Top 5 Bits of Hanukkah Slipped Into Christmas Specials/Albums

Well, Peter and I are done celebrating our holiday now, but Hanukkah is still going strong.  In the interest of Hanukkah (sort of) and our Jewish friends (we have them), I would like to present to you four classic Christmas recordings that engage in a little Jewish tokenism.

5. "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel" in Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics

Perenially the only Hanukkah song any gentiles know, it's a quick-and-easy go-to when you need some Judiasm in the middle of too much Christmas cheer, especially when it's sung by the token Jewish character on a TV show!

4. "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel" on Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special

And...again!

3. "Light One Candle" on Peter, Paul & Mary's A Holiday Celebration

This is the one that inspired the list--near the end of one of the all-time classic Christmas albums (at least to me), you get hit with a really beautiful song about Hanukkah that Paul (a gentile) actually wrote.  As it turns out, it's one of the best and most memorable on the album.  Nice!

2. "Can I Interest You in Hanukkah?" on A Colbert Christmas: the Greatest Gift of All

Alright, so this one is self-aware about its tokenism (to be fair, so is South Park), but it doesn't mean that Jon Stewart hasn't crafted a Hanukkah classic for the ages.  Just kidding, it probably does!  I don't know anything about Hanukkah!

1. Barbara Streisand on Barbara Streisand's A Christmas Album

One of the best-selling Christmas albums of all time, it--HOLD UP.