SheHaShemesh Ta'avor Alai

Hebrew: שהשמש תעבור עלי (Let the Sun Pass Over Me). Circle dance by Amir Katz, 1986.

Danced to exactly the same song: Ahava Noshana, Hebrew: אהבה נושנה (Old Love). Partner dance by Moshe Eskayo, 1986.

Here we are concerned with the song rather than with either dance.

After the Six-Day War, a singing and dancing group from a church called Faith Bible Chapel in Denver Colorado visited Israel annually and performed for soldiers at IDF bases. One year, Yoram Taharlev was asked to help create a program for them. Tomi, the vocal soloist, asked Taharlev to create a song for her to describe her love for Israel, rooted in her Christian faith. He wrote the lyrics and gave them to Nurit Hirsh who was at the time located in the USA; she composed a tune, and Tomi recorded it on an album "Let the Sun Shine for Me".

In 1985, with the original song forgotten, Yardena Arazi asked Taharlev for a song; he still had the lyrics and gave them to her. She took them to Chanan Yovel who wrote the tune we know today.

Many years later, Taharlev told the story to musical detective Ofer Gavish, but he had forgotten the details, including the name of the church, the singer, and the band. Gavish approached Nurit Hirsh, who remembered the incident but had no copy of the song and had also forgotten the names. Gavish continued to search and eventually found the Denver church and then the singer. He obtained from her a recording of the song with its original tune, which he was eager to publish.

But there was a problem. When Nurit Hirsh heard the recording, she pointed out that in two places the singer hits the wrong note, singing F rather than F# as composed. This completely changes the harmony, orchestration, and musical intention of the song in Hirsh's opinion, and she angrily forbade Gavish from publishing the song anywhere. However, the incorrect note appears only in the verses; the chorus is sung correctly and can be heard at the link below.

Chanan Yovel was not happy with the early performances of his version of the song; he considered them "stormy" and he wanted the song to be introspective, even prayerful. When he began to sing it himself, the song took on this tenor, and it is now performed in traditional communities in the style of prayer (link below). Those performers call the song "Rak Tfillah" or "Rak Tfillah Isha", phrases that (like "SheHaShemesh Ta'avor Alai" and "Ahava Noshana") come from the lyrics.

Links

The lyrics, with translation

Ofer Gavish's blog post on the song, which tells the story in greater detail and is the source of this page

The chorus of the original Nurit Hirsh tune, sung by Tomi

A performance of the new tune by Avraham Fried and composer Chanan Yovel

SheHaShemesh Ta'avor Alai at israelidances.com

Video at Rokdim

Ahava Noshana at israelidances.com