CHILDREN OF FREEDOM
Beth Schafer
Ruach 5763

[Beth Schafer writes:] The cost of freedom is responsibility. At Mt. Sinai, we became a free people, responsible for living by words of Torah. At the signing of the Declaration of Independence, as America became a sovereign nation, we became responsible for preserving the rights and freedom of those who are unprotected. Children of Freedom was written in response to the tragedies of September 11th as so many were stirred by singing anthems of freedom. This American-Jewish anthem reminds us of our roots as a people redeemed from slavery; and, links our history at Mt. Sinai to that day in Philadelphia when freedom, a very sacred Jewish concept, became the cornerstone of America’s first sacred document, the Declaration of Independence. As much as America has strengthened the Jewish people, the Jewish people have certainly strengthened America.

Visit the Children of Freedom website!

VERSE 1
Delivered on shores still with sand in our shoes,
Homeward bound,
Survivors in spirit with nothing to lose.
We have found a land, a life.

CHORUS
Children of freedom sing
That freedom must always ring.
Children of of freedom rise
Repairing the world through freedom's eyes.

VERSE 2
Living the hope of American dreams,
We rejoice.
We honor the struggle of our history.
Hear our voice, our prayer, our song.

CHORUS

BRIDGE
We look back on Sinai to the roots of our tree.
We look back on Philly and the branches we see
Are fruited with olives but yield apple pie,
A harvest of peace set on tables of pride.

CHORUS

©2002 by the composer. All rights reserved.