School has begun (remember when that meant something?). The apples are ripe. Brisket is roasting. It’s time. Rosh Hashanah is coming, and with it your annual pilgrimage to your temple (hit Stubhub while you still can!) There you will once again enjoy a lovely service, something that’ll feel like an uncut production of Der Ring des Nibelungen or a Broadway Jr. version of Annie, all interrupted with a sermonic sampling of Waiting for Godot. Pay attention, because you may not be able to experience this again until, well, the day after. And then not again til next week.
We need a song.
“But Fred,” you protest, “songs are everywhere! Facebook will be loaded with parents and friends posting their [shudder] Maccabeat songs and The Circle Game. Some will post Leonard Cohen’s Who by Fire, which didn’t even catch on at Camp Ramah. Can we please find something that speaks to us?”
Thank you, Mel.
Mel Brooks understands your pain, he understands what these holidays are about, and he has written the ultimate Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur holiday song, something that sums up all the emotions, but with a bouncy beat.
5776: Hope for the Best Expect the Worst.
It doesn’t get much sweeter than that.
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