Another Hamilton spoof has hit the airwaves, with the a cappella Channukah celebration by The Maccabeats.
As is tradition, the all-male American Jewish a cappella group released their annual Channukah video. This year鈥檚 musical history of the festival of lights parodied鈥攚hat else?鈥�Hamilton. While past videos have pulled inspiration from pop songs (last year, The Maccabeats rewrote the lyrics to Walk the Moon鈥檚 鈥淪hut Up and Dance鈥�), this year鈥檚 video is a tribute to the musical theatre phenomenon.
The a cappella mashup begins with a freshly worded 鈥淎lexander Hamilton鈥� about Judah Maccabee, the hero of the Channukah story; it transitions into 鈥淵ou鈥檒l Be Back,鈥� 鈥淢y Shot,鈥� and finishes with 鈥淪tory of Tonight.鈥�
The lore of Channukah is actually similar to the American Revolutionary War. Around 2,000 years ago the Jewish people lived under the reign of Syrian-Greek king, Antiochus. The Greeks looted the Jewish Temple, robbed them of their goods, placed idols in their place (hence the references to Zeus and Hera in the video), and ordered pigs to be sacrificed at the altar of the temple. A Jewish priest, Mattityahu, and his five sons, including Judah Maccabee, led a revolt against the king. Eventually, they won. When they went to restore the temple, there was only oil enough to light the place for one night, but by a miracle, the oil lasted for eight nights. Hence, the festival of Channukah.
Watch the story as told through Hasmonean - A Hamilton Hannuka:
