Barack Obama, as we all know by now, is quite fond of summoning up the spirit of Abraham Lincoln. That’s why it was such a surprise when the presidential predecessor Obama decided to invoke in his inaugural address was not “Honest Abe” but the fellow who (as lore has it) could not tell a lie about chopping down a cherry tree. But our new president isn’t the only one conjuring the spirits of the American Cincinnatus and the Great Emancipator for elevated purposes:
As Hanukkah nears its end, the good folks at Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill, N.J., can breathe easily. Their world-record of 541 dreidels spinning simultaneously has withstood a challenge mounted by Sha’arei Am in Santa Monica, Calif.:
So we’ve had seven nights of Hanukkah videos. We’ve watched singing cowboys, rapping Jewesses, will.i.am impersonators, melodious philosemitism, a comic spilling the beans on George Clooney, Adam Sandler dropping names, and Lipa Schmeltzer doing his thing. But, a viewer might fairly complain, we still don’t have any better sense of what this holiday is all about than when we began. Fair enough.
Ain’t no Hanukkah song like a Hanukkah song sung by Hasidic pop giant Lipa Schmeltzer (alas, it’s only a promo, so it gets cut off a little abruptly):
Before “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” there was the “Chanukah Song”:
Maybe she can get in touch with this guy, if and when he gets his Christmas wish:
Yes, Chabad of Malibu can light your menorah. Like will.i.am’s pro-Obama video upon which it is based, the Chabad video features a woman saying “Yes we can” in Hebrew. Unlike the will.i.am video, Chabad doesn’t have Jewish/Danish-American actress Scarlett Johansson — or any other women for that matter — singing along. For which, of course, there’s a ready explanation. That, however, begs the question: Did the folks who made or performed in the Chabad video allow themselves to listen to the original?
Be forewarned, it’s a little crude, a little rude, but then again, what would you expect from a hip-hop defense of Hanukkah:
Last December, the Bintel Blog marked the Festival of Lights and Latkes with eight crazy nights of offbeat Hanukkah-themed videos for your viewing enjoyment. We watched intergalactic, interfaith warfare; dancing Israeli donuts; Aussie punk rockers; manic terrorists; soulful (and not as soulful) holiday songs; NBA stars playing defense, (faux) O.G. hip-hop straight outta Pico-Robertson; and gambling monkeys.