Dec. 7, 2025

Adam Sandler -The Hanukkah Song (The Chanukah Song) (The Christmas Song)

Show Notes
Transcript

Welcome back to Hitmaker Chronicles! I'm your host, Garrett Fisher. This week on our eight-week Christmas countdown, we're celebrating Hanukkah with Adam Sandler's "The Chanukah Song" - the novelty hit that made Jewish kids feel seen during the holiday season. We'll trace how a nervous SNL cast member turned childhood loneliness into cultural phenomenon, why Roseanne Barr graciously stepped aside, and how four minutes of fake rhymes and celebrity name-dropping became an annual tradition. It's a story about feeling left out, the Carnegie Deli, and proving that sometimes the silliest song can say something serious.

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Callaroga Shark Media. I'm Garrett Fisher and Adam Sandler was

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standing on fifty sixth Street and Broadway in Manhattan looking

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at a diner when he had the idea. It was

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fall nineteen ninety four. He was twenty eight years old,

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in his fourth year as a cast member on Saturday

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Night Live, and the holidays were coming. Christmas music was

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starting to flood the airwaves, and Sandler, like he'd felt

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every year since childhood, was acutely aware that there were

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basically no Hanukkah songs. Well, there was one Dreidel, Dredel, Dredel,

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that was it. Meanwhile, Christmas had jingle bells, white Christmas

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deck the halls, Santa claus Is coming to town. The

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list went on forever. Radio stations would switch to all

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Christmas formats. Television specials dominated the airwaves. If you were

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a Jewish kid in America during December, it could feel

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like being uninvited to the biggest party of the year.

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Sandler knew that feeling intimately, he'd grown up with it,

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and standing on that Manhattan street corner, he thought, what

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if I wrote a Hanukkah song, not a serious one.

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Sandler didn't do serious, a funny one, a silly one,

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one that would make Jewish kids feel less alone by

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pointing out all the famous Jewish people they could celebrate instead.

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He rushed to NBC Studios, where SNL taped at thirty

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Rockefeller Plaza, and started working with two of the show's writers,

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Ian Maxtone Graham and Lewis Morton. Both were comedy writers

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who understood Sandler's sensibility. Together, they crafted what would become

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the Honkkah Song. The concept was simple, but brilliant. Make

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a list of Jewish celebrities to remind Jewish kids that

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they weren't alone. Frame it as a response to Christmas

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song dominance light. Keep it silly, but underneath the humor,

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say something real. You belong your scene, Your holiday matters too.

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By December nineteen ninety four, they had a song and

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SNL had a plan. The episode, airing on December third,

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would be hosted by Roseanne Barr, who was herself Jewish. Initially,

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there was discussion about having Roseanne sing the song during

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Weekend Update, but Barr, in what Sandler later described as

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an incredibly gracious move, said no, let Adam do that.

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She told the producers that's his he wrote it, that's

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his song. So on December third, nineteen ninety four, the

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seventh night of Hanukkah, Norm MacDonald welcomed Adam Sandler to

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the Weekend Update desk. Sandler sat down with his acoustic guitar,

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looking genuinely nervous. He stammered a bit introducing the song,

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explaining how he'd grown up feeling like the only kid

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in town without a Christmas tree. Then he started playing,

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and for four minutes in change, Adam Sandler, manchild, comedian,

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silly voice specialist, the guy who did Lunch, Ladyland and

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the Thanksgiving Song, created something that would outlive everything else

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he did on SNL. Let's talk about what makes this

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song work, because it's deceptively crafted. On the surface, it

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sounds like Sandler is making it up as he goes,

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just riffing on a guitar and throwing out names. But

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there's real craft here. The structure is verse chorus, versus chorus, bridge,

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verse chorus, standard pop song structure. The melody is simple, singable, infectious,

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the kind of thing that gets stuck in your head immediately.

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The opening establishes the premise put on your Yarmocha. Here

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comes Honikah. Instead of one day of presence, we have

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eight crazy nights. It's inviting, celebratory, setting up the idea

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that Hankah is something to be excited about. Then come

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the celebrity lists, and this is where Sandler and his

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co writers get clever. They use a mix of real

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rhymes and fake rhymes, real rhyme. Guess who eats together

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at the Carnegie Deli Bowser from Shannanah and Arthur Fonzarelli.

