New "Shachav Beni" Version Honors Pioneer Spirit in Jordan Valley

The Speilman family has released a new rendition of the song "Shachav Beni" (Sleep, My Son), set to the melody of "Ki Hineh KeChomer" (For Behold, As Clay). This release commemorates the one-year anniversary of the establishment of the Bar Dalia farm in the northern Jordan Valley. The family stated the song is a tribute to the pioneers who are working to settle, guard, and cultivate the land.

The new version of "Shachav Beni" was recorded by the Speilman family amidst the "smoke still rising over the fields of the pioneers of 5786 (2025-2026)." They sent "kisses of burning love to that smoke which once hovered over the threshing floor in Beit Alfa and Tel Yosef." The original "Shachav Beni" was written by Emmanuel Harusi in August 1929, following the events of the 1929 Hebron and Safed massacres, as a lullaby for his young son Avner. According to the family, its lyrics were combined with a melody that came to the Land of Israel with the prayers of the diaspora and accompanied the pioneers upon their return to Zion.

The new performance merges the song's lyrics with the melody of the piyyut (liturgical poem) "Ki Hineh KeChomer." The explanatory notes for the song state, "Everything is in the hands of heaven - so chants the piyyut. We will guard, protect, sow, and reap - so sing the pioneers. Miraculously, the new words connected with the ancient, the melody with the tune, and the prayer with the heart's desire of the land's defenders."

Jonathan Lipnick was responsible for the musical arrangement and production, and Avishai Ben-Dor recorded the vocals at Solvi Studio.