Hanukkah Harry is a fictional character on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' played by

Jon Lovitz Jonathan Michael Lovitz ( ; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990 for which he was nominated for two Pr ...

. Hanukkah Harry is portrayed on the show as a variation upon the modern-day image of

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

, with a beard characteristic of a male adherent of

Haredi Judaism Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

, and with his hat in blue with white edges (the colors of an

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

Jewish ''

tallit A tallit, taleth, or tallis is a fringed garment worn as a prayer shawl by religious Jews. The tallit has special twined and knotted fringe (trim), fringes known as ''tzitzit'' attached to its four corners. The cloth part is known as the ''beged ...

'', or prayer shawl, shared by the

flag of Israel The flag of the State of Israel ( ; ) was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. It consists of a white background with a blue Star of David in the centre and two horizontal blue stripes at the ...

''Saturday Night Live''

Hanukkah Harry's first appearance on ''SNL'' was on Season 15: Episode 9, a show first broadcast on December 16, 1989, with guest host

Andie MacDowell Rosalie Anderson MacDowell (born April 21, 1958) is an American actress and former fashion model. MacDowell is known for her starring film roles in romantic comedies and dramas. She has modeled for Calvin Klein and has been a spokeswoman for ...

, in a sketch titled "The Night Hanukkah Harry Saved Christmas", that viewers are told is sponsored by

Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a Privately held company, privately held, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the United ...

in association with the Jewish Anti-Defamation League. Unable to deliver toys to children due to a stomach virus, Santa calls Hanukkah Harry (Jon Lovitz) at his workshop on

Mount Sinai Mount Sinai, also known as Jabal Musa (), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is one of several locations claimed to be the Mount Sinai (Bible), biblical Mount Sinai, the place where, according to the sacred scriptures of the thre ...

, asking if he could fill in. Hanukkah Harry agrees and flies through the air on a cart pulled by three donkeys, Moische, Herschel and Schlomo. Hanukkah Harry lands on a roof and climbs down the chimney of the home of Scott (

Mike Myers Michael John Myers, (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His accolades include seven MTV Movie & TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood W ...

) and Christine (

Victoria Jackson Victoria Jackson (born August 2, 1959) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1986 to 1992. Early life Jackson was born in Miami, Florida, the daughter of Marlene Esther (née Blac ...

), offering gifts of slacks and socks respectively, as well as chocolate coins and a

dreidel A dreidel, also dreidle or dreidl, ( ; , plural: ''dreydlech''; ) is a four-sided spinning top, played with during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The dreidel is a Jewish variant on the teetotum, a gambling toy found in Europe and Latin America ...

. While the children are initially disappointed at their gifts, their realization that Hanukkah Harry had helped Santa, makes them recognize that "Christians and Jews, deep down, are pretty much the same. Maybe that's the true meaning of Christmas!" With that statement Santa's flu is cured, and Santa comes down the chimney bearing gifts of Barbie make-me-pretty for Christine and a pellet gun for Scott. Hanukkah Harry's second appearance on ''SNL'' was on Season 15: Episode 17, with guest host

Corbin Bernsen Corbin Dean Bernsen (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor and film director. He appeared as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series ''L.A. Law'',

, first broadcast on April 14, 1990, in a sketch titled "The Night Hanukkah Harry Saved Easter." The definitive scholarly and popular treatment of Hanukkah Harry appears in the book ''A Kosher Christmas: 'Tis the Season to Be Jewish'' by Rabbi Joshua Eli Plaut, Ph.D. in the fourth chapter entitled “ `Twas the Night Before Hanukkah: Remaking Christmas Through Parody and Popular Culture.” Plaut details and analyzes how Hannukah Harry becomes an American folk hero as a counterpart to Santa Claus.Plaut, Joshua, ''A Kosher Christmas: 'Tis the Season to Be Jewish,'' pages 104-108.

Other appearances

Building on these two ''SNL'' appearances, Hanukkah Harry has been referenced as a personification of

Hanukkah Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...

to correspond to Santa Claus in various other media, including on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, and on the pages of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in which

Jonathan Safran Foer Jonathan Safran Foer (; born February 21, 1977) is an American novelist. He is known for his novels '' Everything Is Illuminated'' (2002), '' Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' (2005), '' Here I Am'' (2016), and for his non-fiction works '' Eat ...

satirically described him as "a real person who drops in on Jewish homes each of the eights nights of Hanukkah to deliver gifts that are in no way dependent on children's good behavior". ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'' has called Hanukkah Harry one of the best ''Saturday Night Live'' sketches of all time. ''

Dollface ''Dollface'' is an American comedy television series created by Jordan Weiss that premiered on November 15, 2019, on Hulu. It stars Kat Dennings, Brenda Song, Shay Mitchell, and Esther Povitsky. In January 2020, Hulu renewed the series for a ...

'' Izzy dressed as Hanukkah Harry in the episode "History Buff". '' The Goldbergs (season 3)'' Episode 10, Hanukkah Harry appears as a character played by

George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as '' Ship o ...

as Albert 'Pops' Solomon.

References

{{Hanukkah Fictional Jews Fictional toymakers and toy inventors Holiday characters Saturday Night Live characters Saturday Night Live in the 1980s Saturday Night Live in the 1990s Television characters introduced in 1989

''Saturday Night Live''

Other appearances

See also

References