Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas

Canadian filmmaker Larry Weinstein's entertaining and informative documentary looks at the ways in which Jewish people have helped shape the annual Christmas holiday. Instead of a Christmas dinner, Weinstein's family would go out for Chinese food. Actors here recreate the scene as a musical, starting with a maître d' and waiters who sing and dance while serving food. After that, patrons get in on the action, including Dione Taylor, who sings an elegant version of "The Christmas Song," and Steven Page from the Barenaked Ladies, who performs an Eastern-tinged "Silver Bells." Weinstein proceeds to explore the history of Jewish-written Christmas carols, especially during the early 20th century when Jewish songwriters like Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin) and Harold Arlen (born Hymen Arluck) dominated the field. Singer Steve Marche-Tormé, son of Mel Tormé, speaks on behalf of his father, who wrote "The Christmas Song." By giving it to Nat King Cole, Tormé was making a statement—i.e., Christmas is for everybody, regardless of race, creed, or religion. A Jewish man, Robert May, also introduced the story of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" as a Montgomery Ward-commissioned coloring book. As music journalist Robert Harris notes, the tale plays out like "the story of a young Jewish boy in America." May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, who specialized in Christmas material, adapted the story into a song. As Rabbi Joshua Plaut concludes, many Jews consider Christmas to be their favorite holiday, because on Christmas they can express their "Jewish identity more than any other day of the year." Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)