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’s musical history of the festival of lights parodied—what else?—Hamilton. While past videos have pulled inspiration from pop songs (last year, The Maccabeats rewrote the lyrics to Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance”), this year’s video is a tribute to the musical theatre phenomenon.
The a cappella mashup begins with a freshly worded “Alexander Hamilton” about Judah Maccabee, the hero of the Channukah story; it transitions into “You’ll Be Back,” “My Shot,” and finishes with “Story of Tonight.”
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: