Happy first night of Chanukah!

This melody was very popular when I was in high school, mumblety-mumble years ago, because you could dance to it. (If you did not attend a Jewish girls' school in your youth and don't know which dance, try the bunny hop. Most of the Jewish dance songs from my youth worked with the bunny hop.) "Al Hanisim," melody by Dov Frimer, sung by Izhar Cohen, lyrics from the 8th or 9th Century--the Gaonic period:

Video posted by sha1om

As I said last year, the lyrics are the introductory phrases to paragraphs inserted in the daily prayers on the Rabbinic holidays of Chanukah and Purim:

And (we thank You) for the miracles, and for the salvation, and for the mighty deeds, and for the victories, and for the battles which You performed for our forefathers in those days, at this time.

So, Happy Chanukah! Light a candle, have a latke...

Video posted by MaccabeatsVideos; "Latke Recipe."

The song on which this parody is based, "Shut Up and Dance," was written by members of Walk the Moon with Ben Berger and Ryan McMahon, and I have no information on their respective religious identities/affiliations; the lyrics were (mostly) written by Spencer Garfield, the Religious School Music teacher of Temple Emanu-El of Marblehead, MA. It seems safe to conclude that he is Jewish.

(Or if you want a recipe with a teensy bit more accuracy:)

Video posted by The New York Times


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