Hilarious Song/Video about Kitniyot

Enjoy!

Fantastic Musical Proposal Video

Eric, the fellow starring in this cute music video that details his proposal to his fiancee whom he met on J-date, is quite the talented guy. I'm very impressed with the overall quality and creativity shown in the arrangement, choreography and seemingly random bits of humor thrown in (the male ballet dancer?).

I think he's got the Maccabeats and Y-Studs proposals beat.

Maybe we should have an annual competition for Jewish musical proposal videos? The winner could get an appearance by the Maccabeats (or someone else of their choice) at their wedding or chuppah.

So, female readers - what would you think if your gentleman caller and hoping to be fiance made a production such as this for you?

The Curse Of The Shidduch Stalker

The clock neared eleven, and Mordy and Elaine were among the handful of customers remaining at the small coffee shop. An employee went about the empty tables flipping chairs up while another churned his mop in a bucket of murky water in the first’s wake.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Elaine said.

Incredulous, Mordy asked, “What do you mean you’ve never heard of the Shidduch Stalker?”

“Is this one of those dating blog things? I don’t read those,” she rolled her eyes. “They’re full of such shtus. And you should see the comments,” her chin jutted forward as she extended her neck and her mouth gaped slightly. “Talk about loshon hara!” She reeled her head in and shook it back and forth in disapproval.

Mordy dismissed her remarks with a waggle of his hand. “No, this is real. My friend’s chevrusa, who knew the guy it happened to, told him all about it.”

Elaine raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Uhuh, sure. So it’s one of those stories.”

Mordy rested his forearm on the table and leaned forward. “What’s that supposed to mean? ‘One of those stories’?” he injected an extra measure of sarcasm into his voice to surpass Elaine’s.

“You know, one of the made up stories guys tell girls on dates to impress them.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Mordy recoiled, presented both palms outward. “Are you accusing me,” he flicked both thumbs back toward himself, “Of trying to impress you?” Elaine giggled. “Chas V’Shalom! I’d never be so gaiva-dig.”

“Mmhmm,” she murmured and rolled her eyes again.

“Anyway, so the story goes that about 50 years ago, there was a boy from the city who heard about this amazing girl, really a ten out of ten, gorgeous, with wealthy parents who were willing to support them forever, with yichus all the way back to Moshe Rabbeinu-”

Elained pointed a finger at him, “Now I know you’re lying. No one’s ever been able to trace their yichus back to Moshe Rabbeinu,” she retorted disparagingly.

“B’li neder, this is the absolute emes,” he pressed both hands to his chest. “No sheker here!”

Elaine sighed playfully. “I’ll be the judge of that.” She spun her hand in a little vertical circle, “Nu, go on.”

“So yeah, this boy heard about this amazing, fantastic, beautiful girl. The absolute best of the best. And seeing how he was the top bochur at his yeshiva, he knew he’d have the best shot at marrying her. He knew anyways it was meant to be because he had just gotten a bracha from the Rosh Yeshiva for hatzlacha in shidduchim that very day.”

“This sounds too good to be true,” Elaine crossed her arms.

Mordy fixed a disapproving look at his date. “Weren’t you the one who just told me to ‘go on’?” She made a quick zipper motion across her lips with her index finger and thumb held together. “Thank you,” he nodded in mock appreciation.

“So, he went through all the right channels, their parents met and arranged everything, and it looked like everything was set all the way to the chuppah, even before their first date.” He flung his index finger up, hunched over and looked back and forth. “Then it happened…”

Elaine craned her head to the side, “Then what happened?”

Mordy straightened up in his seat and thumped the tabletop lightly with his hand. “If you’d let me finish and quit interrupting, maybe I could tell you,” he flashed a wry grin.

“Sorry!” she retracted her neck inward like a turtle, lifted her shoulders land offered an appeasing smile. 

“Please continue.”

He took a moment to clear his throat and sip gingerly from the straw in his drink. “The shadchan had it all worked out. Everyone knew this was it, and they all eagerly awaited the happy couple’s return from their first, and most likely, only date with news of their engagement. Alas, it was not meant to be…”

Elaine gasped.

“On the way home from their date, they were walking down the sidewalk, so engrossed in their conversation, their stares glued to each other’s face, that they didn’t notice the late night construction crew closing up shop .”

Elaine trembled, chewing at the tips of her perfectly manicured fingernails.

“As they happily strolled along, oblivious to their surroundings, the boy smacked right into a construction worker! He quickly turned to check on his date, and she was gone!”

“Gone?” Elaine squeaked with fright.

“Gone,” Mordy snapped his fingers. “Like that.” Elaine’s breathing became rapid. “While her beloved almost-chosson had smashed into the burly worker, she stepped right into an open manhole!”

“That’s horrible!” Elaine squealed, tears welling in her eyes. “Did they rescue her?”

“Of course that was the first thing on his mind. The boy frantically told the construction guys what happened and they sent two men down there wearing those helmets with flashlights on the front to search for her. After an hour, they came back and said they saw no sign of anyone in the sewers. They thought she might have hit her head and gotten washed away, so they called up their buddies at the processing plant to check.”

“I can’t imagine how she must have felt, all that icky stuff in her hair…” Elaine absentmindedly stroked at a lock next to her ear.

“Ahem,” Mordy furrowed his forehead at her.

“Oh, sorry!” She blinked a few times “So what happened in the end?” Dread crept back into her voice.

“They never found her,” he paused to let that sink in. “It was like she had vanished into thin air, like she had never existed in the first place.”

Elaine dabbed at the corner of her eye with a tissue she extracted from her purse. “That poor boy!” She sniffed “Whatever happened to him?”

“He was totally heartbroken. Utterly miserable. Completely torn up inside,” Mordy tilted his head to the side. “You gotta understand, this was his bashert we’re talking about. His one chance at true love had gone down the drain…” Mordy stopped midsentence, narrowed his eyes in confusion, then refocused his gaze, “...literally,” he smiled at his unintended clever turn of phrase.

Elaine snuffled into her tissue. “What’d he do with his life?”

“Some say he gave up on getting married and dedicated his life to becoming a Kabbalist somewhere in Israel,” Mordy glanced upward for a moment. “Others say he was driven mad because of his grief,” he looked into Elaine’s eyes which were widened with fear. “And now he roams the streets late at night, plodding along in a crazed stupor, still looking for his lost love. He stalks young couples who are out on shidduch dates… and they say if someone happens to bump into him they’ll never been seen again!”

Suddenly, every light in the room shut off, engulfing them in blackness. Elaine screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Sorry!” A voice called out in the darkness. The lights clicked back on, and a lone employee stood by the switch on the wall by the exit. “I thought all the customers had gone home already.”

