Oy to the World is the latest Chanukah offering from the Hallmark Channel, and it doubles as a case study in how not to make a movie about Chanukah. Viewers would be better served turning to the ChaiFlicks Chanukah Film Festival (sorry, that’s the spelling I use).

When a burst water line forces Temple Beth Am to shut down just ahead of Chanukah, its congregation is suddenly left without a place to gather. Help comes from across the street, where St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church agrees to share its space for the holiday. With the final night of Chanukah and Xmas Eve falling on the same day, the church’s reverend (Harrison Coe) and Rabbi Levi Cohen (David Julian Hirsh) decide to hold a joint service for both congregations.

That plan requires St. Joseph’s youth choir director Nikki Roberts (Brooke D’Orsay) to collaborate with Jake Cohen (Jake Epstein), the temple’s substitute choir director who stands in for his injured grandmother (Patti Allan)—and her former high school rival. Assigned to create a single music program while also spearheading a fundraising effort for temple repairs, the two repeatedly let competition get in the way of cooperation, undercutting the very spirit of unity the arrangement is meant to promote.

I don’t think it is an understatement at this point when I say that the Hallmark Channel does not understand Chanukah. This is a larger media problem, don’t get me wrong, but this year? They shoehorn Xmas into the plot in the worst way possible in Oy to the World.

There’s another way Oy to the World reveals how little it understands Jewish life: the complete silence around conversion. Any Jewish parent would have something to say about their child entering a relationship with a non-Jew. Even in the most interfaith-welcoming households, this is not a non-issue — it’s a conversation, sometimes a fraught one, but a real one. The film sidesteps it entirely, treating Jewish identity as cultural flavor rather than something families actively think about preserving. That omission isn’t progressive or inclusive; it’s evasive, and it rings false—especially for post-October 7 Judaism.

I’ve said this before during my Tango Shalom review and again when I wrote about 13: The Musical. Unfortunately, I have no choice but to say it again. Entering a church is actually forbidden by the Talmud (Avodah Zara 17a). A non-Jew with no knowledge of Judaism about Judaism might come watch Oy to the World and think that it is okay. The truth is that it is not. This doesn’t even begin to get me started on the dreidel cookies that reverse the Nun, Gimel, Hei, and Shin. In the department of “you only had one job,” this was an epic failure.

Rick Garman pens the script for Oy to the World from a story by Genna Ryan. I don’t know if he’s Jewish, but once again, the film shoehorns Xmas in the worst way possible. If anyone needs a reminder of what Chanukah is about, one must travel back in time to the days of Matisyahu, son of Yochanan the High Priest, the Hasmonean. Matisyahu and his sons, who we know as the Maccabees, took on the evil Greek kingdom after they rose up against the people of Israel to make them forget the Torah and to turn away from G-d.

Here’s the English translation of the Al Hanissim insertion during the Amidah or Birkat HaMazon from the Ashenazi Siddur by way of Sefaria:

“You, in Your abundant mercy, stood by them in their time of distress, You defended their cause, You judged their grievances, You avenged them. You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, many into the hands of the few, defiled people into the hands of the undefiled, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and insolent [sinners] into the hands of diligent students of Your Torah. And You made Yourself a great and sanctified name in Your world. And for Your people, Israel, You performed a great deliverance and redemption unto this very day.”

Depending on the translation, defiled and undefiled could be read as impure and pure. The text continues:

“Afterwards, Your sons entered the Holy of Holies of Your Abode, cleaned Your Temple, purified Your Sanctuary, and kindled lights in the Courtyards of Your Sanctuary, and designated these eight days of Chanukah to thank and praise Your great Name.”

The eighth night of Chanukah has not fallen on December 24 since 1995. The next time won’t be until 2041. But the idea that a shul would be co-hosting a holiday concert with a church on December 24 goes against Jewish custom. It’s wrong in every sense of the word. Even for the years where Chanukah falls on December 24, we fulfill the Jewish minhag that is Chinese dinner and a movie. Depending on one’s community, Torah learning may be prohibited. How does Oy to the World get this so wrong? Oh, right. They’re still trying to make Chanukah into Jewish Xmas and it’s not going to happen.

While Oy to the World reinforces stereotypical Jewish mother tropes, it goes out of its way to remind people that a Chanukah bush is not a thing. Please stop trying to make Chanukah into Xmas. Just because both holidays usually fall in December, it does not mean that they are the same.

What Oy to the World does not get is that there are certain songs that, because of their religious undertones, Jews are not comfortable listening to. The idea that a Jew would mash up the lyrics of “Joy to the World” so as to incorporate it with Chanukah is just very wrong. It is a Christian hymn from the 1700s. I do my very best to avoid Xmas carols during this time of year if I can help it. As soon as I saw the film’s title, I knew I would have super low expectations. Unfortunately, my expectations should have been lower because I haven’t wanted to gouge my eyes out this much since Cats disgraced the screen in 2019.

Oy to the World is the worst Chanukah movie that Hallmark has ever produced.

DIRECTOR: Paula Elle
SCREENWRITER: Rick Garman
CAST: Brooke D’Orsay, Jake Epstein, with David Julian Hirsh and Stellina Rusich

Oy to the World will air December 14, 2025 at 8 PM  ET/PT on the Hallmark Channel and streaming next day on Hallmark+. Grade: 0.5/5

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