Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Weirdly Talented Rapping Orthodox Girls Star in Illicit Viral Hit

What goes on in high schools for ultra-Orthodox girls? Surprisingly good rapping, apparently.

An illicit video of two Orthodox girls rapping and beat-boxing about the marriage prospects of their future daughters bubbled up through the dark net of Orthodox WhatsApp groups sometime Tuesday or Wednesday.

The two weirdly talented ultra-Orthodox high school hip-hop stars perform in long dark skirts in front of a row of lockers.

It’s an unusual sight, given modesty rules that generally ban Orthodox women from singing in front of men.

It’s also pretty delightful.

According to a helpful transcription posted on the website Genius.com, the girls are singing about Dor Yeshorim, an Orthodox genetic testing service that allows potential couples to check their risk for genetic diseases.

“Doing this test to see if we’re a match / And if it’s a yes, well I’m a really good catch,” the rapping girl opens.

From there, the rapper moves to her future pregnancy (“my first of 7”); the matchmaking “resumes” that will be sent to her future daughters; living in a cheap apartment with three of her future children while her future husband continues his religious studies; and, in a somewhat morbid ending, dying at the age of 120.

“Lived a full full life dedicated to Hashem / Thanks Dor Yeshorim — this is the end,” the rapper concludes, before swinging through the chorus one last time.

The video has been passed around gleefully on social media, but the genetic testing service that’s the subject of the rhyme is less than pleased.

“We are very disturbed about the whole video,” said Chaim Brown, marketing director for Dor Yeshorim.

Brown said that his not-for-profit had nothing to do with the video. “It is below our dignity as an organization to promote such a thing,” he said.

The anonymous girls in the video contacted Dor Yeshorim on Wednesday, according to Brown. They said that one of their friends had put the rap online without their permission.

“They are very disturbed about it,” Brown said.

Brown would not share the names of the video’s stars, or the name of the school at which the video was filmed.

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.