“It’s okay, we were just about to leave,” Mordy glanced over at Elaine, who was hyperventilating and clawing at the collar of her shirt as though it were trying to strangle her. “Shall we?” He offered. Elaine nodded jerkily and began to rise.

A cool autumn breeze blew past as the door closed behind them. Elaine shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around her torso to ward off the chill.

The remaining employee’s keys jingled in the door lock. “Goodnight, stay safe!” He waved to them and disappeared around the corner. Mordy and Elaine walked onward together in silence for a few minutes.

“So,” Elaine began furtively. “That whole Curse of the Shidduch Stalker isn’t really real, right?”

“What do you mean?” He asked in neutral tone.

“It’s just a story. It never happened,” her voice trembled.

“You can think that if you want to, but I’m pretty sure it’s true. I trust my friend’s chevrusa, he’s a pretty honest guy,” he replied, completely indifferent to Elaine’s mounting distress.

“Uhuh…” she nodded, rattled by her date’s total lack of reassurance.

A sudden crash from a nearby alley made Elaine jump. They came to a stop by a group of fading, white construction barriers. The blinking orange lights had burnt out on two of them.

Mordy glanced at the alley and smirked. “Oh, that’s probably some homeless cat knocking over a trashcan. It just wants some dinner,” he declared.

“I want to get back to my apartment as soon as possible. Where everything is safe,” she pursed her lips and hugged herself.

From the darkness of the alleyway a gravelly voice shouted, “Where is she?!”

“What was that?” Mordy whipped his head around to locate the source of the indignant question.

“Where is she?!” the mysterious voice repeated.

“Mordy, you’re going to get us killed! That’s probably the Shidduch Stalker!” Elaine’s face was a mixture of anger and terror. “Why’d you have to tell me that stupid story!?” She demanded, almost hysterical.

A hunched over form appeared out of the gloom. It shuffled along, holding its hands outward, crooked fingers splayed as though grasping for something.

Elaine’s breath caught in her throat, stifling the scream that had been building up.

The figure angled its head to focus on them. “Do you know where she is? Where did she go?”

“Look mister, this isn’t funny. We don’t have any change to spare. Leave us alone,” Mordy responded, doing his best to sound brave.

The figure hobbled into a circle of light cast by a lamppost, revealing an old man. His remaining grey hair was frazzled, poking out in all directions. An unkempt beard coated his slackened jaw. The scraggly facial hair Contained bits of food and a streak of foamy saliva dripped down at the corner of his mouth. His eyes appeared dazed, and his left eye was yellowish, cloudy and unfocused. An old, well-worn suit practically hung off his gaunt frame, and a tattered, dusty yarmulke was perched on his wrinkled, partially bald head.

“You know where she is!” The old man pointed a kinked index finger with a lengthy, uncut fingernail at 

Mordy. “Tell me. Where did she go?”

Mordy began to tremble and fought himself to prevent Elaine from noticing his panic. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, mister. Have a good night, we’re going,” a twinge of stutter broke its way into his words.

“No, no,” the elderly man shook his head. “ You know. Tell me,“ he took several steps toward them, stopping only a foot away. “Where. Is. She?” He enunciated each word with what seemed like malice.

Elaine started backing away from Mordy, who stood his ground shakily. She bumped into the group of temporary barriers set up around an open manhole.

“I-I told you. I have n-no idea who you’re talking about. P-please!” Mordy held his hands up in appeal.

“You know! Tell me!” The old man snarled and lunged at Mordy. Elaine shrieked and took off running, knocking over one of the white construction barriers to the pavement with a clatter.

Before Mordy knew it, his shirt was ripped, his glasses flung from his face, his cheek was bleeding, and he found himself thrown onto the street, sitting down while leaning back and supported by his elbows. The old man crouched over him, struggling to get to his feet in preparation to strike again. The orange blinking light from a maintenance barrier flashed eerily in the elderly man’s eyes like flames.

Mordy quickly backpedalled on his palms while kicking his feet in front of him, trying to put some distance between himself and his attacker. His hand slipped in a puddle and he fell backward, knocking his head hard against a fire hydrant.

Blackness swallowed his vision and he knew no more.

~~~

Mordy awoke in a hospital bed several hours later. A crew of city workers returned from their routine coffee break and discovered him unconscious in a puddle, blood smeared down his face and onto his shirt. The foreman called emergency services, and they were able to stop the bleeding and get him to the hospital where a doctor bandaged his cheek and stitched up the gash on the back of his scalp. Despite a clear scan, his doctor decided to keep him overnight for observation, just in case any unexpected effects from his head injury became problematic.

Judah, Mordy’s friend from yeshiva dropped by to visit him after morning seder.

“So you told her the Shidduch Stalker story, huh?” Judah tossed the months-old Sports Illustrated magazine onto the bedside nightstand.

“I didn’t see any harm in it,” Mordy fluffed the covers on his bed. “I was hoping it’d impress her, you know,” he added, utterly despondent.

Judah stretched out his legs and crossed his feet at the ankles. “And she hasn’t called or texted back since last night?”

Mordy checked his phone for the umpteenth time. “Nope. I’ve left her three voicemails and about a dozen text messages. The Shadchan just texted me and said that she wasn’t interested in a second date and I should move on.”

Judah nodded sympathetically and drew in a relaxing breath.

“No one is going to go out with me after this story gets out,” Mordy pouted. “Even if they don’t believe the whole Shidduch Stalker thing, they’re gonna say I’m not safe to be around or something.”

Judah raised his eyebrows and scrunched his mouth to one side in thought. After a moment he looked over at Mordy out of the corner of his eyes, “Unless someone proved the Shidduch Stalker was real.”

Mordy practically leapt from his bed, “What in the world are you talking about? Why would I want to meet up with that murderous geezer again?!”

“Who said you would? I think it might even be fun.”

The heart monitor started beeping faster as Mordy grew more upset, “Are you nuts?!”

Judah held out a hand to placate his friend. “Look, you only got into trouble because I told you the story in the first place. I didn’t think it was true at the time. My chevrusa Shimmy is such a jokester anyways, so I was always suspicious about his cousin who mysteriously ‘disappeared’ after a date.”

Mordy threw his hands up in frustration, “Now you tell me.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he patted the railing on Mordy’s bed. “I’ve got a date tonight anyway. I’ll figure this out.”

“Just watch your back,” Mordy leaned back into his pillow and stared at the ceiling. “And don’t blame me if she turns you down for a second date.”

