‘Santa Knows Hebrew?’ Meet The Jews Who Play Santa

Dana Friedman Image by the forward

By Jenny Singer December 7, 2018

Don’t believe in the season of miracles? Meet Santa Claus: a lawyer who went to the Yeshiva of Flatbush. Before he was Santa, his side gig was teaching in Boro Park. He speaks Hebrew. “It takes a lot to be a Santa. It takes a lot to be a good santa,” Dana Friedman says.

Revisit this video from our archives:

SANTA IS JEWISH from Jewish Daily Forward on Vimeo.

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

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 polarized discourse..

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

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO