Naomi Shemer has died,
in the middle of the month of Tamuz, just like in her song. My friend A. reminded me of this song this morning, and Alisa has thought of it as well.

This country wouldn’t be the same without Naomi Shemer’s songs. Some of them have always driven me crazy, others never fail to bring tears of nostalgia or sadness to my eyes. But one thing is for sure - most of her songs are a part of our lives and national psyche in such a way that it’s hard to grasp that a person actually sat down at one time and wrote them, that they weren’t always just there, like the trees and the birds and the blue sky. Naomi Shemer is Israel.