In what at first seems like the oddest of pairings, but then starts to make a perfect type of record-collector-geek sense when you think about it a minute, the great and recently rediscovered Chicago soul master Syl Johnson will play a special Hanukkah concert with the wonderful indie-rock heroes Yo La Tengo on Saturday at Maxwell's in Hoboken, which is kind of like Yo La Tengo's basement. READ MORE

Howard Jacobson, this year's Man Booker Prize winner, has an op-ed in today's Times complaining about the lameness of Hanukkah. He's right. Hanukkah is so the Mets. That's what you get, I suppose, when you elevate a minor holiday to major-league status. Sure, it's nice to try make Jewish children feel less bad about living in a world that hates them, but how are you going to compete with Christmas? It's like scheduling Chuck against Dancing With the Stars. "So what’s to be done?" Jacobson writes. "Either Hanukkah should merge with Christmas—a suggestion against which the arguments are more legion even than the Syrian-Greek army—or it should be spiced up with the sort of bitter irony at which the Jewish people excel. Instead of the dreidel, give the kids their own cars for Hanukkah, in memory of the oil that should have run out but didn’t. Maybe we should also dedicate each candle to one of the more recent narrow escapes of Jewish history. The Spanish Inquisition candle. The Russian Pogroms candle." READ MORE

Here's how not to cook a latke: Buy them from Russ & Daughters where the "homemade potato latkes" are $2.99 each, or 10 for $25. TEN LATKES FOR $25? Are you high? Do you know what is in a latke? Also, a reheated latke is a bad latke. Fact! So here, have a seat-no, over there, by the menorah. Have a piece of gelt. Make yourself comfortable. READ MORE

Sarah Palin: "Known as the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah commemorates the eight-day miracle that took place when the Temple in Jerusalem was rededicated. Though there was only enough consecrated oil for one day, the flame miraculously burned for eight – just long enough to prepare more. This beautiful story is rich with life lessons for members of all faiths. With hope and dedication nothing is impossible, and the Almighty never abandons those who seek the light." READ MORE