Hallmark Channel's first-ever Hanukkah movies are essentially Christmas films featuring Jewish characters

The New York Times

There are many problems with Hallmark's first-ever Hanukkah films Double Holiday and Holiday Date -- both of which omit the word "Hanukkah" in their titles -- "but the fact that they are being billed as a 'celebration of both Hanukkah and Christmas' is perhaps the worst of all," says Jordan Salama. "These are Christmas movies through and through, with Hanukkah portrayed as an afterthought. In both movies, the Jewish protagonists are clueless and miserably new to Christmas — Rebecca can’t decorate a tree and Joel doesn’t even know the words to 'Deck the Halls' — and are taught by their generous Christian hosts to fully embrace the holiday. In turn, their Christmas-loving counterparts learn a little bit about dreidels, latkes and how to light the Hanukkah candles. By the end the pairs fall for each other — and the Jewish characters easily fall in love with Christmas." Salama adds: "Hallmark is falling into the same trap as my small-town government all those years ago: Instead of helping to make non-Jewish Americans more comfortable with Jewish traditions — which is what true inclusion looks like — they are trying to make Christmas more comfortable for Jews. And that is missing the point. For most of us, to grow up Jewish in the United States means to learn to navigate a world in which we’re constantly reminded of our difference." ALSO: In the Hallmark-Lifetime Cinematic Universe, Hanukkah and the characters who celebrate it exist only in relation to Christmas.