page_title: Lay Down Your Arms (Doron Levinson song)
section_title: In popular culture
hierarchical_section_title: Lay Down Your Arms (Doron Levinson song) / In popular culture
caption_attribution_description: Aviva Rajsky &amp; March of the Living Choir 2015
context_page_description: "Lay Down Your Arms" is a peace song originally in Hebrew language as תפילה לשלום composed by the Israeli Doron B. Levinson in 1973 in the aftermath of Yom Kippur War when Levinson was temporarily blind at the time, having been injured during the war. The Hebrew lyrics are by Hamutal Ben Zeev-Efron.
  The song is a tribute to a fallen Israeli soldier. The lyrics written by Hamutal Ben Zeev-Efron are inspired by the Isaiah that says "And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they teach their children war anymore".
  At a later stage, the English lyrics were added, which are not direct translations, but whole new lyrics. They are written by Lisa-Catherine Cohen for the main text and by Harry Lewis, the latter contributing the bridge. Through Ms. Cohen in California, Hal Leonard/Cherry Lane Music, a large sheet music publishing company, acquired the sheet music rights, helping to distribute the song through its vast network.
  "Lay Down Your Arms" has been performed by many children's and adult choirs, and audiences throughout Canada, the United States and Israel.
context_section_description: Toronto's Habonim Youth Choir, conducted by Esther Ghan Firestone, the cantor of Toronto's Congregation Habonim, recorded the song in Hebrew. In 1992 a music video was released in addition to lyrics in English with some Hebrew verses. The choir was conducted by Esther Ghan Firestone and directed by Eli Rubenstein. The soloist in the video was 17-year-old Tara Strong (then Charendoff) who sang the part in the early 1990s when she was still attending high school in Toronto.  The video was directed by Yehoram Pirotsky
  Roots Canada launched a special promotion, producing a "Lay Down Your Arms" T-shirts and sweatshirts featuring a dove in the design. It also offered a free cassette of the song to each of its customers who purchased one.
  In the spring of 1995, several schools and religious institutions around the world commemorated the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi death camps and the end of World War II with a performance of "Lay Down Your Arms".
  In 2000, it was performed by the 60-voice choir of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles at the memorial for the children shot at California's Northridge Community Center.
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  The Hebrew-language version was performed in a collective project with the participation of, amongst others, Ilanit, Harel Moyal, Leah Shabbat, Eli Luzon, Si Himan and Momi Levy, accompanied by the New Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Li-Ron Herzeliya Children's Choir and the Hakol Zorem Choir. The arrangement was by Eldad Shrim, who also served as musical producer and conducted the New Haifa Symphony Orchestra for this project. The song and video clip were produced by Doron B. Levinson.
  2015 Recording of “Lay Down Your Arms”: To mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe, the March of the Living Children’s Choir, joined by the Habonim Youth Choir, recorded a new version of “Lay Down Your Arms”. Cantor Aviva Rajsky and guitarist Tom Bellman - from Toronto’s Congregation Habonim, who both accompanied the 2015 March of the Living - composed a new arrangement for the song. It was first performed on Holocaust Remembrance Day, at the 2015 March of the Living ceremony in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
  In Nov. 2015, the more modern version of the song was released along with a music video. The new video and sheet music were sent to schools, with the suggestion they play the video during 2015 Remembrance Day commemorations and learn the song for future memorial events. The new music video included portions of the song performed in 2015 on Holocaust Remembrance Day  at Auschwitz-Birkenau, at the Tempel Synagogue in Krakow and in Israel near Latrun, between Yom Hazikaron, which honours Israel’s war dead, and Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. The Israel Museum gave permission to include images from the Dead Sea Scrolls, specifically the Great Isaiah Scroll. The oldest known version of the biblical book. “In the video you see lines written 2,200 to 2,300 years ago, on cracked parchment,” song & video producer Eli Rubenstein said. “It’s interesting to think that in 2015, with all sorts of modern technology, we’re reading something written in the hills of Judea 2,500 years ago. Look how powerful that message is. They remind us how far we have to go to build a world of peace.”
caption: Aviva Rajsky & March of the Living Choir 2015
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