Ari Lesser – Hanukkah Hip Hop

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Happy Hanukkah!
Chanukkah
Ari Lesser
12/7/12
Chanukkah just ain't what used to be
Cause some Jews got jealous of the Christmas Tree
Spent all their money on a shopping spree
Trying to be like the people they see on TV
Don't let yourself forget history
Knowledge is key, to set your mind free
Just open a book look back and see
What a really meant to be a Maccabee
Over two thousand years ago it began
When the Greeks marched on the Holy Land
They demanded the Jews lose their tradition
And those who refused were beat to submission
They conquered our country from west to east
Banned every festival, fast, and feast
Burned non-kosher beasts on the altar, the least
Righteous man paid a bribe so they made him High Priest
Every scroll of the Torah they saw was burned
Along with the teachers and students who learned
If they found out a circumcision was done
They'd slaughter the mother along with her son
Back then we could not rest on Shabbat
And those kept kosher were killed on the spot
Making us break our diet by taking
The life of those who would not eat bacon
The set up their idols in every town
And told all the Jews around to bow down
Most people obeyed trying to stay intact
But the Maccabees rose up and fought back
Chanukkah just ain't what used to be
Cause some Jews got jealous of the Christmas Tree
Spent all their money on a shopping spree
Trying to be like the people they see on TV
Don't let yourself forget history
Knowledge is key, to set your mind free
Just open a book look back and see
What a really meant to be a Maccabee
When they told a man named Matisiyahu
To bow to an idol in public view
Not only did he refuse, he slew
Some Jew who did what they told him to do
Then he fled to the wilderness and led
An army of rebels who liked what he said
They rose and stood to fight for what's good
Waging guerilla warfare in the woods
He had five sons named Yochanan
Shimon, Yehudah, Elazar, Yonantan
When their father passed, they vowed to fight on
Until they were dead or the Greeks were gone
Like a Hebrew hammer the Maccabees hit
Hellenists so hard that their army split
Made them run and hide, with G-d on their side
Retook the Temple had it purified
They only found enough oil to light
The Holy Menorah for a single night
But then a great miracle changed their fate
And the lamps all burned for eight days straight
Chanukkah just ain't what used to be
Cause some Jews got jealous of the Christmas Tree
Spent all their money on a shopping spree
Trying to be like the people they see on TV
Don't let yourself forget history
Knowledge is key, to set your mind free
Just open a book look back and see
What a really meant to be a Maccabee
They risked their lives to fight assimilation
But now Chanukkah's just a cheap imitation
Of some other foreign nation's celebration
That falls on a similar calendar location
The hocus pocus made you lose focus
You broke all the rules acting like Antiochus
Drinking eggnog like a hog till you get sick
Making your potato pancakes from Bisquick
You light the Menorah, but you don't study Torah
Cause your running like Lot after Sodom and Gomorrah
No Divine presence all from Walmart
So you still feel empty when you fill up your cart
If your great granddad saw that Chanukkah bush
You would get no gift just pach on the tush
Cause this holiday's not about buying stuff
It's to teach that a little bit's more than enough
Doesn't really matter if you're losing or winning
All you need is a dreidel to keep on spinning
Fry up feast bring your family near
And steer clear of the cashier this year
Chanukkah just ain't what used to be
Cause some Jews got jealous of the Christmas Tree
Spent all their money on a shopping spree
Trying to be like the people they see on TV
Don't let yourself forget history
Knowledge is key, to set your mind free
Just open a book look back and see
What a really meant to be a Maccabee