Six 13 #MusicMovesMe

It's the first full day of Hanukkah, and it's time for #MusicMovesMe.
Thank you for joining me for another episode of Music Moves Me.  We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only,  please containing links to You Tube or Vimeo for actual music.  Other posts are subject to removal or labeling as "No Music".)   First, there is XmasDolly.  Her chief co-conductor is Cathy of Curious as a Cathy. Her other co-conductors are Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, and me.  

The theme for the entire month of December is "Christmas" but I am going to deviate a bit on this, because...

Hanukkah, the eight day Festival of Lights, began last night.  We don't have quite the selection of Hanukkah songs as we do for Christmas, but some modern groups have begun a tradition of singing traditional Hanukkah songs in a way that connects to people of all faiths through popular culture.  

Many of these groups sing a cappella, using only their voices.  This style of music is one traditional style in Jewish music, as the use of musical instruments is forbidden during our Sabbath, and the use of popular culture makes the songs more accessible.

In other words, you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy these songs, and I hope you'll enjoy.

First up is one from this year, an a capella group called Six 13.  This name comes from the 613 commandments in our Torah, the five books of Moses in what Christians call the Old Testament.

Their offering this year is A Star Wars Hanukkah.   I wish there were more English subtitles, but I think you will "get it".   One note -  the English part referring to "Rock of Ages" does not refer to the Christian hymn, but rather to a traditional Jewish song called Maoz Tzur  (Rock of Ages) praising the Almighty for the miracle of Hanukkah.  (Another note - there are various spellings of the holiday in English, given that Hebrew does not use the Roman alphabet). 

For those interested, this is the song Maoz Tzur, sung in both Hebrew and English.

Back to Six 13, this was their release for Hanukkah 2018 - A Bohemian Hanukkah.  This is my favorite Six 13 song.

 

One more Hannukah song for today - this is a traditional children's song called The Dreidel Song, and I enjoyed this jazzed up version, and the video that accompanied it.  This is done by the Boys Town Jerusalem Choir.

And that's a Hanukkah wrap!  Not only that, but it's a Christmas Wrapping, too, with the Waitress's classic song.  Why not rock out to two holidays at once, now that the calendar's down to just one page?

May you enjoy this season.  See you next Monday, same time, same place.