Bar mitzvah video makes a splash for Toronto 12-year-old
Jorel Hoffert has yet to become a man but he's already become something of an internet sensation with his online bar mitzvah invitation.
The video features Hoffert, a 12-year-old from Toronto, singing his own words over the music to Queen’s We Will Rock You.
To the song's familiar opening drum beat, Hoffert sings: “I’m half a Jew, I learned Hebrew. Still half Asian, I’m proud of that too.”
The second half of the video — which has more than 109,000 views and 570 likes on YouTube — features Hoffert dancing to Gangnam Style, the first YouTube video to surpass a billion views.
In his video's three and a half minutes, Hoffert also solos on air guitar, plays piano and appears with his family members.
His video drew the attention of CBC's George Stroumboulopoulos, who linked to the video on his show's website.
Stroumboulopoulos also mentioned the video on Twitter:
Hoffert comes honestly by his flair for music and video production.
As the Wall Street Journal reported, his father is David Hoffert, a music producer and video director who has worked with the Beastie Boys.
His mother, Mei Lei, is a classically trained vocalist and opera instructor. Both parents, and Jorel’s grandparents, make appearances in the video that invites partiers to his big day, which is set for April 27.
According to the Journal, his grandmother, Brenda Hoffert, is a former lyricist and music supervisor for Hollywood movies and his grandfather is a jazz musician.
David Hoffert told the Journal he hopes the video doesn’t inspire hordes of revellers to crash his son’s big day.
"We're expecting 130 [people], and we hope it doesn't turn into 130,000," he said. "With this kind of advertising, you never know.”
