While Adam Sandler and the late Debbie Friedman are in a class by themselves with Hanukkah hits, the Journal has made a list of 18 more songs that are great not just for Hanukkah, but also for the 357 other nights of the year.
So in no particular order …
1) “Hanukkah Song” – Shira (Shiragirl)
A fun party anthem from punk singer Shira Yevin’s early days on the East Coast. These days, she fronts her eponymous band, Shiragirl, and runs Gritty in Pink, a female-led organization that empowers and connects diverse women in all aspects of the music business, from the artists to the recording engineers to the sales people at the merch stand.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/1PE66srnRYqt3lIUHjnbW1?si=e3179bc3fe4b4f24
2) “Eight Days of Hanukkah” – Artikal Sound System
A reggae jam from this South Florida group that takes you from each day of the Festival of Lights.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/0XWcU0zXpAjC0bTD2jXBy1?si=a7969841b5d64825
3) “Hanukkah Is Here” – Zusha
It opens with the lyrics, “It’s dark outside but it’s light in here,” and flies from there. Zusha, a Hasidic funk band from New York City, headlined two different concerts in Los Angeles during Hanukkah in 2023.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/3If2QbwCUPRE6z2WLT7Lnu?si=25b32715723142f0
4) “We’re Still Here (Am Yisrael Chai)” – Maccabeats
The Maccabeats all met at Yeshiva University 16 years ago, and now they’re one of the most well-known Jewish bands in the world today. While not exclusively a Hanukkah song, this is an anthem for the turbulent times preceding and following Hanukkah in 2023.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/2Q4JyYiglprIuu1wOCasCR?si=7c84bf4fe8734202
5) “Hanukkah Honey” – Laya Frankel
In a world full of cheery Christmas songs, Layla Frankel’s sound would fit at any concert covered in mistletoe. “It’s the best eight days of the year,” she says.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/79BZMfKWKv1vPXLm8RLBoa?si=9a3b068284084ad1
6) “Hanukkah” – Static & Ben El Tavori
Just a pure fun tune from the Israeli pop duo of Static & Ben El Tavori.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/4VDrcf17m0AE6CMekgvCAA?si=b975be35da4b4fc8
7) “Happy Chinooka” – Gangstagrass featuring Kosha Dillz
Gangstagrass is a bluegrass and hiphop fusion band from Brooklyn. In 2022, they recorded this song with rapper Kosha Dillz. This past week, Dillz had thousands of fans bouncing with him at The Village Synagogue’s annual Hanukkah party this year at Pan Pacific Park. “Happy Chinooka”—It’s fun to say too.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/3h7I35P4b62cF3Q22H6P2M?si=745d699c0dd74f74
8) “Aish” – Yaakov Shwekey
It plays like a song you’d hear during a timeout of an NFL game. It has tension and a beat that crescendo with an energetic chorus. Yaakov Shwekey’s a belter.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/2ipeQ33o1VphoYPkTFZggw?si=2f330c28771a4ad2
9) “Ocho Kandelikas” – Idina Menzel
There have been many covers of this 1983 Judeo-Spanish tango song, with Idina Menzel’s rendition being superb.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/6YIgAkok2YBMlyheciDhS6?si=a21732daba544911
10) “Eight Days and Nights” – Adam Chester
It sounds like a song Elton John would write. Fittingly, pianist/vocalist/songwriter Adam Chester has performed in Sir Elton John’s rehearsal band since 2005 as Elton’s only “stand-in” on the piano and vocals.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/63x35a931jg5IBryfynwN9?si=1d3499a26bf547b4
11) “You Can Light With Me – A Taylor Swift Hanukkah” – Y-Studs
Swiftes will recognize quite a bit of influence in this “story of Hanukkah” song from this New York-based acapella group.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/2dkvmhtDruqoeJCtjsAK4X?si=0d0fc8e8d18a40a4
12) “I See Fire” – Pinny Schachter
Even if this song wasn’t titled “I See Fire,” the sound is the exact kind of tune that gets concert crowds to lift up their lighters. Schachter is a Cantor at Beth T’filoh Congregation in Baltimore.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/1DNNWvFU4nlGCD0gcUYjFu?si=1e2baf3ad2114457
13) “Spin It Up” – Erran Baron Cohen featuring Jules Brookes
Another catchy reggae song that will have you bouncing to Cohen’s song. The extended instrumental crescendos with a the simple “Spin it up, spin it up, I want to rise to the top.” He’s also the big brother to Sacha Baron Cohen and produces the music for his films.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/2EAYGeBne31SqjQ1tqB7k3?si=4f0e5cb76a334f15
14) “Oseh shalom” – R E L Music
Los Angeles-based R E L (Arielle) released this song on Night Six of Hanukkah this year, as a gift to Jewish music-lovers with a taste for a fresh, cinematic-sounding take on “Oseh Shalom.”
