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Yeshiva U. Bests Columbia in Harlem Shake

A showdown for the ages ends with a Maccabees victory

by
Adam Chandler
February 14, 2013
One of Countless Harlem Shake Videos(Mashable)
One of Countless Harlem Shake Videos(Mashable)

With more than 450 votes cast–which is just a little more than the number of people who voted in our mock Israeli elections–Yeshiva University smoked Columbia in the Harlem Shake Showdown by a vote of 270-152, with 34 people incredulously selecting the “Do I Really Have to Choose?” option.

In case you missed the meme, the ‘Harlem Shake,’ declared “dead” yesterday, was a week-long internet fascination featuring…well…the Atlantic explained:

The meme’s life was so short, you’d be forgiven for not knowing it even existed. For those who didn’t catch our first Harlem Shake post, here’s what you need to know to mourn properly. These goofy 30-second videos all started with one person (usually in a mask) wriggling along to the build-up of a wobbly EDM track. Then when the beat dropped, everyone in the frame who’d been sitting idly would join in for some uninhibited looniness. Such videos brought joy to many souls wasting time on Youtube.

The two entrants in the Scroll competition, Columbia and Yeshiva, put together valiant efforts. We did have comments of support from both sides:

NotRichardJoel: Obviously YU



Jewish Person: OBVIOUSLY CU

In the end, Yeshiva University was the victor. Enjoy it one last time, folks.

Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.