Today was Jonathan’s first day of Kindergarten. On the way home, as the radio played Eli Mohar and Yoni Rechter’s “As Long”, I burst into tears.

While it doesn’t do the original any justice, here’s my attempt to translate the lyrics to English:

A boy walking down the street
On a clear September morning
To the school the children go out again
A man walks behind him
Watches, sees – unseen
And only later he stands there, witnessing

How another year starts there
Like every year, in the fall,
How a son walks alone
With a father in his steps

A man sees, hiding
How his son enters the classroom
A man stands like a child left outside
And inside they sing already
An hymn for the new year
Oh how it all starts over again

Once more they sing of the rain
Once more they sing of the fall
And once more the letters are written on the board

(a.b.c.d.e.f.g.h.i.j.k.l.m.n.o.p.q.r.s.t.u.v.w.x.y.z)

A man midmorning
A man mid life
At the school gate he stands alone
He remembers his own dad
Once walked behind him
He tries to hear his steps

But the children still sing
A song of the first rain and autumn flowers
And the man lips are whispering too:
As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear not
Even if I suddenly fall
My heart will sing

As long as the morning comes
As long as the letters are written
As long as a son walks
With his father in his steps
As long as the children sing
Of the new year
As long as it all starts over again

As long as the sea awakes
As long as the wind rises
As long as on the blackboard
A word will be drawn