Learning About Chanukah from Rugrats (and my Jewish Viewers) 

This and the Passover special were my introductions to Judaism as I imagine they were to a lot of younger viewers. As someone who didn't much about it, I'm glad these specials exist and they're enjoyable to anyone no matter what your background is.

I remember watching this as a kid. Though I am not Jewish, and I don’t celebrate Chanukah, it was once of my favorite specials. There was also a Chanukah special on PBS Kids called Chanukah Stories that first aired in 2004. It had celebrities narrate stories about Chanukah. One that stuck with me was a young boy who’s neighbor tells him about how he spends Chanukah alone because he has no family, as he is the last surviving member. That night, the boy goes into his living room where the menorah is and says “Oh please, let him be with his family!” Then the candles make a weird noise and all go out. The neighbor is never seen or heard from again. That really creeped me out as a kid.

It's specials like this that make me want to experience the other holidays.

This is the best Hanukkah special that I can remember. The absolute best. This and the Passover special.

Teacher here and I can attest going down a rabbit hole when writing lesson plans is so real. Also- knitting during events because adhd makes you do it.

Even though I'm not Jewish, i loved watching this special. Especially whenever the choir got to sing

I remember this episode! I think this was how I learned there were other religions and winter holidays when I was too little to know better.

I haven't seen this Rugrats episode or the Passover ones but love how Arthur called out people for belittling Chanukah and also has an episode where Francine celebrates Yom Kippur.

Here are some of my personal favorite Rugrats episodes: Cradle Attraction I Remember Melville The Holiday Specials (Including this one) Clan of the Duck Reptar On Ice Family Feud Chuckie’s Wonderful Life Nakey Tommy Grandpa’s Date

I'm so happy to see this!! And thank you for sharing my comments :) I'm always glad to know when my infodumping and ridiculously long comments are actually appreciated.

Thank you for doing this video despite what's going on with global politics.

"i caught a cold, he caught pneumonia" is a phrase that was in my memory and i didn't remember where it was from until just now

This and the Mother’s Day episode are a) my favorite specials in the whole franchise & b) the ones that always just hit right in the feels😊😢

This was a great episode. When I first saw when I was a kid, I was only about at least 5 years old. I was just watching it for the fun. But honestly, I enjoyed the babies being who they are at Tommy's the sweet Chuck. He's a scaredy cat. Good friend. The Twins are just gross, but they're adorable. And I was able to enjoy the history of it all. But see an angelica being a total whiny little monster. It was a usual thing. I'm watching this as a kid. But the thing I liked was the potato pancakes. I got to try him last year, actually. And they taste good

Yeah, it seems a lot of the time it's a Christmas special that asks do you know what other holidays are around this time? and then give you about a minute of Hanukah. It's nice to have the reverse and acknowledge Hanukah is the major holiday for Jewish Americans with Christmas as the awkward white elephant in the background.

Anyone remember that drama when people accused the uncle of being offensive when Jews weren't actually bothered by him?

aww yay, i'm glad you got to cover this special! it was beloved to me as a kid and still holds up today. on another note, i also got so frustrated that i couldn't find it and other rugrats favs through streaming (including the vacation episode) that i broke down and bought the whole dvd complete set... one of the best choices i made tbh XD

if we had more show like the original Rugrats the world would be in a better place.

I actually know about Hanukkah, even though I'm not Jewish, and the Rugrats Hanukkah special was probably the first time that I learned about the holiday.

Haven’t watched this special for a while but I wonder if for some children having Rugrats cover both Chanukah and Christmas was a bit left field haha also love your sweater! Happy New Year! 👍👍👍👍

I like to think that if the Rugrats were real people, Angelica would've probably grown up to be a Boss Babe From Hell who eventually gets arrested for swindling investors.

Are you also going to do a video for the Rugrats Kwanzaa special?

I remember relating to Chucky lol

Wonder if the Kwanzaa episode will ever come up.

❤

Classic Rugrats. They also have a good Kwanzaa episode.

Grandpa is the goat..