~~~

Judah stole a peek at his watch. It was a quarter to eleven and everything was on schedule. He watched another couple clean up their table and slip out the front door. His date was finishing a story about her neighbor’s cat getting stuck in a tree and how it was rescued by a fireman.

“You know, you only think those kinds of things happen in movies, and yet it really happened to your neighbor across the street,” he observed Avigayil as she finished up her coffee.

“It’s funny, right? Funny as in odd,” she clarified with a smile.

Judah had been planning how he was going to introduce the story of the Shidduch Stalker, but Avigayil started speaking again before he could open his mouth.

“So, you heard about what happened last night?” She lowered her voice and looked around the room as though conveying a secret, “With that guy and girl who got attacked during their date?”

Judah raised an eyebrow and smiled inwardly. “You mean the so-called ‘Shidduch Stalker?’” He mimed quotations in the air.

“Turns out the best friend of the girl in the story is a big-time shidduch blogger, and she told her all about it. The post said the guy was a total coward and she had to run for her life because he more scared than she was.”

Judah chewed his lower lip, biting back a defense of Mordy and chose to feign ignorance instead. “You don’t really think they got attacked by the man from that story, do you?”

“Hey,” she raised both hands in a shrug, “I only know what I read. It seemed pretty authentic to me.”

“Tsshh,” Judah enunciated in disbelief. “Not everything on the internet, let alone shidduchim blogs, is even remotely true.” Judah turned as someone gently tapped him on the shoulder.

“I hate to interrupt your date, but we’re closing up for the night,” an employee informed them with a polite smile.

“Thanks for the notice,” Judah replied. “Ready to go home?” Avigayil nodded and started gathering her trash together for disposal.

They left the café alongside the remaining employee and started walking toward the nearby lot where Judah had parked the car. He had deliberately chosen a lot that was in the exact path Mordy and his date had traveled the night before when the so-called “Shidduch Stalker” appeared and confronted them.

Avigayil talked on about another blog she read regularly, while Judah listened and offered an occasional verbal acknowledgement to prove he was following her narrative. His main attention was focused on scanning the darkened alleys as they passed by for unusual signs of movement or anything else out of the ordinary. Up ahead, he noticed a section of the street that had its upper layer of asphalt torn up and was surrounded by beaten up white barriers with blinking orange lights. A steamroller and an asphalt distributor truck were parked off to the side, unoccupied for the time being.

“-then my cousin sent me this other blog I hadn’t heard of before, but this one was written by a guy, and…” she trailed off and looked over her shoulder. “Did you see that?”

Judah felt a tension mounting in his gut, “See what?”

“Something just scampered from behind the steamroller into the alley over there,” she indicated with a nod.

Judah took a few steps closer and peered down the dark, narrow passageway. “I don’t see anything.”

Avigayil yelped as something metallic clanged behind her. Judah spun on his heel toward his date. An unkempt, elderly man wearing a well-worn suit stepped out from behind the asphalt truck, holding a trashcan lid and a soup ladle. He banged the ladle on the metal cover and flashed a malevolent smile, showing off his missing or otherwise yellowed and crooked teeth.

“Where is she?” He asked through clenched teeth.

Judah moved in front of Avigayil, who gratefully stood behind him and peered over his shoulder. “Where is who? What do you want?”

The old man fixed his one clouded eye on Judah and gestured with the ladle, “You know where she is, so tell me.”

Judah couldn’t believe this was actually happening, and he started reaching for his cell phone to call the cops. “Let’s just take it easy now, no need to, uh, whack anyone with that thing.” As soon as the phone cleared his front pocket, the old man lashed out and smacked him on the wrist with the ladle. His phone spun off into the recessed area where the asphalt had been removed. Its screen glowed white from the dark crevice.

 “Do you have your phone one you?” Judah asked Avigayil, keeping his eyes facing forward in case the elderly assailant made another move to strike.

Avigayil patted the pockets on her skirt. “Darn, I left it back in my apartment,” she sounded disappointed. “If I could only have videoed this for one of those blogs!”

“I think we need to worry a little bit more about making sure the story the bloggers write isn’t about a dead couple than documenting this guy to confirm he’s real,” Judah said, an edge of annoyance creeping into his voice.

“Where iiiiiiis she?!” The old man practically sang, waving the ladle back and forth in the air. “Tell me!” He poked Judah in the chest with the serving implement then backed away tentatively.

Judah took a deep breath, trying to maintain some semblance of calm. “Avigayil, I think we’re going to need to bolt in a minute before this gets any more violent. I’ll count to three and you take off running toward the busy intersection to flag down a cop or something.”

“And just what are you going to do?”

“Distract him so you can get away,” Judah sounded confident.

“I appreciate your offer of thrilling heroics, but I’d rather not leave you to be spooned to death.”

Judah glanced over his shoulder at her, “That’s very sweet of you.”

“It is, isn’t it?” She smiled.

Their bonding moment was interrupted as the old man bellowed, “Tell me where she is!!!” and started charging toward Judah, ladle raised high above his head.

“Oh, Fer cryin’ out loud! That’s the second time this week!” A gruff, male voice shouted, the sound echoing off the buildings to either side. Judah and Avigayil whirled around and saw a heavyset man in a stained grey jumpsuit wearing a hard hat with an attached flashlight come running up the street with two similarly dressed men in tow.

“Jimmy,” the rotund man said to his younger coworker on the right, “Go call the home and tell them he’s out again and needs to be picked up.”

The old man froze like a wilderness creature staring into the headlights of an oncoming car.

“Hey, Gramps, gets away from those two kids. Your ride is on the way,” he jerked a thumb to indicate 

Judah and Avigayil should get behind him.

Judah’s eyebrows knotted in confusion. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Just hold your horses a minute until they gets here, then I can tells ya all about it,” the worker waved his question away.

While they waited, the head worker introduced himself as Sal and his co-workers as Jimmy and Tom. Judah also had time to sneak over to the hole in the street and retrieve his phone. The old man was like a statue, appearing as though he wasn't even breathing.

A few minutes later, a dark van pulled up and two muscular men in white coats piled out along with a short middle-aged woman wearing glasses and her hair up in a tight bun.

“I’m dreadfully sorry about all this, especially since this is the second occurrence this week,” she gushed an apology as she trundled over to them. Behind her, the men tussled with the elderly fellow and managed to disarm him of his makeshift weapons.

Sal scratched the back of his neck, “Youz really need to beef up your security, miss-”

“That’s doctor, thank you,” she shot back curtly.

“Whatever. I can’t have this guy interrupting our work over here every other night. The city manager is gonna dock our pay if we don’t get this job finished.”

The doctor, who carried herself with an air of authority, scribbled a few things on the clipboard she had previously held tucked under her arm. “I realize your predicament, and we will do our utmost to resolve this situation.”

