Thanksgivukkah tunes & caterwauls
A final round-up of the once-in-a-lifetime (or is it?) holiday videos
Renee Ghert-Zand is the health reporter and a feature writer for The Times of Israel.
After this Thursday, we will be able to give thanks that there will be (we hope) no more once-in-70,000-year-holiday mashup videos. But in the meantime, they are coming at us at a fast and furious clip.
Apropos the hype surrounding the gigormous historiosity of the holiday, The Philadelphia Jewish Voice recently published an article stating it’s all a bunch of turkey hooey.
According to the piece, “Some of our older readers have already celebrated Hanukkah on Thanksgiving, and our younger readers may do so again.”
The paper claims the next convergence with be on November 27, 2070.
May we all live so long.
In the meantime, American Jews are still having fun with the holiday and it has become clear that our recent Thankgivukkah roundup just doesn’t cut it. Here are some more of the videos that have shown up online in the run-up to the big day. (Additional ones will surely be posted between now and November 28, but we’ll be too busy making our sweet potato latkes, Manischewitz-brined turkey, and pumpkin pie sufganiyot to pay attention.)
Of course, what we’ve all been waiting for is this year’s Hanukkah video from the Maccabeats. A cover of “Burn” by Ellie Goulding, it’s primarily a Festival of Lights video. The only nod to Thanksgivukkah is the foods served at the family dinner, which apparently give the video’s teenage hero the strength to proudly wear his kippah as he returns to school and stands up to bullies (whose letter jackets actually say “BULLIES” on the back — in case we didn’t get that).
Speaking of the Maccabeats, they’d better watch out. We think Kippah Live, an Israeli a cappella group gives them a run for their money with their “Nes Gadol Hayah Po,” which was made to publicize an initiative bringing secular and religious Israeli Jews together to light the Hanukkah candles.
The Kippah Live video also includes a bit of Maoz Tzur. You be the judge as to whether their version of the traditional Hanukkah hymn is better than the one presented by a group of Technion students banging on some beakers.
Wondering about the exact origin of Thankgivukkah? Let the folks at Shmideo enlighten you with their “rare footage” parody video.
And speaking of parodies, it seems the way to go for many is to borrow a pop, rap or hip-hop song. Cases in point: TOI blogger Benji Lovitt’s “Thanksgivukkah Pie” (who knew Benji could sing?) and puppet band Buba Myses’s “Thanksgivukkah-Scream and Shout.”
Of course, there are some who have no need to look outside the traditional Jewish holiday repertoire to find a good tune. Just ask Gil and Margie Brodsky of Temple Aliyah in Needham, Mass. “Hannukah Oh Hanukkah” does just fine for them.
Not everything is a knock-off; there are also some original Thankgivukkah songs. We’ll let you decide if they deserve points for originality.
Our fave among these is Ari Lesser’s reggae-style “Give Thanks.”
There’s also “The Thanksgivukkah Song” from BuzzFeed.
http://youtu.be/qOtVa9uMivo
And “The Ballad of Thanksgivukkah” by Rabbi David Paskin and the folks at Kehillah Schechter Academy in Norwood, Mass. Paskin and KSA have gotten a lot of mileage out of this ditty – singing it on the floor of the House of Representatives of the Massachusetts State House, and also in this PBS segment on Thanksgivukkah (you know this mashup holiday is something serious when public television gives it airtime).
http://youtu.be/XMV_i5juhpI
Want a break from all the cloyingly festive tunes? Aish offers up a spoken word Thanksgiving/Hanukkah video this year.
Jewish Boston shows us that before all the Thankgivukkah hype started, no one even knew about “the best holiday of all time.” Conan O’Brien treats us to a Thanksgiving Turkey Dreidel spectacle.
And finally, sex expert Dr. Ruth gives some advice about what to do once we’ve stuffed ourselves with latkes and turkeys. Could tryptophan really be an aphrodisiac?
We may be experiencing an extremely rare confluence of Hanukkah and Thankgiving, but there are still some Jews who can’t seem to kick the usual Hanukkah-Christmas crossover habit.
http://youtu.be/7U0k_vHxc2k
Put on your Yamaclaus and check out comedian Rachel Bloom’s slightly raunchy “Chanukah Honey,” and cringe through Vodka and Latkes’ off-key “All I Want for Thanksgivukkah.”
http://youtu.be/ejf_y8kl6dg
Believe it or not, there is even a Thankgivukkah scrooge out there. It’s Rabbi Daniel Brenner, crooning that he doesn’t like his Thanksgiving Day mixed up with his Hanukkah nights in “The Anti-Thankgivukkah Song.”
How do you say bah humbug in Hebrew?
