From the recording Orijinal (En Bivo)
First recorded on Monastir (2020)
Some places become part of your life even if you’ve never lived there. Monastir, now Bitola in North Macedonia, is the city my family called home for generations after the expulsion from Spain in 1492. Although I never knew the thriving Sephardic community my grandfather remembered, I grew up surrounded by its stories, recipes, and traditions. Over time, Monastir became a place I carried in my imagination.
When I wrote this song, I drew from family memories, including those of my cousin Rachel Nahmias, one of the few survivors of Monastir's Jewish community after the Holocaust. It became my way of honoring a city that continues to shape my family's story, even after so much of it was lost.
Lyrics
Monastir, nu t’ulvidamus
Tus kriaturas ti unoran.
Rispiramus tus guloris,
Aspirandu turnar;
Guardamus tus bozis,
Aspirandu turnar.
Monastir, trayimi a kaze
Ondi las kayis mi yaman
Las streyas mi avlan
Las mimorias mi kantan
Ti veyu kaminar in il kurtiju
Riyendu kun primus i amigus.
Kumiendu taralikus
I siempri tan altu;
Djugandu djugitus
I siempri tan altu.
Tu alme is pure aligria
Mizmu las floris riyin kun ti.
Kushkiyandumus kun kuentus
Kol akavod pare ti;
Aprisyandu lus mumentus
Kol akavod pare ti.
In mi tinu veyu une fez, un krushe, une mizuza,
Buenda, saviduria i sidaka.
Un tablo di misklas sus tu, Monastir.
English:
Monastir, we do not forget you
Your children honor you.
We breathe your smells,
Waiting to return;
We hold on to your voices,
Waiting to return.
Monastir, bring me home
Where the streets call to me
The stars on the walls speak to me
The memories sing to me
I see you walking in the courtyard
Laughing with cousins and friends.
Eating taraliku cookies
And always standing tall;
Playing little games
And always standing tall.
Your spirit is pure joy
Even flowers laugh with you.
Tickling us with stories
All the honor to you;
Cherishing the moments
All the honor to you.
Across my mind I see a fez, a crochet, a mezuzah,
Kindness, knowledge and tzedaka.
A tableau of mixtures are you, Monastir.