Holidays are a hoot!  And nothing gets me into the spirit of the season like a song that not only makes me laugh (whether through satire, humor, or sheer nerve), but also has me bobbing my head, tapping my foot, and dancing along.  Here are a quartet of my favorite funny holiday songs that were written with one Hebraic foot firmly planted in the land of wit.


“My Menorah” – Chevonne

Chevonne – one-time back-up singer for Lady Gaga, then contestant on The Voice, and now lead singer of Chevonne & the Fuzz – spins more than her dreidel in this slinky ditty about a nice Jewish girl who decides to get naughty with eight comely gentleman callers.  It brings to mind a cross between Mariah Carey and Teena Marie, by a modern girl; and is wrapped-up in a very pretty package, to boot!


“Miracle (Hanukkah Song)” – Matisyahu

You’ve really gotta give it up for Matisyahu.  Not only did he write this jamming original ode to the Festival of Lights (for the folks from Funny or Die), but (as a former Chassid) he did so with peyos and a beard; AND in the video he actually displays some killer breakdancing on ice skates!  (I can’t do either, let alone both at once…).  Frankly, the real miracle is that he didn’t break his neck.  Bonus: the song’s got a legitimately groovy beat.

“A Lonely Jew on Christmas” – Matt Stone/South Park

When, in 1997, I first watched the “Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo” episode, on the first season of South Park, I remember being on the floor, at my friend Deb’s apartment, on the Upper West Side, gasping for air – a result of laughing so hard that I’d fallen off the couch.  And it was this song, featuring Matt Stone as the voice of young Jewish Kyle Broflofski; that sent me into the apoplectic fit that had delivered me there.  Cheers to Messrs Parker and Stone on their first musical episode, their first Christmas special, and the first episode in which Kenny didn’t die.

“Christmastime for the Jews” – Darlene Love/Saturday Night Live

In 2005, the incredible Darlene Love – who sang with everyone from Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys to Sonny & Cher and The Ronettes, and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in 2011 – voiced the lead in this hilarious cartoon by Robert Smigel, for the animated “TV Funhouse” segment of Saturday Night Live.  Love’s lush classic Motown-style vocals were the perfect accompaniment to the wicked lyrics and brilliant stop-motion Claymation antics.

Seasons Greetings!

Get into it!

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