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/6hNy341DQcxdNuexF3OP6d?si=db6ff33c055d44e9
15) “Daughters of Israel” – Sara Mann
Mann’s song “Daughters of Israel” teeters on the fine line between heartbreaking and inspiring. Do your first listen while watching the music video. This Los Angeles-native session singer has been on numerous soundtracks and television shows, including “Frozen 2,” and “La La Land.” She has also been a featured singer for Miley Cyrus, Harry Belafonte and Leonard Cohen, among many other superstars.
https://open.spotify.com/track/15dH0RVs7FSFkmFGwXRGJH?si=cea54ac68ace4820
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16) “Illuminate” – Debbie Gibson
In 1987, Gibson set the Guinness World Record at 16 as the youngest artist ever to have written, produced and performed a Billboard #1 single, for the song “Foolish Beat.” She still holds that record. Even though she isn’t Jewish, she wrote an original Hanukkah song, which inspired the Journal’s Jonathan Fong to interview Gibson in 2022 and find out the story.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/71Zn0VPKbgSTVJi4euIFub?si=8f082b627e0b452e
17) “Hanukkah Song 3.0” – Nissim Black and Kosha Dillz
A sampling of Adam Sandler’s eternal three-chord melody, with a fresh hip-hop remix by Nissim Black—one of the biggest names in hip-hop today. Black was on the cover of the Jewish Journal in 2023 where he shared his story from hip-hop gangsta rapper, to “Bible-thumping Christian” to Hasidic hip hop superstar.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/2gArcdJWVGk6KYvGqELG84?si=819af762d2314a6b
18) “Dear Hanukkah” – Polly Wolly
Polly Wolly has gone viral several times this past fall with her hysterical comedy-hip hop performance at a Los Angeles retirement home. For those videos, check out her Instagram. “Dear Hanukkah” is one of her first songs in the genre, released over six years ago. She’s Philadelphia-raised and Los Angeles-based, and is cornering the comedic side of being a young Jewish professional in the 2020s. WARNING: Explicit lyrics.
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/2JIpkb8ApRslR2l1mpGvZh?si=2b6fa535b1854eb9
Five More Recommendations…Happy Hanukkah
“Happy Hanukkah” – Matisyahu
https://open.spotify.com/track/0BSBzobfETKbKYe5ZJWkFj?si=b132b6944c2948c1
“My Eight Favorite Nights” – Distant Cousins
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/0FXj1nYG54kmlOQBNVRSmV?si=1b758840f8c34ce1
“Ner Li” – Benny Friedman
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/track/5Bb6DuJCdElbeFTUUbtIHI?si=5c5fdd15881b43b2
“Hanukkah Honey” – Rachel Bloom, from her full album “Suck It, Christmas!!! A HanukkahAlbum)
LISTEN: https://music.apple.com/us/album/suck-it-christmas-a-Hanukkah-album/753057099
Adam Sandler’s Four Magnum Opuses
LISTEN: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0fdltelmWov4fNZOOlHcbf?si=3795830c85af42db
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