Yeshiva University A Cappella Group follow up Chanukah hit with “The Purim Song”
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.
“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.”
