The essay discusses the origins of the popular wartime saying "Am Yisrael Chai" (The People of Israel Live) which was written by Shlomo Carlebach in the mid-1960s at the request of Jacob Birnbaum for the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry movement.

Am Yisrael Chai, a popular anthem for the Jewish people, was composed by Shlomo Carlebach in the mid-1960s.

The popular Jewish anthem, "Am Yisrael Chai" (The People of Israel Live), was written and first performed in the mid-1960s by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach at the request of Jacob Birnbaum, the founder of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ).