Casaubon's Book

I Wouldn’t Know from Jolly, But it is Not my Least Unfavorite Time of Year

Posted by Sharon Astyk on December 1, 2010
(10)
More »

The great thing about most Jewish holidays is that they go on forever (well, 8 days, mostly), so lazy writers have a chance to get their act together late in the holiday and make it look like they planned it. Meanwhile, I have write about 73 things before tonight and then we’re leaving tomorrow for four days with family, this will have to do.

The real problem isn’t my failure to write anything appropriate to Chanukah, it is Orrin Hatch’s failure. You see, last year you may remember, Hatch gave the worst Chanukah song ever as a gift to the Jewish people, and it gave quick and easy content to a grateful blogiste. I was hoping that the Senator would come through again, but no luck. The thing is, there are some pretty songs for Chanukah, but none of them are in English – that’s actually a rule, as far as I can tell – if you can sing it in English, it pretty much sucks. I’m not sure why this is true about Chanukah.

There are a few exceptions, most of them funny. Like Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart considering Chanukah:

Or Adam Sandler:

You could call Matisyahu an exception to the no English rule, however:

Anyway, Happy Chanukah folks. Enjoy the light.

Sharon

Keywords:
(10)
More »

Comments

  1. #1 Sara in Alabama
    December 1, 2010

    Happy Hanukkah to you and your family Sharon. May your latkes have adequate oil! Love, Sara

  2. #2 Anna
    December 1, 2010

    OMG! I’m almost ready to convert after seeing Adam Sandler and the Colbert/Stewart routine!

    Happy Hanukkah, Sharon! (And anyone else who celebrates!)

  3. #3 Diane
    December 1, 2010

    Ocho kandelikas! There must be some other good tunes. Can anyone recommend some?

  4. #4 Brad K.
    December 1, 2010

    Blessings on you and yours, for Chanukah and for all seasons!

  5. #5 robert
    December 1, 2010

    Don’t forget Chanukah Harry!
    http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/hanukkah-harry/2462/ . It’s missing the awesome theme song though. It’s in this episode though: http://www.hulu.com/watch/4732/saturday-night-live-hanukkah-harry (yeah you gotta watch 30sec of commercials for both…)

    Happy Chanukah Sharon!

  6. #6 Mike
    December 1, 2010

    Here’s another good one: Hanukkah in Santa Monica, by Tom Lehrer –

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LslsgH3-UFU&feature=related

  7. #7 Sylvia
    December 2, 2010

    Here are two other options (available on all the usual suspects/websites, inc emusic.com which is much cheaper).

    Hanukkah Gone Metal (ok, “good” may be a stretch, but it’s well-done!) http://www.youtube.com/user/jshy5150

    and Shirim’s Klezmer Nutcracker. Try Kovatsky Till You Dropsky!:
    http://www.amazon.com/Shirim-Klezmer-Nutcracker-Orchestra/dp/B00000BIHR

  8. #8 Sylvia
    December 2, 2010

    Oh, and I almost forgot, but this one is great! “Woody Guthrie’s Happy Joyous Hanukkah”, by the Klezmatics, has lots of great songs in English! (Woody Guthrie was married to a Jewish woman and his mother-in-law was Aliza Greenblatt, a Yiddish poet.) Um also, for another take (including some rap in yiddish!) there’s some good stuff on this album by Erran Baron Cohen (yes the brother of the offensive humorist)
    http://www.emusic.com/album/Erran-Baron-Cohen-Erran-Baron-Cohen-Presents-Songs-in-the-Key-of-Ha-MP3-Download/11330289.html
    I spend lots (read: probably too much) time searching for music for my kid’s classes, etc… :)

  9. #9 cornish_k8
    December 3, 2010

    This was broadcast on the BBC a couple of days ago; wanted to share:-

    http://www.chiefrabbi.org/ReadArtical1711.aspx

    and he has a lovely voice ;-)

  10. #10 Sharon Astyk
    December 6, 2010

    I love the Klezmer Nutcracker!!! When I converted, Eric bought it for me as a gift to help with the transition, and it is a huge favorite here!

    Sharon