“Thanks,” he hooked his thumbs into his belt and stretched his shoulders.

Judah and Avigayil watched the exchange in silence. “So, uh, anyone care to explain why we were attacked by an old man with a ladle?”

“Oh, did he hurt you?” The doctor looked alarmed and held a hand to her chest.

“No, just knocked my phone out of my hand,” Judah showed her the still-functioning device.

“Thank goodness, I’d hate to have a lawsuit on our hands.”

“Sparky over there,” Sal motioned with a thumb, “keeps breaking out of the old folks’ home three blocks that way,” he pointed past them, “And goes roamin’ the streets at night, causin’ mischief.”

Avigayil regarded the doctor with concern. “Isn’t that dangerous? How does he escape, anyway?”

“He, uh,” she cleared her throat into a fist. “He has a knack for deceiving his caretaker, who gets replaced every so often since he is simply so difficult to deal with, into not taking his medication. He disposes of it in some convenient location such as a nearby potted plant.”

“And he goes a little wacko whenever he ain’t on his meds,” Sal interrupted, spinning his finger next to his temple and whistling. The doctor shooed him away with her clipboard.

“So who’s this woman he keeps talking about?” Judah asked.

“What woman?” The doctor seemed surprised.

“He kept asking us where “she” is,” Avigayil added.

“Oh my, what a misunderstanding!” She glanced over at the old man, who was presently being secured in a straightjacket by her two beefy assistants. “I think he was referring to Shia, his wealthy nephew who finances his stay with us. The man has no children and never married, as far as we are aware. His nephew placed him in our care well over a decade ago and rarely visits. I imagine he’s wondering aloud why his nephew left him at our home.”

Judah nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Well, now that everything is taken care of, I bid you all a good night,” the doctor announced with finality. She signaled her assistants and they began moving the old man toward the open side door of the van.

“Hotcha!” he cried and slipped out of their grasp, bounding over to Judah and Avigayil. When he reached them, he suddenly stood ramrod straight, inclined his head toward Judah’s ear, and said in a low whisper, “I will find her, you know. Tee hee!” He cackled as one of the brawny men clamped down on his shoulder with a meaty fist. Judah stiffened, his eyes wide.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever grandpa, it’s time for a ride in the nice van over there,” the assistant grumbled. His partner joined him and grabbed the old man’s other arm with both hands. They hauled him bodily down the street toward their vehicle.

“All right youz guys, back to work!” Sal told his team and waddled over to the steamroller.

As the van started up with a sputter and drove away, Avigayil looked askance at Judah. He remained stock-still with a blank look on his face.

“You okay? What’d the creepy guy say?”

He snapped out of his reverie, blinked a few times and shook his head. “Oh, uh, just some incoherent babble. Let’s get you back to your apartment,” he began walking.

Avigayil sidled up beside him, practically bouncing from the adrenaline flowing through her bloodstream. “I can’t wait to write about this for my own blog! Just imagine, a firsthand account of the infamous Shidduch Stalker,” she said with pride.

Judah rolled his eyes and shuddered.

Pray Your Mother-in-law Isn't This Mean

From Shabbos Daf 26A comes a very interesting/horrifying story.

Up until this point the Gemara was discussing the use of basalm as a potential fuel source for Shabbos lights. It mentions 2 reasons why Chazal prohibit its use for this purpose.

1) It's very flammable/combustible, which is a potential concern for the welfare of your house and property.
2) We're afraid you'll make use of some of the basalm oil in your candelabra and thus reduce the amount for the Shabbos lights, which is akin to causing them to extinguish.

The Gemara then relates the following story:

A mother-in-law suggested to her daughter-in-law that she put some basalm on as perfume in order to smell nice, which she younger woman did.

Next the mother-in-law asked her daughter-in-law, who just so happened to be covered in this wonderful smelling, yet highly flammable substance to go light a nearby lantern, which she did - and promptly burst into flames.

Picture by DL Smith

Ouch.

How I Feel When I Lend A Single Guy My Tallis

During the layning frenzy from this past Simchas Torah morning minyan, a single guy was the last person to get an aliyah at our breakaway Torah reading (we were 1 of 4 from the hashkama minyan). He walked up to the makeshift bima in the basement classroom and suddenly found himself stuck since he was unmarried and thus not wearing a tallis.

I had received the aliyah immediately prior, and quickly turned to him and offered my tallis, which he gladly accepted and proceeded to make his berachos and receive his aliyah.

Some combination of the excitement/energy of the moment, along with the shiny metal plated atara (crown) of my tallis called to mind an image from my youth that perfectly suited the moment. I managed to track down the source and created this nifty animated gif.

Yes, it feels exactly like that. For all the male, unmarried readers - just wait until the first time a single guy asks to borrow your own tallis.

In case you're wondering what they're saying, here's the caption:

Red Ranger: Quick, Tommy, I need to borrow your tallis!

Green Ranger: Don't worry, Jason! Here you go!

Red Ranger: Totally Morphinominal! Thanks, bro!

Green Ranger: Anytime, man!

P.S. I apologize for the lack of regular updates. Now that the chagim are over, I hope to get back into things. I've missed writing about so many topics - Teshuva Season, Yomim Noraim, Sukkos, my 3rd Blogoversary... 

Maccabeats Rosh Hashana Greetings

While not quite a full-fledged music video, the Maccabeats just released a video greeting card, wishing everyone a Shana Tova.

I think it's cute. The new official logo is rather spiffy, I must say.

I am also encouraged by the forthcoming great projects that are "in the works" for 5773, as stated in the description of the video. Sounds very exciting.

I look forward to their next video, whenever or for whichever holiday it may occur.

Still Continuing The Fight Against Evil...

After several months of nothing, the guys behind The Mighty Morphin' YU Rangers have uploaded another trailer for their upcoming video Kamen Rider RIETS.



This one is pretty cinematic in overall quality. I also think the plot is something a lot of us YU students can relate to. Well, kind of :)

I hope they don't take too long to finish the video!

Jewish Music Fridays: Jewish Dance Dance Revolution

Ever played "Step It Up," otherwise known as the Jewish Dance Dance Revolution, or officially "The Original Jewish Dance Game" at your local Jewish supermarket/Judaica store?

Well now you can play at home too, turning your personal PC or Laptop into a "Dance Machine!

You can buy the basic bundle, which includes the original version along with the dance pad and features "60 hit songs from top Jewish artists like Lipa, The Chevra, Dovid Gabay, YBC, and more!"

