‘Hallelujah’ still ‘fascinating’ decades later

“Hallelujah la’olam,
Hallelujah, yashiru kulam,
Bemila akhat bodeda,
Halev male bahamon toda,
Veholem gam hu: Eyze olam nifla.”

“Hallelujah, sing a song
Hallelujah, we’ll follow along
With a simple word, a single word
We bless the sky, the tree, the bird
And we fill our heart with joy,
Hallelujah.” — from “Hallelujah” by Kobi Oshrat and Shimrit Orr.

If ever there was a song that you just can’t get out of your head — a simple little ditty that calls you to sing along — it’s “Hallelujah.”
“I think the song is fascinating for us all, at least for me, as it’s so simple, a catchy tune and yet so meaningful and appropriate for our times,” Robin Matheson, lay cantor at Temple Beth Shalom in Fort Walton Beach, told The Log.
“Hallelujah, im hashir,
Hallelujah, al yom sheme’ir.
Hallelujah, al ma shehaya, ya,
Uma she’od lo haya, hallelujah.”

“Hallelujah, sounds of love
Hallelujah, the sunshine above
Hallelujah, the bells will go ringin’
And dingin’ from dawn till night, Hallelujah.”

Hallelujah, an Israeli folk song, was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed in Hebrew by Gali Atari and Milk & Honey for Israel.
This group was created especially for the contest after the song’s original performers, the band Habibi, declined the opportunity to sing it due to internal conflicts within the band and the lead singer Shlomit Aharon’s accident.
The song is a slow-building ballad, with the group praising God for the world and all the good things in it. To date, it is the most religiously-themed song to win the contest.
“Hallelujah la’olam,
Hallelujah, yashiru kulam,
Veha’inbalim hagdolim
Yehadhedu bahamon tzlilim,
Ve’itanu hem yomru hallelujah.”

“Hallelujah, day by day
Hallelujah, don’t throw it away
Fly and spread your wings, have a try
Be free again like a butterfly
Come along and sing with us, Hallelujah.”

Hallelujah, which means “praise the Lord,” is regarded as a classic of the contest, due in part to its performance style, with Atari and her back up singers entering the stage one by one, rather than all together.
This was also the first time the winning song had come from behind to clinch victory on the final vote. Spain had been leading, but, ironically, it was the Spanish jury that awarded the contest to Israel.
This was only the fourth time the host country had won the contest. Unusually, Israel would neither host nor compete in the next contest, due to its scheduling coinciding with Yom Hazikaron.
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Kobi Oshrat, composer of Hallelujah, was born in Haifa, Israel, in 1944. During his service in the Israeli Defense Forces, he was in an entertainment group as a singer and as an actor from 1962-1965.
In 1969 he decided to leave the stage and concentrate on composing and arranging music. He has since composed more than a thousand songs, including tracks for movies, TV programs, musical theater and commercial jingles for both radio and television.
Oshrat has written many songs for children, some of which have won first places at the Children’s Song Festivals and become classics.
He gained international fame as the winning composer of the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, and also wrote the music for the 1994 Nobel Prize acceptance ceremony honoring Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat.
The lyrics were written by Shimrit Orr, one of Israel’s leading songwriters.  In addition to writing songs, Orr is very involved in Israeli politics and her daughter, Ya’arit Ben-Ya’acov, is also a popular performer.
•••
The Eurovision Song Contest is a yearly pop song competition which began in 1956, and takes place in the capital of the country that won the competition the year before.
Although Israel is in Asia, not Europe, it is allowed to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest as a member of the EBU and did so for the first time in 1973.
On April 22, 1978, Izhar Cohen, an Israeli, won the first prize with the song Ah-Ba-Ni-Bi. Then, in 1979, it was Israel’s chance to showcase Jerusalem to the world as the event was held in Binyanei Ha’ouama Centre in Jerusalem.
This was the first time the event was held outside the geographical area of Europe.
Hallelujah was also performed at the end of the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 by all the contestants as a tribute to the victims of the wars in the Balkans. It has become something of a modern Jewish standard, recognized by many North Americans who might never even have heard of Eurovision.
The song has been recorded in more than 400 versions worldwide, with one of the most well-known versions recorded by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme under the pseudonym Parker and Penny.
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Hallelujah is used by many for special occasions and is popular at concerts featuring Israeli songs.
“I’m proud it was a win for Israel, and at that the second year in a row,” Matheson said. “They’ve won since, in 1998, but the first two, Ah-Ba-Ni-Bi and Hallelujah are my favorites.
“When my husband and I visited Israel in 1983, Hallelujah was still very popular and still playing on the radio.”
And people around the world continue to sing along to a simple song that has captured their hearts and souls.
To listen to the song, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTi2KwixNjg
Halleluyah la’olam — praise to the world for everything that was and will be, halleluyah.