Tuesday, March 19th | 9 Adar II 5784

Subscribe
December 18, 2014 10:39 am
3

Hassidic Parody of Taylor Swift Song Apes Long Jewish Holidays (VIDEO)

×

avatar by Shiryn Ghermezian

A screenshot from the 'I'm Taking Off' music video. Photo: YouTube screenshot.

A Jewish comedy troupe released a parody video on Wednesday of Taylor Swift’s hit song Shake It Off in which they joke about taking extensive time off from work for Jewish holidays.

“And the goyim gonna stay, stay, stay, stay, stay. And the Jews are gonna pray, pray pray, pray, pray. I’m just gonna take, take, take, take, take. I’m taking off,” goes the chorus for I’m Taking Off.

Menachem Weinstein, the video’s lead singer, is the creative director at the all-boys Jewish Educational Trade School (JETS) in Los Angeles. I’m Taking Off features all JETS students, including the young boy who raps in Yiddish about fooling his boss, losing his job and  then having to work at the Jewish-owned electronics store B&H.

“The main concept of the video, the comedy aspect, is how a Jewish guy [who] works for a non-Jewish establishment is always taking off for all different types of holidays, and Shabbat, and fast days, and this and that,” said Weinstein, a London native. “So right now we’re in a Jewish holiday [of Hanukkah] so the timing was perfect.”

Weinstein was performing at a singing competition called A Jewish Star when he met Mendy Pellin, the rabbi featured in the video as his alter ego the LoopHoler Rebbe.

“I like the vibe of the Taylor Swift song and I tried to think of some kind of Jewish spin on it,” Pellin said about creating the concept behind the video. “And I couldn’t think of anything and I gave up and then it just hit me one day, about Jews just keep on taking off for all the Jewish holidays and Shabbat. And I’m just like, this is perfect.”

Pellin, a Hassidic comedian, owns and operates the comedic video production company JewBellish. His group released I’m Taking Off and other parody videos such as Talk Yiddish to Me, a twist on Jason Derulo’s song Talk Dirty. Weinstein and Pellin wrote I’m Taking Off with the young boy who raps in the video, Yosef Sofer.

“We sort of want to show the world that Hassidic Jews are not those close-minded, sad, closed people,” Weinstein said. “We wanna show the world Hassidic Jews can have fun and we’re fun.”

Watch I’m Taking Off below:

Share this Story: Share On Facebook Share On Twitter

Let your voice be heard!

Join the Algemeiner

Algemeiner.com

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.