Then, when you want even more songs to dance to, you can buy the upgraded software version 2.0 that features "hits like Yalili (8th Day), Ah Ah Ah (YBC), Just Do It! (Yonatan Shainfeld), and the Maccabeats sensation "Candlelight!"

I have to admit that I do not own this product.

However, I think this whole concept is downright hilarious. For the longest time, video games have been a bit taboo in the more right wing Orthodox world. Now, not only is one available to play in public, but in the privacy of the home as well. The release of this product also assumes that the potential consumers out there own computers.

Granted, this video game is unlike others that contain violence, objectionable content, secular stories or values, which makes it less problematic than Mortal Kombat or Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Once it's been established as having kosher content, the makers/advertisers also dodge the potential accusation that this game is a waste of time, like one could say about something family friendly like Pac-Man by informing us that it is actually a fun way to exercise:

"Step It Up will change your perception of fitness. A fitness regimen can not only be fun, but include your entire family!"

Honestly, the same family fun and fitness could be achieved by playing the Jewish music you already own and create a fitness regimen consisting of jumping jacks, sit ups, push ups and other non-machine exercises. You'd also save $100+ and be able to have the entire family join in at the same time instead of taking turns on a single pad. You'd also probably get a better work out.

I certainly welcome the idea of maintaining one's health through exercise, but I don't think that people will typically get that much exercise from a dance pad. Yes, you can work up a sweat, as I described in my Dave and Buster's dating case study, but I don't think "Step It Up" can serve as a real substitute for an actual exercise regimen for people "ages 8-88."

I also wonder what this product says about popular Jewish Music as a whole. Most songs features on a secular Dance Dance Revolution game are really high energy, pumping dance/club songs, techno beats, or J-pop. Does this mean that these Jewish Music songs are somewhat equivalent?

Anyway, I don't intend to insult or denigrate the value "Step It Up," and I'm sure it is probably fun. Maybe even fun enough to try on a date - it could be a new activity along with the usual board game dates! I recall that there were a few guys who had DDR nights at YU... but that was entirely unrelated to their dating lives.

Does anybody own "Step It Up," or know someone who owns it? If someone would like to do a review and have it posted here, please send me an email.

THE GROGGERS - Anonymous Girl (Acoustic)

The whole controversy that has been sweeping the YU world and beyond deserves some serious critical thinking, which I may write about in a future post. If readers are interested in getting a general sense of my perspective, please read Chana's posts on the matter (one and two) and my replies there.

On a less serious note...

This is an amazing piece of satire, that's what this is.

If you haven't checked out The Groggers yet, please do.

How About The Other Chanukah Music Videos Of 2011?

Ever since the Maccabeats catapulted to fame last year with their smash-hit "Candlelight" every time a Jewish holiday draws near, it seems we are inundated with new Jewish-themed music videos. From professionally recorded, expertly choreographed productions by name-brand organizations to a group of friends getting together to show their enthusiasm for the festival, everyone seems to be looking for the chance to replicate the popularity and success that Yeshiva University's A Capella group achieved.

Now that we're almost at Chanukah once again (has it really been a year already?), the Maccabeats have released their Chanukah follow up cover of Matisyahu's "Miracle." But what about all the other musical artists out there?

Let's check out the latest non-Maccabeats Chanukah-themed music videos out there.

Aish continues their trend of musical parodies after their very popular and original video from Rosh Hashana. The Lion of Zion dancers are back, and this video is called "Chanukah Jewish Rock of Ages," which features 8 songs, some classic and some modern, that tell the story of Chanukah.

Some of the lyrics are a bit corny, but they all fit really well. I can't get enough of the shot of two guys on the motorcycle in front of the motion-screen.

"A New Chanukah Medley" - a A Capella parody medley that really "gets into the spirit of the season," with each song sharing a certain theme...

It's kind of cute. I have heard of prankster yeshiva bochurim using jingle bells or other holiday tunes for Lecha Dodi during this time of year, so I guess this has been done before, to a degree.

The Yeshiva Boys' Choir has thrown their hat into the ring with a high-quality video for an original comedy song called "Those Were the Nights (of Chanukah."

While it's pretty obvious they're playing the safe game by featuring boys dressed as women and no real female participants whatsoever, which once caused the Maccabeats to be critiqued, I can't help but be a little weirded out by some of the cross-dressing going on here.

If you're in the mood for a bunch of bubbes and zaides have a fun time singing/celebrating Chanukah, check out the rather funny video by The LA Jewish Home called "Happy Chanukah From the Jewish Home!"

Not quite the Maccabeats, but another male A Capella group for Temple Adat Shalom:

Here's a Jewish rap/R&B video called "Hanukkah 2012 - All of the Lights"

We'll continue with another Jewish rap video, by Matt Rissien called "All I do is spin" a parody of "All I do is win," originally by DJ Khaled.

The Shlomones are back again with "The Rocky Hora Chanukah Song."

I have to say I'd never thought I'd see a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" Jewish parody song...

In my opinion, the funniest, most original video thus far comes from veteran A Capella group Six13, called "Chanukah Rights:"

UPDATE (12/12/11): I'm not sure how I missed The Fountainheads, but here is their contribution called "Light Up the Night." Just to forewarn, this contains women singing/dancing.

And here's a new A Capella group, with a pun-tastic name: Pella! Their debut video "Holiday Party -Tonight Tonight" is quite fun, and I happen to know a few of the guys in the group...

This might be my favorite video. They picked a great, catchy, upbeat song, have great production values/editing, include a number of pretty funny jokes, and pretty much covered almost all the chagim out there. I'm also a big fan of their energy, dance moves and green screen use (all the clones, etc). However, since they go through all the holidays, does this mean they're not going to make another video when Purim rolls around?

UPDATE 12/14/11: Here is a FANTASTIC song by The Avoda called "Spread the Light," which has an amazing, pounding beat. The lyrics are great too. The video itself doesn't compare the the shtickyness of all the others out there, but the most important thing is the music, right? This song gets my vote for the best original song of the Chanukah season this year.

UPDATE 12/16/11: The B-Boyz are back again with another Chanukah-themed take-off of a popular secular song. This time it's called "Menorah Hearts" and is based on "Stereo Hearts" by Adam Levine & Gym Class Heroes. These are the guys who happened to pick "Dynamite" last year and tried to cash in on the Maccabeats' fame, with very little success. I wrote a bit about them here.

MyJewishLearning.com presents a Bible Raps song for Chanukah 2011 called "Light is in the Air."

UPDATE 1-3-12 Though a little late, here is "Maoz Tzur" Except Saturday:

The Moshav Band has their new song, "Light The Way."

If anyone finds other Chanukah related music videos, please share in the comments, and I'll add them to the list.

