Jewish Stereo Types

...It's "I Have a Little Dreidel." Never mind that it's literally a song about a game played by spinning a tiny little top, which is no more exciting than it sounds. It's THE Chanukah song, and it Must. Be. Sung. So here are the Maccabeats, looking for a way to sing it: Video posted by the Maccabeats (I am okay with a Bohemian Dreidel Rhapsody. That is not a bad option.) *** As ubiquitous as the song is, you'd think that it had always been around. Okay, not as "always" as yesterday's 13th Century lyrics set to a 15th Century folk song--it IS in English, for one thing--but still, always. Well, it hasn't been, not unless your definition of "always" is 1927, which is only (almost) Irving Berlin "Always" (1925). We also know who wrote it--one Samuel E. Goldfarb . And as an interesting sidenote, his brother, Israel Goldfarb , composed the equally ubiquitous melody to "Shalom Aleichem" in 1918. Some been-a...

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...

So apparently all pandas want is a little alone time--or maybe it's the lower pollution levels?: Stuck at home with no visitors and not much else to do, a pair of pandas in Hong Kong finally decided to give mating a go after a decade of dodging the issue https://t.co/GiA5wg6N90 — AFP news agency (@AFP) April 7, 2020 * * * * * Tonight is the first night of Passover, so instead of bringing you a "happy song," here are the Maccabeats asking "Mah Nishtanah" or "The Four Questions," which are asked at every seder: Video posted by Maccabeats Tomorrow and Friday are the first days of Passover, followed by Shabbat, so have a good weekend and I'll see you Sunday!

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 wri...

  And of course a song or two: "Book of Good Life" (parody of "Good Life" by OneRepublic), sung by the Maccabeats: Video posted by Maccabeats Channel   "Dip Your Apple" (parody of Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira and John Hill), sung by the Ein Prat Fountainheads: Video posted by einpratfountainheads *** I have no reason to think any of the members of OneRepublic are Jewish--and several to think they are not--but of course the writers of the lyrics to this parody (Immanuel Shalev and David Block) are. Similarly, "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" had no Jewish creators of which I am aware, but the lyrics of this parody (by Ben R.) do.

Four men on the balcony Overlooking the parking lot Pointing at a figure in the distance Dr. King has just been shot And the sirens long melody Singing Savior Pass Me Not                         -Paul Simon "So Beautiful or So What" by Paul Simon, sung by Paul Simon Video by PaulSimonVEVO Right, so this song is not about Martin Luther King Jr.'s life or his dream, but as Paul Simon told Mojo Magazine, "'So beautiful or so what' is a valid question when you're facing the enormity of the infinite. Or pure Love," which makes it clear where Dr. King's death comes in. *** It's news to precisely no one that Paul Simon is Jewish , with a musical career that began when he started singing with Art Garfunkel when they were both 13. In the six decades (or so) since then, he has picked up 16 Grammys (out of 35 nominations); was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ; landed in the top ten of Rolling Stone's list of 1...

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...