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That works perfectly Delhi and Fonzarelli genuinely rhyme, and the

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cultural specificity the Carnegie Deli was a famous Jewish Delhi

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in Manhattan adds authenticity fake rhyme. David Lee Roth lights

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the Minora, so do James Kahn, Kirk Douglas and the

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Late Dinah Shora. That second line doesn't rhyme at all

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until Sandler adds ah to Shore, creating the illusion of

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a rhyme. It's cheating, but it's brilliant cheating because it's

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funny and it works rhythmically. The celebrity choices are smart too.

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They're not just naming random Jewish people. They're choosing cultural

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icons across generations. David Lee Roth, the Van Halen front

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man who'd been everywhere in the eighties, Douglas Old Hollywood Royalty,

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Captain Kirk and Mister Spock. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy,

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both Jewish, both from Star Trek, a show beloved across demographics.

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Paul Newman and Goldie Hahn, both half Jewish, who Sandler

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jokes could be put together to make a fine looking jew.

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There are strategic non Jews included too. Oj Simpson gets

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mentioned explicitly as not a Jew. This was just over

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a year after the murders and months after his acquittal,

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so that line had bite. Tom Cruise isn't Jewish, but

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I think his agent is a joke that simultaneously celebrates

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Jewish success in Hollywood and gently mocks the stereotype. The

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most famous error in the original version, Harrison Ford is

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a quarter Jewish, except he's not. Years later, when Sandler

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met Ford, the Star Wars icon corrected him. Half Sandler's

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excuse back then when I wrote it, I don't think

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Google wouldnd. I was going off something I thought I knew,

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which is hilariously accurate. In nineteen ninety four, you couldn't

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just quickly fact check celebrity genealogy. The performance itself is

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crucial to understanding why it worked. Sandler sits at the

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weekend Update desk, guitar in hand, looking slightly uncomfortable but

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completely sincere. Norm MacDonald sits next to him, cracking up.

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Throughout the studio audience is losing it. You can hear

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them laughing, cheering, clearly delighted. Sandler does his signature thing,

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silly voices, goofy faces, that boyish enthusiasm that made him

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so likable. When he gets to certain lines, he emphasizes

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them with exaggerated pronunciation or dramatic pauses. He's performing it

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like he's genuinely excited to share this with people, like

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he's letting you in on something. The song ends with

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an invitation everyone Jewish or not can celebrate Hanukkah if

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they really really wanna. It's inclusive without being preachy, it's

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silly without being stupid. It's a novelty song that actually

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means something. The response was immediate and overwhelming. People loved it,

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Jewish kids especially, Finally something that acknowledged their holiday, that

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made it feel cool and fun rather than lesser than.

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The song was released as a single in nineteen ninety

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five and hit number ten on the Billboard Hot one hundred.

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It charted again in nineteen ninety six, nineteen ninety seven,

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and nineteen ninety eight. For years it was a seasonal fixture.

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But more than the chart success, it became a cultural touchstone.

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Suddenly Hanukah had visibility. Radio stations would actually play a

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Hanukkah song. Jewish kids had something to point to and say,

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that's mine, that's us. Sandler recorded the song for his

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nineteen ninety six comedy album What the Hell Happened to Me,

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and it became one of his signature pieces. But he

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didn't stop there. As culture evolved, so did the song.

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The Hanukkah Song, Part two was recorded live at Brandeis University,

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a historically Jewish school, for his nineteen ninety nine album

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Stan and Judy's Kid. This version added new celebrities, The

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Beastie Boys, Lenny Kravitz, Winona Ryder, Bob Dylan. It also

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included one of Sandler's best jokes, Bruce Springsteen isn't Jewish,

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but my mother thinks he is. That line perfectly captures

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a certain type of Jewish mother who desperately wants to

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claim every successful person as somehow Jewish. Part three appeared

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in two thousand and two on the soundtrack for Sandler's

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animated Hanukkah film Eight Crazy Nights. This version featured a

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children's choir called the dre Dell's, a pun on Dreidel,

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and included references to Ross and Phoebe from Friends, plus

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contemporary figures like Ben Stiller and Jack Black. Then came

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a thirteen year gap. In twenty fifteen, Sandler debuted Part

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four at a Judd Apatow and Friends event at the

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New York Comedy Festival. This version updated for the two

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thousands Drake Scarlett, Johansson, seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon, Levitt, Jake Gillenhall,

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the guys who founded Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brinn,

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even Princess Leiah Gotta Mention, Carrie Fisher and Harry Potter,

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Daniel Radcliffe, whose mother is Jewish. Each version follows the

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same basic template, but reflects the moment it was created.

