(From top left, clockwise) Chloe Pourmorady, Adam Kantor, Rona-Lee Shimon and Layan Elwazani singing a new rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Photo: Screenshot.
A new version of Leonard Cohen’s iconic song “Hallelujah” was released on Sunday as part of an effort to support the emergency first-response organization United Hatzalah of Israel, which is helping battle the coronavirus.
The song debuted during an online benefit called “Saving Lives Sunday.”
It was performed in English, Hebrew and Arabic by Israeli recording artist Dudu Aharon; Israeli Fauda star Rona-Lee Shimon; Palestinian-American actress Layan Elwazani and Jewish-American actor Adam Kantor — both from the Broadway cast of The Band’s Visit; and Persian-American composer-singer Chloe Pourmorady; as well as first responders and people whose lives were saved by United Hatzalah of Israel volunteers.
The clip also featured a snippet of singing by United Hatzalah Founder and President Eli Beer, 46, who recently overcame his battle with the coronavirus.
“Saving Lives Sunday” raised more than $1 million for United Hatzalah. The virtual benefit included messages from Jay Leno, Israeli mentalist Lior Suchard and ex-NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire, among others.
The event also included messages from dozens of individuals whose lives were saved by United Hatzalah, and many of those people got a chance to speak directly to their rescuers in conversations on Zoom that were shared with those watching the event.
Watch “Hallelujah” being performed below:
