Twenty-one years ago, Tom Lehrer, our all-time favorite musical satirist, penned and performed the classic Hanukkah in Santa Monica. In December 2009, our third month at Jewish Humor Central, we searched the internet for a video of his performance to share with our small group of readers. It was available on YouTube for awhile, but then it disappeared. So we went with a high school glee club and their rendition of this song.
Today, as our email subscriber list reached and passed the 2,000 mark, we did another search and found that this gem is back. So before it disappears again, we're bringing it to you now.
It's also very satisfying to see that Lehrer's wit is being transmitted to a new generation. After the original version as sung by Tom, we're also including a version that was performed just a few days ago by the choir of Yavneh Academy of Paramus, New Jersey in front of the Williams-Sonoma store at the Garden State Plaza shopping mall.
We think that this song, one of the few inventive Chanukah parodies before the genre exploded last year with offerings by the Maccabeats, Fountainheads, and others, remains one of the best.
Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS: THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)
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I really enjoyed the chorus, however it would have been nice if more boys joined the chorus.
ReplyDeletehowever,NOTHING...they're Adorable! Stop Kvetching---YUK!
ReplyDeleteIn his original introduction to the song, Lehrer said that since most of the good and memorable Christmas songs in English were written by Jews, "Hanukkah in Santa Monica" was Tom Leherer's attempt, as a non-Jew, to return the favor.
ReplyDeleteI'm two years late, but Tom Lehrer was Jewish.
ReplyDeleteAnd he still is!
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