Ari Lesser - Hanukkah Hip Hop

Well, Hanukkah just ain't what it used to be cuz some Jews got jealous of a 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 it really meant to be a Maccabee. Over 2,000 years ago it began when the Greeks marched on the holy land. They demanded the Jews lose their traditions 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 who kept kosher were killed on the spot. Making us break our diet by taking the life of those who would not eat bacon. They 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. Hanukkah just ain't what it used to be cuz some Jews got jealous of a 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 it really meant to be a Maccabee. When they told a man named Mattityahu 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. He rose and stood to fight for what's good waging guerrilla warfare in the woods. He had five sons named Matityahu, Yonatan. 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 God on their side, they retook the temple, had it purified. They only had enough oil to light that holy menorah for a single night. But then a great miracle changed their fate, and the lamps all burned for 8 days straight. But Hanukkah just ain't what it used to be, cuz 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 it really meant to be a Maccabee. They risked their lives to fight assimilation, but now Hanukkah's just a cheap imitation of some other foreign nation's celebration on a similar calendar location. Hocus pocus has made you lose focus, 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, cuz you're 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 Hanukkah bush, you would get no gift, just a patch on the tush. Cuz this holiday is not about buying stuff, it's to teach a little bit is more than enough. It doesn't really matter if you're losing or winning, all you need is a dreidel to keep on spinning. So, fry up a feast, bring your family near, and steer clear of the cashier this year. Cuz Hanukkah just ain't what it used to be, cuz 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 O B.