Chag Purim Sameach!

As we move closer to the festivities of Purim, I began wondering if any of our favorite Jewish a capella groups had created new, soon-to-be viral parody videos in celebration of next week’s holiday. Sadly, the big hitters such as Six13 or the Maccabeats had nothing new.

But since I had viewed so many videos by both of those groups, YouTube thought I’d be interested in a video put out by Temple Isaiah, a synagogue in Los Angeles.

YouTube was right.

“Jews: A Tribute to Juice” is a funny and well-produced rendition of the 2019 smash hit “Juice” by rapper, diva and amazingly talented flutist, Lizzo.

“Our response to the Hamans of this world is to take profound pride in our tradition, culture and rituals. Raise them up high and share them far and wide, all framed by the gorgeous positivity of the one and only Lizzo,” writes Rabbi Jaclyn Cohen on YouTube. Cohen who wrote the lyrics to the parody as well as produced the video is joined by members of her congregation in song, dance and basic good-ole-Purim fun.

Needless to say, they nailed it.

I also discovered that Cohen is no rookie when it comes to Purim parodies. Last year, she and another L.A. rabbi teamed up to create a “spiel” called “We Don’t Talk About Haman.”

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“This year’s contribution to the Purim parody video canon is a celebration of our Jewishness: a joyful and whole-hearted message of love for our diverse, extraordinary Jewish community,” wrote Cohen. “This Purim, we hope you’ll join us in spreading a message of love, positivity & immense Jewish pride … because we are so proud to be Jews, baby. And absolutely no one can take that away from us. L’Chayim! To life! Celebrate big.”