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Tom Lehrer Gave Us One of the Best Jewish Holiday Songs, ‘Hanukkah in Santa Monica’

JL;DR SUMMARY Tom Lehrer, who recently passed away at age 97, left an indelible mark on Jewish music with his song "Hanukkah in Santa Monica." A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish HolidaysJewish MusicJewish AmericanHanukkahComedySatirePublic DomainCultural LegacyTom LehrerFestive Songs

Places mentioned

Santa Monica, California, United States
"gave us one of the best-known Jewish holiday songs in American history, Hanukkah in Santa Monica, an infectious tune about spending the Festival of Lights by the sea in the California town."
East St. Louis, Illinois, United States
"spent in east St. Louis, and Rosh Hashanah spent in Arizona and Yom Kippuh spent in Mississippuh."
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
"met the reclusive Lehrer simply by knocking at the door of his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, shared on X."

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This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 58058
Cairo Source ID 33
Retrieved 2025-07-30 05:31:06 UTC
Curated 2025-07-30 08:31:04 UTC