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The Hanukkah Song

Saturday Night Live 1994 Season 20 Episode 7

SKETCH-O-VISION

A VERY GOOD USE OF YOUR TIME.

The setup

Adam Sandler strums his guitar and lists every Jewish celebrity from David Lee Roth to all Three Stooges, giving Hanukkah the funny, feel-good anthem it deserved.

Watch on YouTube

Watch onYouTube

Community rating

– / 10

The premise

Here’s the bit.

After noticing a lack of Hanukkah songs during the holiday season, Adam Sandler performs an original song on Weekend Update about famous Jewish people to celebrate the holiday and provide solidarity for Jewish children who might feel alienated during the Christmas season. The song lists celebrities like David Lee Roth, Goldie Hawn, Kirk Douglas, Paul Newman, Harrison Ford, and the Three Stooges, while humorously noting that O.J. Simpson is "not a Jew." Sandler can barely contain his laughter throughout the performance, which became one of SNL's most iconic and beloved holiday songs.

The funny people

Meet the cast. 2

Adam Sandler

Norm Macdonald

Say it with us

Highly quotable.

Put on your yarmulke, here comes Hanukkah

David Lee Roth lights the menorah

So do James Caan, Kirk Douglas, and the late Dinah Shore-ah

Paul Newman's half Jewish, Goldie Hawn's half too. Put them together, what a fine lookin' Jew!

You don't need Deck the Halls or Jingle Bell Rock, 'cause you can spin a dreidel with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock - both Jewish!

O.J. Simpson... Not a Jew!

But guess who is, hall of famer Rod Carew. He converted.

Some people think that Ebenezer Scrooge is... Well, he's not, but guess who is: All Three Stooges!

Behind the scenes

The people who made it.

A little extra

Notes from the archive.

This was performed during the Norm Macdonald era of Weekend Update. Sandler appeared to be trying not to laugh throughout the entire performance. The song was later included on Sandler's 1996 comedy album "What the Hell Happened to Me?" YouTube video has over 8 million views and 85,000+ likes as of 2013 upload. Many celebrities responded to being named in the song, with Henry Winkler being deeply flattered and beginning a long collaboration with Sandler afterward. Harrison Ford corrected Sandler, saying he was "Half!" Jewish (not a quarter as stated in the song). The song mentions the Carnegie Deli and references "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Deck the Halls".