Jewish Stereo Types

I've left it a bit late, but it's still Chanukah, and it's still the holiday season, and here we are. So let's have a couple of Chanukah specials, just because we can. I've brought Ma'oz Tzur here a couple of times before ( here and here ), but after all, that is nothing compared to the eight times every year I attempt to sing it, and you definitely don't want to hear that. Trust me. Instead, you can refer to the previous links for more traditional versions, or you can listen to this jazzy version by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Nicolette Robinson, which is not only lovely but surprised me by the really very good Hebrew: Video posted by Leslie Odom Jr. I encourage you to click back to the older posts (again, they are here and here , no one should have to go search for links, amirite?) for a little background on the song, but for those who lack time and/or interest, I shall shove just a little history your way anyway: The melody (otherwise known as "Roc...

In honor of which, I bring you two--yes, two!--Chanukah songs. The first is "Candlelight," sung by the Maccabeats (in their first viral video): Video by Uri Westrich The melody is by Taio Cruz (although he thought it was for a song titled "Dynamite"), and he is not, to the best of my knowledge, Jewish. The parody lyrics, however, are by two members of the Maccabeats (an a cappella group formed of current and past Yeshiva University students), David Block and Immanuel Shalev , and if they (and the singers) are not all Jewish, someone made a serious mistake in their university application. And in case you were wondering about the lines in "Candlelight" that runs: We say "Ma'oz Tzur" Oh, yeah, for all eight nights, that is my second song, a very traditional Chanukah song--"Ma'oz Tzur," sung here by students of Israel's Technion *: Video by Technion This traditional melody for "Ma'oz Tzur" has been...