Life

Is Hanukkah Sexy?

A shirt that appears to actually exist. Image by Screenshot

By Phoebe Maltz Bovy December 29, 2016

When I first saw a story on the Cut arguing that Christmas should not be made sexy, my first thought was that Dan Savage has been arguing this for years. My second was, of course, whether Hanukkah is sexy. Or, indeed, whether anyone’s trying to make that case.

And the answer, to the second question, is, kind of? The Schlep Sisters are still performing Hanukkah burlesque. And a mildly NSFW 2008 post declares one Jewish woman “the sexiest menorah ever.”

Any holiday involving candles and not necessarily not involving wine could, I suppose, get the “sexy” treatment. That said, my own observance involves a kind of atavistic compulsion to fry potatoes. And there’s nothing especially sultry about either latke preparation or, I venture to say, latke consumption. So my vote would be that Hanukkah, while delightful, is not sexy.

Phoebe Maltz Bovy edits the Sisterhood, and can be reached at bovy@forward.com. Her book, The Perils of “Privilege”, will be published by St. Martin’s Press in March 2017.

Phoebe Maltz Bovy is a former editor of the Sisterhood blog at the Forward. Her writing has appeared in several publications, including The New Republic and The Atlantic. Her book, “The Perils of ‘Privilege,’” was published by St. Martin’s Press in March 2017. She has a PhD in French and French Studies from New York University, and has read a lot of 19th century French Jewish newspapers for a 21st century American.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO