Israeli, Chinese singers strike a chord

JERUSALEM－When Yair Levi's grandmother fell ill early last year, the Israeli singer was at a loss and desperate to find some solace by writing a meaningful song praying for her recovery.

"When I composed the song, I was just thinking about my grandmother and how I wanted her to get better," Levi says.

Since its publication, however, hundreds of amateur versions have popped up around the world in different languages, in addition to official recordings in German, English, Hindi and soon Arabic.

Sadly, Levi's grandmother died, though not from COVID-19. But the inspiring song performed by his calming voice struck a chord with many listeners at a time when the world was looking for hope amid the rapid spread of the highly infectious virus.

Later, Chinese-Israeli Maya Yangzi Lazar chanced to find online a video clip of the song coproduced by Hadassah medical center in Jerusalem and Levi, when she was surfing the internet to see where she could get a rapid COVID-19 test. The moving melody made her decide that the song must be translated into Mandarin.

Earlier this month, with the help of Lazar, the Hebrew-Chinese version of the song was released. Together with Levi, Chinese singers Ha Hui and Xu Chi recorded the song each at their own location because of the current travel restrictions.

"The song is really a mission of connection between Israel and China. Because in the end, music is so real and it really connects people. I wish that through this song, there will be more connections between us and the Chinese people," Levi says.

Xinhua