December 14, 2025, marks the first night of Hanukkah, a holiday rooted in both miracles and endurance . Often called the Festival of Lights, it serves as a reminder that influence does not always come from power , sometimes, it comes from persistence.

That makes it a fitting moment to revisit one of hip-hop’s most unlikely, yet most influential success stories: the Beastie Boys . Long before conversations about representation or genre-blending became industry buzzwords, three Jewish kids from New York helped rewrite the rules of rap music .

The Beastie Boys were never positioned as “Jewish rappers” in the novelty sense, nor did they build their careers around identity narratives. Instead, Mike D, Ad-Rock, and the late Adam Yauch existed authentically inside hip-hop at a time

See Full Page