Anander Mol, Anander Veig Is Better Than The Maccabeats

Literally translated “Anander Mol, Anander Veig” means Another Time, Another Way, and it’s an awesome Hanukah remix album that you can download free, but my point is…

Screw the Maccabeats. I mean… Ok, I get it. It’s fine and great and in the long tradition of our culture where Jews all around the world since the dawn of time have replaced words for other words to make something funny. It’s in the long tradition of youth groups and Jewish summer camps where song lyrics were rewritten to oft humorous effect. It’s also funny because yeah… it’s a bunch of Jewish kids from Yeshiva U. covering Taio Cruz’s song “Dynamite,” admittedly occasionally with better rhymes than the original.

So you’ve heard the Maccabeats. Now listen to this.

That is the song Die Goldene Chasene by Dave Tarras (Remixed by xntrxx), and it was released as part of a free downloadable Hanukah remix album named Anander Mol, Anander Veig by Tablet Magazine. Here’s a feature on it from Boingboing.net.

Anander Mol, Anander Veig is Yiddish for Another Time, Another Way, and in contrast the Maccabeats sound like a jaundiced kitschfest. I know that these two memes weren’t necessarily intended to be critiqued through juxtaposition, but they’re two different directions for this new time in which we find ourselves – Jewish Pop Culture versus Jewish Sub-Culture. Or maybe it’s better described as spreading a thin layer of Jewtella over the top of popular toast versus taking apart a sandwich and making a new meal out of it based on cues from Jewish culture and experiences as Jews.

Both have their role, and I don’t mean that in an evangelistic way, rather in terms of serving as expressions of culture and artistic endeavor, but Anander Mol poses the question of what it means to be Jewish today. How should things change in this new time, and what is our new way? This is an important question not just for Jews in the world, but for all people in the world.

For me the Maccabeats pose this question “Isn’t that hilarious?” To which I would have to answer, “No. It’s cute.”

Anander Mol poses a real question of what it means to be Jewish (or a human) today. The Maccabeats can sing on key.

Download Anander Mol, Anander Veig (you can get the cover art as well) for a modern remix Hanukah album. And share it like you did with the Maccabeats.

Follow the author on Twitter: @supnah. Originally posted at whatsupnah.com.

Comments