It was December 1994. Adam Sandler, looking like a teenager who just rolled out of bed, sat down at the Saturday Night Live Weekend Update desk next to Kevin Nealon. He had a cheap acoustic guitar and a bashful grin. He started strumming a basic G-C-D chord progression.
The crowd laughed before he even opened his mouth.
Then he sang the opening line: "Put on your yarmulke, it's time for Chanukah." Suddenly, every Jewish kid in America who had spent the last month feeling invisible during the Christmas blitz felt like they finally had a seat at the table. It wasn't just a comedy sketch; it was a cultural shift.
Honestly, the words to Adam Sandler Hanukkah Song are basically a giant game of "Jew or Not a Jew." It's catchy. It's crude in all the right places. Most importantly, it's a massive list of celebrities that Sandler claims for the home team.
The Original 1994 List: Who Actually Made the Cut?
The first version is the one everyone knows by heart. It’s the "OG" track that established the formula. Sandler’s logic was simple: since there aren't many Hanukkah songs (besides the repetitive "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel"), he’d just list all the famous people who celebrate the Festival of Lights.
You've got the classics:
- David Lee Roth (The Van Halen frontman lighting the menorah).
- James Caan, Kirk Douglas, and Dinah Shore-ah.
- The Three Stooges (All of them!).
- William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy (Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock—both Jewish).
But Sandler didn't just stick to the obvious ones. He went for the "half-Jewish" crowd too, like Paul Newman and Goldie Hawn. He even gave a shout-out to Rod Carew, the Hall of Fame baseball player who converted.
💡 You might also like: Actor Most Academy Awards: The Record Nobody Is Breaking Anytime Soon
One of the funniest moments—and a staple of the song's structure—is the "not a Jew" pivot. "O.J. Simpson... not a Jew!" The audience always roared at that one. He did the same with Tom Cruise, though he joked that Cruise's agent probably was.
"Harrison Ford's a Quarter Jewish"—Wait, Is That Right?
Here’s a bit of trivia most people get wrong. In the original 1994 lyrics, Sandler sings that Harrison Ford is "a quarter Jewish—not too shabby!"
Well, apparently Harrison Ford heard the song. Years later, Sandler admitted that when he finally met the Indiana Jones star, Ford corrected him. He's actually half-Jewish. Sandler has joked in interviews that he felt bad for underselling Ford's heritage.
Then there’s the Seattle SuperSonics line. Sandler sang about the owner of the team being Jewish. Later, he ran into the actual owner at a restaurant, who turned out not to be Jewish. It’s those little factual hiccups that make the song feel so human. It wasn't some polished corporate PR move; it was just a guy and his friends (writers Lew Morton and Ian Maxtone-Graham) having a laugh.
The Evolution: Parts 2, 3, and 4
Sandler didn't stop at one. He knew he had a franchise on his hands.
Part 2 (1999) dropped on his album Stan and Judy's Kid. This version gave us Winona Ryder, Dustin Hoffman-ukah, and The Beastie Boys. He also famously noted that Lenny Kravitz is half-Jewish and Courtney Love is half-to. "Put them together, what a funky bad-ass Jew!"
📖 Related: Ace of Base All That She Wants: Why This Dark Reggae-Pop Hit Still Haunts Us
Part 3 (2002) showed up in his animated movie Eight Crazy Nights. This one felt a bit more produced, featuring a children's choir called The Drei-Dels. It included:
- Jerry Lewis
- Ben Stiller
- Jack Black
- Sarah Hughes (The figure skater who beat Osama bin Laden—it was a weird time in 2002).
Part 4 (2015) was the long-awaited update for the millennial and Gen Z era. He debuted it at a Judd Apatow show at Carnegie Hall. This version is wild because it manages to rhyme "yarmulke" with "Google."
He mentions Drake, Seth Rogen, Scarlett Johansson, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He even managed to get Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) in there. My favorite line from this one? "Shia LaBeouf is half a Jew but 100 percent nutty."
Why We Are Still Talking About These Lyrics in 2026
It’s been over 30 years since that first SNL performance. Why does it still work?
Maybe because it’s a "list song" that acts as a time capsule. When you look at the words to Adam Sandler Hanukkah Song, you see the changing face of Hollywood. In the 90s, it was about the old guard like the Stooges and Kirk Douglas. By the 2010s, it was about the founders of Google and Marvel stars.
It’s also surprisingly emotional for something so silly.
👉 See also: '03 Bonnie and Clyde: What Most People Get Wrong About Jay-Z and Beyoncé
Think about the line: "When you feel like the only kid in town without a Christmas tree..."
That resonates. Even in 2026, the "December Dilemma" is a real thing for Jewish families. Sandler took that feeling of being an outsider and turned it into a massive, star-studded party that everyone was invited to. It was defiant pride masked as a goofy parody.
Misconceptions and Funky Facts
- The Marijuana-kah Controversy: In the live SNL version, Sandler sings about not smoking "marijuana-kah." On the radio and album versions, he usually switches it to "smoke your marijuana-kah." Depending on which version you grew up with, you might have different lyrics stuck in your head.
- The "Silent C": Sandler famously uses the song to teach people how to pronounce the holiday. "It's not pronounced Ch-nakah... the C is silent in Chanukah." It's a linguistic service for the masses.
- The Cover Version: Did you know Neil Diamond actually covered the song? Yes, the "Sweet Caroline" guy did a version in 2009. It’s exactly as dramatic as you’d imagine.
How to Use This Knowledge Today
If you’re looking up the words to Adam Sandler Hanukkah Song because you’re planning a holiday party or just want to win a trivia night, keep a few things in mind.
First, the song is meant to be yelled, not sung perfectly. If you aren't cracking up mid-sentence, you're doing it wrong. Second, don't worry about the specific names too much—half the fun of the song's legacy is that people now write their own "Part 5" lyrics with whatever celebrities are trending this year.
The song’s greatest legacy isn't its rhyme scheme (which, let’s be honest, is "amateurish" at best—Sandler rhymes "Hanukkah" with "Tijuana-kah"). Its legacy is making people feel like they belong.
Whether you're "fully Jewish," "half-Jewish," or just a "quarter chosen," those eight crazy nights feel a little louder thanks to a guy with a guitar and a bad haircut from 1994.
Next Steps for Your Hanukkah Playlist:
If you want to dive deeper into the Sandler verse, you should check out the original 1994 SNL clip on YouTube—it’s the rawest version and still the best. After that, look up the lyrics for "Part 4" to see how many of the 2015-era celebrities you still remember. If you're feeling ambitious, try writing your own verse with current 2026 stars; it’s a great way to keep the tradition alive during your own "eight crazy nights."