Let it snow — on Shabbat?

It must have been the late 1990s when my wife, Shelly, and I went to see Mandy Patinkin in New York City. He was doing what he does best, singing, but this concert was going to feature many of the songs from his newest CD, “Mamaloshen.” (That’s Yiddish for mother tongue).

Mandy (his first name is actually Mandel — maybe we’re related?) walked onto the stage, dressed all in black. His pianist, whom Mandy called his piano man, Paul Ford, tickled the ivories. Mandy sat, looked out at the audience, and began.

It was the lively, upbeat Yiddish song “Der Alter Tzigayner” (“The Old Gypsy”). Suddenly he went into the melody and lyrics of one of the most-sung Christmas songs of all time, “White Christmas” — but he sang it in Yiddish.

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Shelly and I were hysterical as he sang: “Ikh

[I’m] kholem
[dreaming] fun a
[of a] vaysn
[white] Nitel

[Christmas].” It was obvious that the couple sitting in front of us had no idea what it meant, because they turned around to see what we were laughing about.

I have written more than 30 Shabbat services, which we at Congregation B’nai Israel call “casual Shabbatot.” We daven the entire erev Shabbat service to the melodies of different musical genres: Broadway shows, classic rock, the oldies, and many of the major rock-and-roll and folk singers of all time.

One of our congregants, David Levin (gotta give him credit), pulled me aside last spring. “So many songs that revel in a holiday that we don’t celebrate were written by Yiddlach,” he said. “So why don’t you write a casual Shabbat with that as a theme for next December?”

I laughed, wondering how my shul’s rabbi, Debra Orenstein, would react, because I remembered asking her if I could sing “Adon Olam” to “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” on Rosh Hashanah a few years ago.

“You’re kidding, right?” she asked.

“It’s Rosh Hashanah,” I replied. “He knows if you are sleeping. He knows if you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good … is that Santa or G-d?” Rabbi Orenstein couldn’t stop laughing, but she respectfully declined.

Rabbi Orenstein was on sabbatical from January 1 through June 30, but she was home for Pesach. We talked about David’s idea, and she thought it could be a fun night, and also that it might add a bunch of new tushies to our seats, so I started my search.

Most of the songs that I knew, and many of which we sang, even growing up as Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn, were written by Jews.

C’mon, even though we didn’t sing songs like “Silent Night,” you can’t expect me to believe that you didn’t sing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Sleigh Ride,” or “Let It Snow.” All of them were written by members of the tribe.

Let’s start with a couple of easy ones, tell a little bit about the writers, and show you a piece of what we hand out every casual Shabbat that I write: Johnny Marks (“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” and “Silver and Gold”), born and raised Jewish, became renowned for writing some of the most beloved Christmas songs.

To be more specific, “Lecha Dodi,” the song we sing to welcome Shabbat, begins with the words “Shamor v’zachor.” We can sing them to the tune of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

Mitchell Parish was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania and started life as Michael Hyman Pashelinsky. His songs include “Sleigh Ride.” The lyrics of “V’shamru,” which we sing throughout Shabbat, fit perfectly into that melody.

Samuel Cohen — later Sammy Cahn — was born in New York City to Jewish immigrant parents from Poland. Julius Kerwin Stein — um, sorry, Jule Styne — was born in London to Jewish immigrants from Ukraine and moved to the United States as a child.

The song “Let It Snow” and the words to “Vayechulu,” another Friday night shul and dinner table melody, also seem to have been made for each other.

There are many more examples: Mel Torme (“Chestnuts Roasting”) was born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in Chicago. Felix Bernard (“Winter Wonderland”) was born to a Jewish family in New York City in 1897. Walter Kent (“I’ll Be Home for Christmas”) was born Walter Kaufman in New York City. Gloria Shayne Baker (“Do You Hear What I Hear?”) was born to a Jewish family in Brookline, Massachusetts. The song was written during the Cuban missile crisis as a plea for peace, not specifically as a Christmas song, though it became one.

There are many more, but the most prolific Jewish songwriter, who wrote the ultimate Christmas song, “White Christmas,” is Irving Berlin, born Israel Isidore Beilin on May 11, 1888, in Tyumen, which was then in the Russian Empire.

Berlin was known for writing music and lyrics that were uncomplicated, simple, and direct. According to his Wikipedia entry, his goal was to “reach the heart of the average American,” whom he saw as the “real soul of the country.” “White Christmas” is one of the best-selling songs of all time.

Our casual erev Shabbat service celebrating these composers and lyricists is set for Friday evening, December 12, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation B’nai Israel in Emerson.

Please bring your own sleigh bells!