Naomi Shemer was a prolific singer and composer who built a unified Israeli cultural consciousness through her beautiful melodies.
Her musical skill was evident in her childhood, and her career began in the cultural department of the Nahal military youth organization. After her army service, she became well known through the musical “Five-Five,” essentially an arrangement of her army revue “A Raid in the Village.” From the 1950s to the 1990s, Shemer wrote music that was performed throughout Israel. In 1967, she wrote “Jerusalem of Gold,” subsequently considered the best-loved Israeli song of all time. In 1983, she was awarded the Israel Prize, and she continued to write new music until her death in 2004.
Full biography at The Encyclopedia For Jewish Women.
For list of works and publications see at Wikipedia or The national library of Israel (Hebrew).
