Ha! for Hanukkah

He might be Jewish, but Rob Tannenbaum isn't going to ban Christmas altogether at his concert tonight. "The more times I hear 'Winter Wonderland,' the better," says Tannenbaum, a singer for the Good for the Jews music-and-comedy duo. "The more times I can have a 145-pound Santa ring a bell in my ear, the happier I am. It reminds me of what an outcast I am as a Jew in the world."With song titles like "Going Down to Boca" and "Going to Be a Jew at Christmas," Tannenbaum and partner David Fagin create gut-busting tunes that rib their borscht-belt brethren. "That's why I started doing the music — a general sense of alienation from the Christmas season and a need to ignore it by getting a bunch of Jews and some non-Jews to celebrate and laugh at our history," says Tannenbaum, the music editor of Blender magazine. And here's his message for Cleveland's Jewish community on this third night of the eight-day holiday: "Let's face it — you guys didn't celebrate the first day of Hanukkah, and you weren't really sure when Hanukkah even started. So the way to assuage your guilt over being a bad Jew is to come see Good for the Jews perform," says Tannenbaum. "This is what God commands you to do." The duo performs at 8 tonight at the Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo Road. Tickets are $17. Call 216-383-1124 or visit www.beachlandballroom.com.
Thu., Dec. 6, 8 p.m., 2007