If you immediately caught the Lonely Jew on Christmas reference in the title to one of my favorite South Park episodes then you and I can definitely be friends! I’ve always been a fan of South Park. I love the straight-up honesty and ridiculous unrealistic dialogue between all the characters.
They make fun of literally everything. And on the surface I’m totally okay with it. If I thought about it any deeper than that it would probably be terribly disturbing. LOL but that’s not what I’m about here today.
So here’s the scoop on “The Lonely Jew on Christmas” song Kyle Broflovsli sings in season one episode called “Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo“. A little background before we sing. Kyle feels left out on Christmas because his family celebrates Hanukkah and his friends inform him that Jews cannot eat Christmas snow.
In the beginning, no one believes the lonely Jew on Christmas
Additionally, no one believes him about Mr. Hankey‘s existence. The fact that back in the day there were very few tv shows or movies that addressed Judaim in general and I had to cling to this in order to laugh about the sometimes hard struggle I had growing up Jewish in Texas. Jewish anywhere really. So, Kyle has the Christmas play he is struggling with, Christmas snow and his friends’ social isolation from him so he breaks out into song.
Kyle:
It’s hard to be a Jew on Christmas
My friends won’t let me join in any games
And I can’t sing Christmas songs or decorate a Christmas tree
Or leave water out for Rudolph ’cause there is something wrong with me
My people don’t believe in Jesus Christ’s divinity!
Kyle Continues:
I’m a Jew
A lonely Jew
On Christmas.
Hanukkah is nice, but why is it
That Santa passes over my house every year?
And instead of eating ham, I have to eat kosher latkes
Instead of Silent Night, I’m singing “Huhash Dogavish”
And what the fuck is up with lighting all these fucking candles? Tell me, please!
I’m a Jew
A lonely Jew
I’d be merry
But I’m Hebrew
On Christmas.
Special Celebrity Guest:
Hey, little boy, I couldn’t help but hear
You’re feeling left out of Christmas cheer
But I’ve come to see that you shouldn’t be sad
This is the one month that you should be glad.
Cause it’s nice to be a Jew on Christmas
You don’t have to deal with the season at all
Don’t have to be on your best behavior or give to charity
You don’t have to go to grandma’s house with your alcoholic family.
Kyle:
And I don’t have to sit on some fake Santa’s lap and have him breathe his stinky breath on me!
Special Celebrity Guest:
That’s right. You’re a Jew…
Kyle:
A stylin’ Jew…
Together:
It’s a good time… to be Hebrew
On Christmas!
Special Celebrity Guest:
On Christmas.
A little Hollywood history about Jews on Christmas
How the media via films, television shows and music portray Jewish holidays and Jews in general over the last 20 to 30 years has changed significantly. I found a lot of entertainment and humor in the way that we address the variations between the holidays that are celebrated in December as well as being able to laugh at myself and others.
Currently we are experiencing a wave of anti-semitism that is oh, to be quite honest, pretty scary. With celebrities making anti-semitic comments, disturbing rants about Jews being the devil and going Death Con One on the Jews. What I do love is that celebrities are fighting back. Jamie Lee Curtis has taken to her socials in outrage. Companies are dropping clients who are using their fame to spread hatred and evil.
Sorry. I digressed. But it was necessary.
Almost everyone my age has seen and loves the Rugrats Chanukah episode. The one where all the babies get stuck in the attic and have to listen to grandpa tell them about their religion. Oh wait, was that the Passover episode? I get them confused. Anyways, it was a playful and age appropriate way for viewers to learn about something different than they are used to.
Seinfeld and Friends both tackled holiday celebrations on their shows. Remember how Ross is struggling with making sure his son, Ben, has an equal understanding of Christmas and Hanukkah. So Ross creates the Hanukkah Armadillo. Thankfully this idea never took off and there are NO armadillos involved in our Hanukkah celebrations. I mean, I live in Houston, so yeah, they are all around us. LOL
Seinfeld and Festivus, Sandler and the Hanukkah song
Seinfeld: Who can forget Festivus??? Season 9, episode 10 in 1997. Jerry Stiller really took this one as characters George and Jerry fascinate Kramer with the concepts. He actually asks for time off of work to celebrate Festivus, which Stiller created just to get out of buying holiday gifts and avoid all the holiday madness that Christmas shopping has caused. If you’re a Seinfeld fan then we know you have seen it and if you are a fan and haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for?!?!
There are also references to the holidays in popular music as well. Adam Sandler will forever be memorialized as the guy with the Hanukkah song. Talk about being a lonely Jew on Christmas.
I think that this song made its debut on a Saturday Night Live skit he did in 1994. He wrote it as a response to noticing the lack of Hanukkah music out there. Here is his SNL skit for you to enjoy. It includes many of the famous people who are Jewish. I believe he even has several remakes of this song with new peoples names in it! Himself being one as well. Lol
So many amazing examples of not being the lonely Jew on Christmas
Bare naked ladies have a cute song at the end of their 2004 album called Hanukkah Blessings. It’s sweet and was a cool surprise from this amazing band.
Other lonely Jews on Christmas include The Rose family on one of my favorite shows, Schitt’s Creek, when Johnny Rose flashes back to their Christmas celebrations as Jews and his desire to bring back his fond memories of a better time while living in Schitt’s Creek.
More recently Daveed Digs sings in 2020 about wanting a puppy for Hanukkah. It’s an adorable song with multicultural participants. It went viral and was such a warm fun video to watch and share with friends.
No matter what you celebrate in the winter. Have fun! Share your love, friendships and pumpkin pie with everyone! Invite the strangers, the lonely and the ones without places to go or are missing family. Whatever you celebrate we are all taught to be kind and love one another. No one should really be a Lonely Jew on Christmas.