And So It Begins... Rosh Hashana Music Videos

Update 9/22 - New Maccabeats video! "Book of Good Life" is HERE!

Oh, Maccabeats, as much as I love your music, what have you brought upon us? ;)

From Aish, the Rosh Hashana Rock Anthem (is this really "rock" though?):


And from The Maccabeats' fiercest competition, The Fountainheads, there is "Dip Your Apple" (caveat: contains women singing and dancing).

I guess the big question is, with all the other Jewish music videos/parodies out there now, very obviously inspired by the Maccabeats, when will they make another video - and for which holiday?

Update: 3:05 PM - I turns out the Maccabeats are indeed coming out with a Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur video soon. Thanks to reader "leo" for the tip. I guess that's what I get for writing this post on Sunday and not checking Facebook yesterday...

Also, it turns out that the dancers in the Aish video are NOT Aish students at all. They are an Israeli dance crew called Lions of Zion. The link features a video of the dance crew performing elsewhere, and I'm not too surprised their female dancer isn't in the Aish video ;)

It seemed too good to be true, though I wouldn't have doubted the possibility that some ba'alei teshuva at Aish would have amazing dancing skills. When I saw the guys flipping with their yarmulka's falling off, after which they made no eff0rt to recover them, I thought something might be up... This revelation does take the cool factor of the video down a notch in my view, but it's still quite fun.

Update 3:47 PM - Rabbi Michael Tzadok commented on Bad For Shidduchim that some of the guys ARE Aish students... I can tell some of them definitely aren't from the previously cited link, but the guy in the glasses looks like he could be a yeshiva bochur.

Continuing The Fight Against Evil

It looks like the guys behind the Mighty Morphin' YU Rangers episode are back at it again with another super hero video set on the Yeshiva University Campus.

This one is called Kamen Rider RIETS and seems to be about a YU-themed Power Ranger of sorts.



It looks pretty interesting - especially the costume design - and they chose to include one of my favorite songs, which seems to fit nicely. I wikipedia'ed "Kamen Rider" and it turns out it's very similar to Power Rangers, but with only one or two heroes instead of a team.

This preview video came out a while ago, so I'm not really sure when the finished product will be put online, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for it. The more fun YU videos the better, I say.

What do you guys think?

Who's Ready For Some Football!?

Yeshiva Unviersity recently posted a particularly clever video on youtube that advertises their upcoming homecoming event that will take place on Sunday, September 18th, starting at 9:30 AM.

I remember seeing someone post a picture of grass quadrangle (the only legitimate grassy area on campus) a few weeks ago on Facebook. I thought it was a prank of some sort, but this turned out to be quite cute.

For those readers who didn't attend a secular high school with a football team, homecoming is generally a big get-together event shortly after the school year starts in the fall where alumni, students, teachers, and their families visit their alma mater and attend a big Friday night home game. Sufficed to say, I never went to one in high school, but the notion that YU is trying to live up to the hype of a stereotypical homecoming is pretty darn funny.

The entire event looks like it's going to be a lot of fun, and a great opportunity to hear shiurim as well as visit the campus for anyone who hasn't been around in a while. More information, including a schedule of events, can be found here.

Testing 1-2-3, Testing 1-2-3

“I am beyond delighted to make your splendid acquaintance, Shelly,” Ari uttered aloud.

“I can say the same, yet about you,” his date replied while shaking her head such that her long curly locks fluttered as the wings of butterflies.

“The soup will arrive soon!” He said, thrusting his spoon into the air mightily.

“I certainly hope so, for I am famished enough to consume an equine whole!” Shelly retorted with glee in her eyes.

In moments, their delicious split pea soup was actually delivered to their table. The waitress, while yawning into one hand, proceeded to pour the soup into Shelly’s lap with the other. She hopped about in her seat shouting “Hot, hot, hot!”

“Oh, I am sorry,” the waitress said with a clown-like frown before she fled through the kitchen door waving her arms in the air wildly.

“Praise the Almighty, I have been severely souped!” Shelly shouted toward the heavens with outstretched palms.

“You have passed my ultimate test of marriage-worthy-ness!” Ari shouted with great exuberance. He summoned the waitress back by snapping his fingers rhythmically. She hopped toward the table as a frog and presented a silver platter which held a small orange striped velvet box. Ari took the box, opened it to reveal the sparkling diamond ring within, and set it down in front of his date on her fish appetizer.

“What are you doing?!” She asked tumultuously, her hair waving as snakes on a hot skillet in the middle of July.

“I hereby offer you the opportunity to give me your hand in marriage. Accept the ring and be mine forever!” He grinned the widest grin ever grinned. “I look forward to your cleaning of my laundry!” Ari cheered.

“I am unimpressed!” She declared, rising to her feet, without concern that now all could see the large green stain splattered across the front of her dress, which was shaped exactly like the state of Oklahoma. “In fact, I blow my nose at your so-called ‘test’ of my marriage-worthy-ness!” She quickly snatched his tie from around his neck, cupped it to her nostrils, and blasted mightily. Upon finishing, she dropped the used garment on his salad plate.

Ari looked down in complete shock, his jaw almost hitting the table. “But, you did not take the token of my esteem!” He cried out in abject sorrow.

“Indeed. Fare thee well,” she turned on her heel and began walking briskly. “Goodbye and never hello again!” She proclaimed to all the other restaurant patrons who clapped with one hand on their spare banana sundaes.

“This was only a test?” The waitress hiccuped at Ari.

“Yes,” he raised a handsome eyebrow. “But it was I who failed.”

Speculation: Maccabeat's Second Album

Update 1/26/12 - The Maccabeats have hinted on their Facebook status that their 2nd album is almost done!

As many people know, the production of the second Maccabeats album was derailed by the success of "Candlelight." We also know that their second professionally released collection (to the exclusion of the mp3 only "Candelight" and "Purim Song" was indeed in production. We now find ourselves in the midst of Sefiras HaOmer, otherwise known as the season for Jewish A Cappella.

We do have a few new releases, including Six13's fourth album "Zmanim" and "A Kumzitz in the Rain." What I would like to examine now is the hypothetical contents of the Maccabeats as of yet incomplete and unreleased follow-up to their very successful "Voices From The Heights."

Since "Voices From The Heights" came out last year right before Pesach, The Maccabeats have expanded their repertoire with a number of new songs. Some seem like the perfect fit to be included on their new album in-the-making, while others might not make the cut. I honestly have no clue what's really going to be there on that CD when you buy it sometime in the future, but let's take a look at the possibilities.

Caveat: this entire post is PURE SPECULATION. Take all of this with a huge grain of salt.

