KidTunes: Chanukah Fever is Chanukah Gelt
Mama Doni celebrates Chanukah with a CD that looks like a nice big piece of Chanukah gelt, crammed with rocking holiday tunes that range from disco to country to rock to ethnic to big band to funk, Chanukah Fever. Lyrics that share Chanukah tradition are set to irresistibly animated music. Even the rhythmically-challenged will find themselves rockin’ around the Chanukah bush.
When I left the North eleven years ago, I had no idea that I would end up in the mountains of North Carolina where latkes, blintzes, and pierogi can’t be found. Mama Doni knows that latkes are something to sing about (“Latke Man,” “The Legend of Sour Cream vs. Applesauce”); she makes me homesick for the great ethnic foods left behind. And glorious latkes aren’t the only food that Mama Doni celebrates—sufganiyot is saluted in “A Land Called Sufganiyot” where it’s Chanukah every day, and “Honey, This Ain’t Money!” sings the praises of gelt.
Other songs hail bubbies, dreidels, Ma-oz Tzur, and menorahs, and teach a little Yiddish along with the difference between saying “Hanukkah” and “Chanukah.” It’s a bundle of fun, totally respectful, and absolutely Jewish—ideal for honoring both Chanukah and heritage.
