This new Maccabeats parody for Rosh Hashanah is short but very, very sweet.
For the Jewish New Year, which starts on the evening of September 6 this year, the beloved Jewish a cappella band jumped on a popular TikTok challenge — #gracekellychallenge — and made it their own. The result is quirky, adorable, and, as per usual, incredibly catchy.
The challenge dares musicians on the video-sharing social media app to record themselves singing all the harmonies from the chorus of the popular 2007 Mika song “Grace Kelly.” The results are pretty amazing. But our favorite a cappella group gave the challenge a twist — they not only rewrote the lyrics to be topical for the upcoming Jewish holiday (including a “shana tova u’metuka” wish, the Hebrew for “sweet and happy new year”).
The full rewritten lyrics are as follows, and they are already stuck in my head: “Apples and honey/ Pray and give money / Get our priorities clear / Shana tova u’metuka / Have a healthy sweet new year.”
But the band didn’t stop there — they also use Tik Tok’s filters to sing as different holiday-related paraphernalia — an apple, a bottle of honey, a box of tzedakah, a shofar, a pomegranate and a fish head.
As my toddler said on our 528th time watching this parody, “That’s funny, right?”
I concur! Happy 5782, everyone!