Chanukah
on the
Silver Screen:
BRAT_PIKACHU / iStock / Getty Images Plus
How Media Makes
a Holiday
SELAH MAYA ZIGHELBOIM | JE STAFF
24 NOVEMBER 28, 2019
WINTER HOLIDAY MAGAZINE
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



T
his holiday season, the Hallmark Channel added two
movies with Jewish characters to its lineup.

And that won’t be the only new milestone this
winter for the Festival of Lights.

In September, Disney announced its fi rst Jewish princess
would debut on “Elena of Avalor,” to the delight of Jewish
Disney fans everywhere. Th e new Sephardic princess, who
will be voiced by Jamie-Lynn Sigler (“Th e Sopranos”), will
appear on a Chanukah-themed episode of the show.

Over the decades, Chanukah has taken on an increasingly
visible role in American culture.

Americans see Chanukah in giant public menorah light-
ings, in the blue-and-white holiday cards that sit next to the
red-and-green ones during December, and in movies and on
television screens. Children might see the “Shalom Sesame”
characters learning about Chanukah, while adults might see
some tongue-in-cheek jokes about the holiday on shows like
“Saturday Night Live” or “Th e Colbert Report” Christmas
special. But that wasn’t always the story.

In the early days of television, there was a “tug of war” over
Jewish representation in media, explained Eric A. Goldman,
fi lm historian and author of “Th e American Jewish Story
Th rough Cinema,” among other works. Some early television
shows might have a Jewish episode, where perhaps a rabbi
might drop in. Many TV writers were Jewish, but they under-
stood that, as Jews made up only a small fraction of audiences,
it didn’t make sense to write for them.

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Th at started to change in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Goldman
said, when Chanukah began to feature more prominently in
public life. One early portrayal comes from a TV series called
“Th irtysomething,” in which an interfaith couple navigates
celebrating Chanukah and Christmas.

“It crept in,” Goldman noted. “Adam Sandler deserves a
lot of credit.”
In 1994, during a Weekend Update segment on “Saturday
Night Live,” Sandler introduced the world to “Th e Hanukkah
Song.” In it, he names a number of Jewish celebrities.

“Saturday Night Live” uploaded the clip to YouTube in
2013, and it has garnered more than 3.4 million views. Other
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