It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas on the radio, which means holiday-themed tracks dominate the airwaves. But there’s one holiday you won’t often hear singers crooning about: Hanukkah. That’s why nearly a dozen artists collaborated to make Hanukkah+.
The album, released last month, was the brainchild of Randall Poster, who has helped curate the soundtracks of more than 100 feature films, including Skyfall, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The Irishman.
“With the collision of these artists and songs, I tried to create a spiritual reflection of one of the three big Jewish holidays,” Poster said in a statement. “How do you make something where each song is part of a whole? I built it piece by piece, artist by artist.”
Hanukkah+ features tracks from pop-rock sisters HAIM, rock band The Flaming Lips, and actor and singer Jack Black (yes, that Jack Black: of School of Rock and Nacho Libre fame). Two years ago, HAIM released a Hanukkah-themed song on social media, tweeting, “Sandler, we’re coming for you.”
Adam Sandler’s The Chanukah Song has become one of the most recognizable Hanukkah songs since he first performed it on Saturday Night Live in 1994. “When you feel like the only kid in town without a Christmas tree,” Sandler sings, “here’s a list of people who are Jewish, just like you and me.” He goes on to name Star Trek’s Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, the Three Stooges, Tom Cruise’s agent, and many more.
On Hanukkah+, HAIM sings a cover of Leonard Cohen’s If It Be Your Will. Black puts his spin on two songs, Oh Hanukkah and Chad Gadya (Passover Bonus). The album also features Eight Candles, a track from indie rock band Yo La Tengo, whose annual eight-night Hanukkah concert in New York City helped inspire the album.
“In the kind of Battle of the Bands between Hanukkah and Christmas, there’s just too many Christmas songs,” frontman Ira Kaplan told Rolling Stone. “I thought that Hanukkah could use a bit of a spotlight.”
