Tantalizing Tichels

Look what just hit the internet yesterday – the Tichel Cuties (tichel being the scarf that traditionally observant Jewish women wear over their hair once they are married) singing a kosher version of some Lady Gaga songs. Well, maybe kosher, but not so innocent. The sexual overtones – not to mention some of the lyrics – in this video caused me to be pretty sure that this is all a satire…Right?

The video was posted to YouTube as an “Ofn Tisch” (Yiddish for “on the table”) production by site member “dugree” (Hebrew/Arabic slang for “telling it straight” – as in, no bullshitting around). But if you look closely, you can see that it bears the mark of the Bible Raps Project duo Matt Bar and Ori Salzberg (who can be seen in some of his videos wearing a t-shirt imprinted with “dati l’lo kippah”  – non-yarmulke-wearing religious Jew).

Most importantly, it’s stated at the end of “Chagaga! (Tichel Cuties)” that “No actual married women appeared in this video.” Whew, what a relief.

© 2010 Renee Ghert-Zand. All rights reserved.

Update: This was cross-posted  as “Meet the ‘Tichel Cuties'” on The Sisterhood blog of The Forward on May 31. Click here to read it.

Update: Mystery solved. Click here to read an interview with one of the young women in the video and get answers to questions people have been asking about it, like: Is this a parody? Who’s idea was this? What’s the idea behind this bizarre video? Is there a point someone is trying to make here?

Tags: Chagaga, Dugri, Jewish satire, Jewish women, Lady Gaga, Matt Bar, Ofn Tisch, Ori Salzberg, Orthodox Jews, The Bible Raps Project, Tichel Cuties, traditional jews, YouTube