We'll start with the obvious choices, such as Shwekey's "Rau Banim:"



The Maccabeats sang this with Shwekey in concert, and it's a popular song in it's own right. No one else has recorded it as an A Cappellla version, so I would be shocked if it wasn't included.

The same goes for "Yavo" by the Miami Boys Choir:



And "Come Back" originally performed by the Moshav Band:



As I mentioned in my recent post about YU's Yom Hashoah program, the Maccabeats performed two amazing songs, "Habet," originally by Aish on their first album and "Last Night," which I can't seem to find the origins for. Neither is on Youtube at the moment, though I imagine videos exists and will get uploaded at some point and I'll make sure to add them when I see them. Both were fantastic, especially the spine-tingly rendition of "Habet," which has always been such an awesomely powerful song.

Update (5/19/11 1:30 PM) - A reader sent me a link to the YU Yom Hashoa program, so there ARE videos of "Habet" and "Last Night." Or watch the video below and skip to 18:05 and 37:06:



There are other Jewish cover songs the Maccabeats have sang on occasion, such as another song from the Miami Boys Choir, "Ani Ma'amin:"



There's also Maccabeats' version of Six13's Al Hanissim:



I discovered a recent video of The Maccabeats singing "V'hi She'amda" from their Pesach concert in Miami:



So that puts us up to 8 potential songs. "Voices From The Heights" had 12 songs, 9 of which were Jewish (I'm including "Arim Roshi," "Ma Avarech," and "Hatikva" here), 1 of which was a medley and 1 was an "original" application of a semi-secular tune to Jewish words, namely "Lecha Dodi." There were then 3 secular cover songs, though I wouldn't really read anything into the fact that one was a Disney song and "One Day" could be viewed as quasi-Jewish because it was originally performed by Matisyahu.

This leaves us with 4-ish remaining slots to fill, depending if more than 12 songs are included. I've seen some Jewish Music albums with as high as 14 songs, so it is possible...

I am unaware of any particular medley that The Maccabeats might have in the works. They DO have an old Chanukah medley which might work.



This would allow them to include Al Hanissim and perhaps a touch of Candlelight (see more on that song later).

There are several new secular song covers that the Maccabeats have added to their repertoire since the first album. There are 4 in particular that stand out in my mind.

Starting off, there's Coldplay's "Viva la Vida," which I think is particularly neat-sounding, in terms of the arrangments and vocal percussion:



The 2nd of the 4 songs seems like a shoo-in "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey, which is an extremely popular song because of the TV show "Glee," and it generally very, very popular among The Maccabeats' biggest fan base, high school girls:



However, I think it might not make it is because the lyrics don't necessarily jive well with a typical Sameach Music release. This point may apply to "Viva la Viva" as well.

Thirdly, we have "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan (interesting name I must say), which The Maccabeats have paired up with "One Day" at their live performances:



I think it's certainly a nice "One Day" type song which would fit nicely on their 2nd album.

Lastly, there is "When You Believe," from "The Prince of Egypt." It has a nice Disney-ish quality to it.



Of the 4 new secular songs, I think "Wavin' Flag" is the most likely to appear on the album.

So if we include those 4 secular covers, we're have more than enough potential songs. Where does that leave us?

What about "Candlelight" and "The Purim Song?" Yes, it would be a very easy thing to include them, and Six13 actually did that on their recently released 4th album, though one could make a distinction between "I Light It" and "P-A-S-S-O-V-E-R" since the later was released as a youtube video to promote the upcoming album.

However, does it make any sense to do that? To a degree, since the songs are already finished, ready-to-go, and are guaranteed popular. But, might consumers be a little tired of them by now? Most people probably have purchased the "Candlelight" mp3 single, and I imagine a large number of Jewish Music consumers also bought "The Purim Song." Including it on the CD is kind of like a bit of a slap, since you've already paid for it once. I certainly felt that way when other artists have done that, such as Shasheles 3 including the single "Dreaming," which was originally sold as a single on a CD to raise money for tzedaka. Granted, I don't regret giving money to a worthy cause and benefitting from the song while doing so, but including it on the album took away a lot of the specialness of the single CD.

On the other hand, it is smart because it will still expose more people to "The Purim Song" since not as many people saw the video on youtube compared to "Candlelight." The same goes for the few people who've been living in a cave since early November and have no clue what "Candlelight" is. Or, for those who haven't played the song in months (or by the time the album comes out, perhaps well over a year), it'll be a nice revival of sorts, kind of like when you set your iPod to shuffle and encounter an old favorite you haven't heard in a long while.

There are also some songs out there that I think are less likely to make the album for several reasons, some comically so.

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" dates back to the Maccabeats earlier days when they were just another nerdy college A Capella group:



Yeah, I wouldn't bet on this one, as fun as it is live.

Anyway, as I mentioned at the start of this post, the likelihood of any particular song I've listed above being included on the album is totally speculative. Some of the Jewish songs are more than likely not really album worthy, so the list of selected songs is probably far from complete. I hope the Maccabeats can find time in their busy schedules to work on getting their next CD released, though it probably won't happen until next sefira.

Until then, enjoy watching/listening to these videos and imagine the possibilities.

P.S. I am totally aware that the Maccabeats performed at the White House on Tuesday. I will be writing a separate post about that shortly, I've just had this one in the works for a while and it took time to gather all the Youtube videos.

On A Lighter Note

Having a wife who wears sheitals can be both fun and difficult.

It's amusing how girls often think that once they get married and get their sheitals, they never have to worry about doing their hair ever again, since they can simply just don their fancy new "hair" and look great in under a minute. Of course, as ASoG has mentioned to me on numerous occasions - keeping sheitals looking good takes a lot of work, as much, if not more work than her own hair's upkeep when we were dating. She discovered this little fact to her abject horror shortly after we got married. It's a wonder that she believed the lie for so long and that none of her married friends told her beforehand.


So I guess all you guys out there with wives who exclusively wear bandanas, mitpachot, hats or whatever have one less thing to worry about - or to hear complaints about :-O (just kidding, ASoG).


But sheitals can be hilarious as well.


ASoG just had hers washed and "done" for the second (I think?) time since we got married after they became somewhat frazzled from residing in shoeboxes during a long road trip over the Pesach break. I held both sheital-covered styrofoam heads (with their scary long necks) riding back from the sheital washer/stylist lady while ASoG drove (as an out-of-towner, I'm honestly a bit frightened, and certainly not aggressive enough to drive these dangerous streets in New York). I proceeded to puppeteer the sheital heads into a funny and absurd conversation between themselves and us, along with appropriately bad high-pitched female voices. I don't think I've ever seen ASoG laugh so hard. Thankfully, she was able to maintain her composure behind the wheel.


