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Hanukkah Harry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hanukkah Harry is a fictional character created as a humorous response to Santa Claus. The character appeared in two skits on Saturday Night Live, and has since been referenced as such by sources outside of Saturday Night Live.
Hanukkah Harry is usually protrayed as a variation upon the modern-day image of Santa Claus, with a beard characteristic of a male adherent of Haredi Judaism, and with his clothes in blue with white edges (the national colors of Israel).
Hannukah 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, in a skit titled The Night Hanukkah Harry Saved Christmas, that we are told is sponsored by Hallmark in association with the Jewish Anti-Defamation League. It's Christmas Eve and Santa Claus (played by Phil Hartman) -- despite being nursed by Mrs. Claus (Nora Dunn) -- is severely ill. Santa calls Hanukkah Harry (Jon Lovitz) at his workshop on Mount Sinai, asking if he could fill in to deliver toys to children around the globe in lieu of Santa. Hannukah 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) and Christine (Victoria Jackson), offering gifts of socks and slacks respectively. 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.[1][2]
Hanukkah Harry's second appearance on SNL was on Season 15: Episode 17, with guest host Corbin Bernsen, first broadcast on April 14, 1990, in a skit titled The Night Hanukkah Harry Saved Easter.[3]
Building on these two SNL appearances, Hanukkah Harry has been referenced as a personification of Hanukkah to correspond to Santa Claus in various other media, including on National Public Radio, and on the pages of The New York Times which 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".[4][5]
The Baltimore Sun has called Hanukkah Harry one of the best Saturday Night Live sketches of all time.[6]
- ^ SNL Transcripts: Andie MacDowell: 12/16/89: The Night Hanukkah Harry Saved Christmas. Saturday Night Live Transcripts (1989-12-16). Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
- ^ Sandoval, Emiliana (2005-12-28). FIVE THINGS: About Hanukkah. WZZM13 NEWS. WZZM13. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
- ^ SNL Transcripts: Corbin Bernsen: 04/14/90. Saturday Night Live Transcripts (1990-04-14). Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
- ^ Weiss, Laura (2005-12-24). When Hanukkah Harry Met Santa (streaming audio). Weekend Edition Saturday. National Public Radio. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
- ^ Foer, Jonathan Safran, " A Beginner's Guide to Hanukkah", The New York Times, December 23, 2005. Accessed May 2, 2007.
- ^ "Take a literary approach to Hanukkah", The Baltimore Sun, Ronnie Matthews, 1993-11-26. "In one of the best Saturday Night Live sketches of all time, Hanukkah Harry fills in for a flu-stricken Santa Claus one Christmas Eve. The gentile kids waiting in front of the fireplace for Santa are disappointed when Hanukkah Harry drops in with a sackful of practical presents -- slacks, pajamas and the like -- instead of toys. He slaves all night, and this is the gratitude he gets?"