New York – Following its hugely successful Chanukah-themed hit, “Candlelight,” the Maccabeats releases its latest single, “The Purim Song,” just in time for the upcoming holiday. The song, set to the tune of Pink’s “Raise Your Glass,” tells the story of Purim, a holiday commemorating a time when the Jews of Persia were miraculously saved from extermination.
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“The last video exceeded our wildest expectations,” said Maccabeat Immanuel Shalev of “Candlelight,” which drew more than 4.7 million views on YouTube and garnered national media attention. “We’re touring the country, we’ve been on radio and TV, but the most rewarding thing about this whole experience was being able to tell the Chanukah story to millions of people. Jews who haven’t lit a menorah for years went out and bought Chanukah candles, and non-Jews who may not have known the story were interested in learning more.”
Shalev, who graduated from Yeshiva College in 2008, hopes the Maccabeats latest music video—filmed and edited by fellow YU graduate Uri Westrich—will accomplish something similar with the Purim story, “which is less known, but definitely not less important.”
The Maccabeats, Yeshiva University’s all-male a cappella group, formed in 2007 and released its first album, Voices from the Heights, in March 2010. According to Shalev, YU and its mission of Torah Umadda have strongly influenced the group. “In general, we like to take secular songs that are really well known and use them for a meaningful purpose. We’re doing it now with ‘The Purim Song’ but we’ve done it in the past with ‘Dynamite’ and ‘Candlelight’ and with Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ and our ‘Lecha Dodi.’
“Torah Umadda is about being religious in a modern world,” added Shalev, who is currently enrolled in Fordham Law School. “We like to have fun just like everyone else but we’re also passionate about what we believe in.”
Watch below.
what a terrible song to begin with
GOOD JOB!
nice, but i like the chanuka one better
Luv it!
Wow they are terrific. I just bought their album on iTunes too. I love their Lecha Dodi. I’ll sing that this Shabbos and see who recognizes it in my shteible.
Keep it up!
With a varm hartz!
do they this in bp?
Pink’s video is nasty. This is great!
A freilichen Purim.
This is their THIRD music video not second. the first was a super video of their rendition of Matisyahu’s one day . the hanukah candleight hit was the 2nd music vid. the purim song is their 3rd.
terrific! nice to see some talent
I love those Maccabeats. One great thing about them is that they bring Jewish awareness and pride to Jews of different backgrounds. MBD and Shwecky and those guys appeal mostly to a frum crowd only, but the Maccabeats are listened to by people of many different backgrounds. Many Jews say how the Maccabeats gave them Jewish pride and awareness of the holidays they otherwise lacked. Kudos to the Magnificent Maccabeats who personify Kiddush HaShem. (turning people towards Torah and not away from it).
I disagree shvigger. A Kiddush HaShem is anything that brings people closer to Hashem. Throwing rocks at people on Shabbos is the opposite of a Kiddush HaShem. Doing a public action that makes people feel closer to Torah is a Kiddush HaShem.
Poll: Do you think The Purim Song will exceed The Candlelight Song???
This is 4.7 million hits we’re talking about…
I personally think it will not exceed
Nice.
Constructive criticism: All the singers seem to be high tenors , creating a rather monotonous musical experience. Adding a few baritones and a bass would make a tremendous difference.
I think the house-owner needs a new interior decorator. 🙂
This idea of being frum while living in a modern world, in other words synthesizing the 2 worlds can be dangerous.
In order to make this..they must have watched the original Pink video which features, among other scenes, 2 men kissing, a girl in bed with an Orthodox Rabbi..and nun and other things that simply cannot be synthesized with Judiasm.
Yes I did watch it..
and no, I did not try to make it work with my Judaism
lol