Two days before Rosh Hashanah (which this year falls on Sept. 11) and five days after Beyonce’s birthday (which always falls on Sept. 4), Jewish a cappella band Six13 has graced us with a Beyonce-adjacent Rosh Hashanah parody.
“Simanim” is a take on the 1999 hit “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child, the girl group that catapulted Beyonce — along with Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland — to stardom. The song is a natural fit for the Hebrew word simanim, which refers to symbolic foods and is pronounced a lot like “say my name.”
In this quick parody, Six13 lists some of the the symbolic foods used in Rosh Hashanah celebrations across Jewish cultures: apples, honey, carrot, cabbage, beet, date, pomegranate, gourd and fish or sheep’s head.
But my favorite detail lies in the first few seconds. At the beginning of “Say My Name” we hear producer Rodney Jerkins — aka Darkchild’s — 1999 producer tag, “Darkchild 99.” In the Six13 version, that moment seamlessly becomes “Rosh Hashanah.” (If you’re anything like me, you spent many years listening to this song on your Discman on the school bus thinking a random voice was saying “Dashanana” and not even questioning it, but I digress.)
Many props to Six13 for finding the perfect Jewish Destiny’s Child crossover moment. Hope your new year is full of the people you love and all the simanim you could hope for.
New Year, More Kveller. A few dollars keeps Kveller joyfully, honestly free.