Anyway, we arrived at our building and I hopped out to put the sheitals back in our apartment before we went to park. I made sure to go slowly and with great caution so as not to mishandle or harm the newly "done" sheitals. Of course, this meant the trip up and down would be atle longer than if I was merely running without anything in my hands. I took the opportunity to be a little creative and pull a prank.


I know some women like to doodle on their sheital heads, adding eyes, scars and facial hair, or so ASoG tells me, but my wife has chosen to keep hers as pristine as possible. An ingenious idea dawned on me - if I can't directly add a mustache to the sheital heads, I may as well attach something that is removable, though appears permanent, and will have the same comedic effect.


Pay close attention, husbands and future husbands, you might want to try this one day.


I quickly ran over to our pile of sticky-note pads, grabbed a black Sharpie and colored over the sticky section at the top of two pages. I then trimmed the black strips into mustache shapes and affixed them to ASoG's sheital heads. The result of my 2-minute arts and craft project was this:

Voila!(Sorry for the picture quality - it's from my cell phone).

Upon my return, ASoG asked what took so long - and I joked about having dropped the sheitals and needing to rearrange them.

That has actually happened before during one particularly rushed Friday afternoon when I was bringing all of our packed Shabbos belongings, including her sheital head, by myself to meet our ride who subsequently picked up ASoG at a different location.

Back on topic, ASoG could tell I was joking, but she had no clue what to expect when we got back to our apartment. Granted, her discovery of the mustachioed sheital heads was funnier for me than her, but it was totally worth the time and effort (at least in my view).

So there you have it, a fun sheital joke/arts and craft project that could be done by any husband out there. Has anyone else messed around with their wife's sheital head? If anyone decides to try this out, please let me know the results in a comment.

It's Pesach, Pesach / Gotta Get Clean For Pesach

Although I have already created a post collecting all the Youtube Pesach music videos, but this new one deserves it's own mention.

A friend from YU named Mordechai Tiefenbrunn has created his own parody of Rebecca Black's (in)famous Youtube phenomenon "Friday" called "Pesach." I like the lyrics a lot, and now I want someone to make a professionally recorded version - complete with music video, of course.



In other news, I hope to have the fourth and final part of "Exodus" completed in time for Pesach, so you'll be able to print out all four sections and share them with your family... I can dream, can't I?

Purim Fun!

First of all, Mazal Tov to King Ahaseurus and Queen-to-be Esther! A huge yasher-koach to whoever submitted this. I love the section that is supposed to say where the kallah is from, which instead reads: "She wont tell."

Second, I heard about this from a friend of mine of Shabbos: it seems that the campy "Mishenichnas Adar" tune, as seen here, is actually derived from an old slave cotton picking song called "Pick a Bale of Cotton." I'm really interested in finding out how this niggun borrowing evolved.

Lastly, you MUST check out this new song/video by up-and-coming Jewish Music singer/composer Jeremy Gaisen. It's by far the best original Purim song I've heard in years (sorry Maccabeats). The video is quite silly, but the song is fantastic. It's called "Umordechai Yatsah." I happen to know all the guys in the video - great job guys.



Freilechen Purim to all!

P.S. Stay safe and don't drink too much. There is no mitzvah to get drunk to the point of getting hurt or putting others at harm - nor is there any chiyuv whatsoever to upchuck your seudah.

As a friend once put it: "Nichnas yayin yatza sod; and not the contents of your stomach."

Purim Related Date Ponderings

In the past, we’ve discussed various views regarding guys showing up to dates with scruff, stubble, and beards during sefirah and by extension, the 3 weeks.

Now (meaning Adar-time), I have a simple, though related, question for the female readers:

What would you do if a guy asked you during a first phone call if you minded he didn’t shave for your very first date because he needs the facial hair for his Purim costume?

On the one hand, this is a first date, and it has significance for setting a tone in the potential relationship. To some degree, the girl has a right to expect the guy to show up looking his best, which includes hygiene upkeep, nice clothing, and a shaven face (if that’s what he does normally anyway).

On the other hand, it IS just one date. Plus, he’s probably been planning this costume for a while now, and to have a Wolverine (for example) without his trademark muttonchops facial hair would make the costuming effort a bit lacking.

Or perhaps:

Anyway, a friend of mine actually got away with this once, but that’s the only time I’ve heard of it happening.

I know that with my penchant for elaborate Purim costuming, I would probably have asked for such a dispensation – though I’ve never worn a costume that required having facial hair.

Another Purim dating question: Would you (male reader) ever try to set up a date ON Purim? Would you (female reader) agree to go on a date ON Purim? Or perhaps the date could be the night after Purim (ie, the evening following the seudah).

I’ve heard that every girl should somehow see her gentleman caller on Purim at some point before she agrees to marry the fellow; it’s definitely a good thing to see what he decides to do (to himself and others) on a day when he’s drinking some substantial amount of alcohol. What does he drink, how much, how far does he go, and what does he do when he’s under the influence?

I’m not suggesting that the date necessarily has anything to do with going out drinking together, or the girl watching the guy drink – that’d be a little too much. But what about going out bichlal, or perhaps to add some fun to it, in costume? If the timing works and the guy can properly have a seudah and recover with ample hours to spare, would anyone ever consider this?

Recently, I had a conversation with a guy who said he’d actually want to go on a date on Purim, thinking it would be quite fun (though he wasn’t the heavy drinker type). A girl I spoke to, who was trying to arrange a date amid her busy midterm schedule, almost relied on having to go out on Purim instead of waiting a week after both parties agreed to go out, but thankfully another solution presented itself.

So, what do you guys think?

It's Here - New MACCABEATS Video For Purim!

Finally, the rumored (though basically expected) Maccabeats Purim song/video is here:

Update: Without any overt explanation, The Maccabeats were "beaten to the punch" by a group in Israel called "The Fountainheads," who released their own video called "Raise Your Mask" (caution: Kol Isha and women dancing in pants) also based on the secular song by Pink which is called "Raise Your Glass."

This happened coincidentally last time with "Candlelight" as well. While that was seemingly mere chance, this time it would seem something else is going on. As a high school friend once told me, "Always suspect the conspiracy!" The question is, who tipped off/leaked to who? Is there a Macca-mole?

Regardless, I still think the Maccabeats version is definitely of a higher quality in music, sound and video quality, and overall cuteness. It sounds far catchier, but that might be just me. The Fountainheads have a 15,000+ hit lead over the Maccabeats (between two posted versions of their video). How long will it take for the Maccabeats to catch up and surpass them?

My guess: not long.