Just in time for the first night of Chanukah on Thursday, the popular Jewish a cappella group Six13 released a new music video with Hanukkah versions of many of the hits from Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.
It was only a matter of time, as Jewish holiday-themed parodies of popular songs is a staple of Six13 — whose name is a reference to the number of “mitzvot” (or Jewish commandments) in the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible), coupled with the fact that the group always has six members singing at a time. Think of the group as Lonely Island, if Andy Samberg and his buddies spent a lot more time paying attention in Hebrew School.
The closest connection between Taylor Swift and Judaism might be that Kanye West isn't a fan of either, yet nevertheless her songs translate nicely into Chanukah melodies.
Many of the parodies will be fun for Jews and non-Jews alike, assuming you have some passing familiarity with the holiday of Chanukah. Taylor Swift's Love Story quite smoothly morphs into Chanukah Story, while the syllables and rhyme structure of You Belong With Me juxtaposes nicely with Judah Maccabee — one of the heroes of Chanukah (or is it Hanukkah? The controversial spelling of the holiday gets its own parody in We May Never Ever Know The Proper Letters).
Other tracks spoofed in the song require a bit more of a deep dive on Jewish knowledge and the minutiae of the Chanukah story (or perhaps I'm just among those who goofed off too much in Hebrew School). Regardless, they'll be fun for those lighting the candles tonight — such as Antiochus, a clever play on Swift's Anti-Hero.
The group even weaves in a nice allusion to Swift's recent Chiefs fandom and relationship to Travis Kelce, with a quick cutaway to everyone cheering and decked out in Chiefs attire.
The video touches briefly on the current troubling rise of anti-semitism in the world, but wisely steers clear of Israel's current war with Hamas following the horrific terrorist attacks Hamas carried out against Israel on October 7th (although the video itself is a fundraiser, presumably for Israel).
Six13's caption to the video deftly stresses the need to “bring some much-needed light into the world! On that note 🎵, what better holiday than Chanukah, and what brighter star is there right now than the inimitable @TaylorSwift? 👩”
“Illuminate your lights and take a fun stroll through the #eras with us, featuring our signature #Chanukah spin on 13 (of course) T-Swift tunes plus the reprise of a Six13 classic,” the group adds.
So if Adam Sandler's four-part Chanukah Song, and Daveed Diggs' Puppy for Hannukah don't satisfy your craving for a modern spin on tunes for the Festival of Lights, now you've got Six13's Era-lution of Taylor Swift (Chanukah's version) to check out as well.
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