Oy to the World: The Jewish Hand in the Holiday Mix

It all begins around Thanksgiving. The airwaves are filled with Christmas music–nostalgic, sentimental, and unmistakably familiar. Many of us who grew up in America, especially in public schools, remember the winter festival pageants where these holiday classics dominated the repertoire. And perhaps, just perhaps, one lonely Chanukah song was thrown in for the Jews.

Most of the Jews I know who were raised in the U.S. can probably sing these songs by heart. After all, we’ve heard them year after year after year. And let’s face it—most of them are pretty, pretty catchy (nod to Larry David :)). The melodies echo in our heads, constantly nudging and nagging, like old friends who won’t take the hint.

And to those who say, “Jews shouldn’t sing Christmas songs,” I say: Bah humbug! Some worry that singing these songs might compromise or threaten one’s Jewish identity, but in my experience, it never did. We all sang them growing up, and many of you may recall that when it came time to mention “you know who,” we sang, “mmmmmmm… THE… mmmmmmmm.”

But here’s the quieter, remarkable truth woven through these songs: many of the most beloved Christmas classics were written not by Christian songwriters or composers, but by Jews.

Among the Jewish composers who defined the sound of Christmas, one stands out:

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