Sheikh,we’ve returned to you once again,you are in our hearts,always in our hearts.”

The imagery in the song paints a picture of Sinai, the desert that blossoms at its coral beaches, sprinkled with fishing boats, and the sunset over the water:

“The evening sets, bringing another dream…a hope for peace upon the water.”

Thinking back to the previous century, the early war of 1967........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)