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The celebrity references change, but the core message remains. Jewish kids,

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You're not alone. Look at all these successful, talented people

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who share your heritage. The errors and corrections became part

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of the song's charm. In Part two, Sandler incorrectly claimed

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Courtney Love was half Jewish, she's not, and Jennifer Beals

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was Jewish, also not, though Beals has said she once

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wanted to be. These mistakes didn't finished the song. If anything,

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they made it more human, more authentically Sandler just trying

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to celebrate his people without perfect research. What's remarkable is

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how the song balanced silliness with sincerity. On paper, it's

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a novelty tune, a comedy sketch extended to album track,

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But for Jewish kids growing up in the nineties, two

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thousands and beyond, it genuinely mattered. It said your holiday

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deserves songs too. You deserve to feel celebrated. You're part

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of something bigger. The song also celebrated Jewish achievement without

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being obnoxious about it. The Carnegie Deli reference, the mentions

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of people who'd fled Eastern Europe, Leonard Nimoy and William

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Shatner's parents, the sheer number of Jewish people who'd succeeded

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in entertainment. It was proud without being exclusionary. The ending

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invites everyone in. You don't have to be Jewish to

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appreciate Hanukah or to sing along. Sandler has spoken about

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the song's legacy with genuine pride. In recent interviews. He

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said he still sings it alone in his basement, just

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for himself. If it comes on the radio, he gets excited.

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His daughters are proud of it, and he's very, very

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proud to be associated with Hanukkah this way. The song

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has been covered by various artists, parodied countless times, and

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referenced in pop culture constantly. In twenty twenty one, the

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band Haim posted a brief cover updating it with contemporary names.

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Jimmy Fallon impersonated Sandler singing it in a celebrity Jeopardy sketch,

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but the original remains definitive. That first Weekend Update performance,

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with Norm MacDonald giggling next to Sandler, with the studio

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audience so clearly delighted with Sandler's genuine nervousness and enthusiasm,

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that's the version that matters. In twenty twenty five, as

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SNL celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, the song was selected as

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the sketch represent nting Season twenty. The one piece of

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content from that entire season chosen to reflect the show's legacy.

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That's significant. Not a sketch with Chris Farley, who was

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at his peak that year. Not something from Norm McDonald

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or David Spade or Chris Rock, all cast members at

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the time. A goofy song about Hanukkah performed by a

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nervous Jewish comedian with a guitar. Because the Hanukkah song

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did something rare for SNL, it created something that transcended

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the show, that became part of the actual holiday season

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it celebrated. It's played in Jewish homes every December. It's

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taught to kids, it's become tradition. Adam Sandler, standing on

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fifty six in Broadway, feeling that old childhood loneliness about

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being left out during Christmas, decided to do something about it.

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He wrote a silly song with his SNL riding buddies.

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He performed it once nervously sitting next to Norm MacDonald,

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making people lie, and thirty years later Jewish kids don't

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feel quite so alone during December. They have their song.

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It's goofy and imperfect and contains factual errors, but it's theirs.

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It says you matter your holiday matters, and look at

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all these amazing people who share your heritage. Not bad

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for four minutes of fake rhymes and celebrity name dropping.

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The genius of the Honkkah song is that it solved

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a real problem Jewish kids feeling invisible during the Christmas season,

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with the simplest possible solution acknowledgment. Not a serious anthem,

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not a sacred hymn, just a funny song that says,

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I see you, You're not alone, and here are a

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bunch of famous Jews to prove it. Sometimes that's all

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anyone needs to be seen, to be celebrated, to know

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they belong to something bigger than themselves. Adam Sandler, Goofball comedian,

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gave that to an entire community, and he did it

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by rhyming Menora with Dinah shra. I'm Garrett Fisher, Happy Honakha.