The annual Flatbush Hatzolah-NYPD baseball game at the Brooklyn Cyclones’ MCU Park began on an awkward note this year.
As spotted by Gothamist, a ragtag group of Hasidic a cappella singers struggled with the national anthem. In a video posted to YouTube, the chorus faces technical and lyrical challenges, with the lead singer relying on a smartphone to get through the words.
Aside: The Cyclones are a minor league affiliate of the New York Mets, whose Citi Field played home to the Asifa, a rally against the dangers of the Internet in May 2012.
Lest we perpetrate a myth that Jews don’t know their patriotic hymns, let the record show that in 1941, a group of 132 child refugees from Portugal sang The Star-Spangled Banner fresh off the boat. To be fair, they were coached in advance “by missionaries returning from their abortive voyage aboard the Zemsam.”
A freilichen Fourth of July.
h/t to my former colleague and Rockower Award-winner Dvora
