Yamim Shel Sheket: "days of quiet" after the storm

The title, word by word

The construction is simple and very useful: noun + שֶׁל (shel, "of") + noun.

• יָמִים yamim — days (singular יוֹם yom)
• שֶׁל shel — of
• שֶׁקֶט sheket — quiet, silence (also shouted as "quiet!" in every Israeli classroom)
• הִנֵּה הֵם בָּאִים hine hem ba'im — here they come

The Noah's ark inside the song

The second half of the song is built entirely from the flood story: the waters subsiding (אִם כָּלוּ כְּבָר הַמַּיִם), land maybe appearing on the horizon, animals going out two by two (זוּגוֹת זוּגוֹת), and everyone waiting together for the dove (נְחַכֶּה בְּיַחַד לַיּוֹנָה).

Read that way, the song is not about weather but about a country coming out of a very loud, very frightening time — sitting on the balcony, gathering the shards of the storm, and daring to open the door again.

Lines worth memorising

• הִנֵּה הֵם בָּאִים יָמִים שֶׁל שֶׁקֶט — here they come, days of quiet
• אֶפְשָׁר לָנוּחַ קְצָת עַל הַמִּרְפֶּסֶת — we can rest a little on the balcony
• לִשְׁלֹחַ אֶל הָרוּחַ צִיפּוֹרִים — to send birds into the wind
• אֶפְשָׁר לָקוּם, סוֹף הָעוֹלָם עָבַר — we can get up, the end of the world has passed

Vocabulary from this song

• שֶׁקֶט sheket — quiet
• רַעַשׁ ra'ash — noise
• מִרְפֶּסֶת mirpeset — balcony
• סְעָרָה se'ara — storm
• קֶשֶׁת keshet — rainbow (also a bow)
• יוֹנָה yona — dove

Who were Lola?

Lola (לולה) was a four-piece Israeli group active 1997–2000 — Idan Alterman, Yarden Bar-Kochba, Yasmin Kedar and Avi Greinik — who came out of the sketch-and-song world of Israeli TV. The band was short-lived, but 'Yamim Shel Sheket' outlived it and is now sung at ceremonies, in schools and at communal sing-alongs.

Frequently asked questions