Geist: Everything Jewish in movie — and everything normal
When I sat down on the couch to watch the premiere of “Hanukkah on Rye,” The Hallmark Channel’s latest Hanukkah movie, I didn’t really expect it to be good — or Jewish. I am a high school junior in Worcester, and most of my daily life takes place in non-Jewish environments.
Throughout my childhood, I’ve gotten used to seeing endless Christmas decorations in stores alongside only courtesy Hanukkah ones. I didn’t think that Hallmark, known for its sappy, G-rated Christmas romance movies, would succeed in creating an enjoyable Hanukkah story — in fact, its past attempts have been decried by many Jewish communities.
But they did. “Hanukkah on Rye” was good and Jewish and genuine. I felt like it represented me.
“Hanukkah on Rye” first gets credit for not trying to glam up Hanukkah too much. While it takes place at Hanukkah, its true heart is Jewish culture — two families, New York delis, a matchmaker and family history. The movie doesn’t try to fit the Christmas mold, and instead it shows more of the actual significance of Hanukkah. There are no presents exchanged; the focus is on family and togetherness. The characters debate whose latkes were better; they eat sufganiyot; they say both blessings over the candles. It felt like my family’s Hanukkahs.
Hanukkah in my family isn’t dramatic and overbearing. We see my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. My cousins and I spin dreidel after dreidel, and when it is time to light the candles, we take different colored ones from three different half-empty boxes and light the wax-stained, bronze chanukiot. For me, Hanukkah is about being together and being Jewish together.
“Hanukkah on Rye” encapsulated this “we’re Jewish together” feeling. Lead actress Yael Grobglas’s Israeli accent reminded me of all of my Israeli summer camp counselors and young emissaries who’ve come to our Hebrew school throughout the years. Lisa Loeb’s featured Hanukkah song reminded me of all the songs I’ve sung at Jewish camp, with catchy tunes, niguns (wordless melodies) and vague but spiritual words. And the big chanukiah outside Gilbert’s deli in the movie made me think of the chanukiah in front of the Worcester JCC, as well as one Chabad puts up in a rotary near my house.
The Jewishness of “Hanukkah on Rye” is deeply rooted, from the actions of the characters to the lives of their ancestors. At its heart, the movie is a Jewish immigration story that goes back to the main characters’ great-grandparents. And it’s perfect, because for me, like for other Jews I know, my Jewish family history has been a crucial part of my childhood. My cousins and I have grown up on stories that our grandparents told us about their grandparents. We’ve heard about how they escaped the draft in Russia; how they fled from their antisemetic neighbors in Poland.
Just like Jake's and Molly’s ancestors in “Hanukkah on Rye,” many of my ancestors settled on the Lower East Side when they came to America in the early 1900s. They started with nothing, and built lives for themselves. They wanted a better life for their children, and their children’s children. And they passed on their stories and memories, with Jewishness at the center of it all.
Everything was so Jewish in “Hanukkah on Rye;” it was amazing. And everything Jewish was so normal. There were no explanations of how to light candles, no dutiful recitations of the Hanukkah story. All but one of the characters in the movie are specifically Jewish, and it is a given that they celebrate Hanukkah. When I bring up Judaism in my daily life, I normally end up having to explain something to my non-Jewish friends. I don’t mind doing that, but all the same it is refreshing to be represented. For once, I am normal, not an exception.
So, yes, I liked “Hanukkah on Rye.” Yes, I was a little suspicious of it at first. Yes, it was a little bit cheesy. But it was cheesy in a Jewish way — in my way. And it was fueled by an enduring Jewish story, the one of our people surviving oppression, telling the story, and eating good food. After all, that is the story of Hanukkah.
Anya Geist is a junior at South High Community School in Worcester.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Anya Geist column on Hallmark Channel Hanukkah movie
