WHEN WE WERE YOUNG
Yom Hadash
Ruach 5763

Music & Text: Jon Nelson

[Yom Hadash writes:] When we were children, our grandfather would take us to shul [synagogue] with him. I remember him standing next to me in the synagogue... sometimes, I still feel his presence there.

Loosely based on the prayer l’dor vador [“from generation to generation”], When We Were Young was composed as a reminder of our responsibility to pass our history and heritage on to the generations which will follow us.

As kids, we were lucky to have Jewish role models who took the time to explain where we came from and where we were going. This song recalls those experiences, and describes the sense of community and continuity which binds us together.

“The fate of our people goes on through you and me...”

VERSE 1
When we were young we were told
we're born with a culture to hold.
The bond between young and the old would carry us.
Now that we're woman and man,
Just as our ancestors planned,
we carry the past in our hands. It rallies us.

CHORUS
We must carry on.
We've relied on each other so long.
The fate of our people goes on through me,
Through you and me.

VERSE 2
Our fathers walked far to be free.
They gave us their own legacy.
We must get together, you see, and hold the flame.

CHORUS

© 1999 Jon Nelson Music (BMI). All rights reserved.