For real?

This has to be the funniest (true) holiday story of the year. Seriously, I'm glad to know that Jews, Mormons, AND the NYTimes has a sense of humor.

clipped from www.nytimes.com Senator Orrin G. Hatch, a solemn-faced Republican with a soft spot for Jews and a love of Barbra Streisand, has penned a catchy holiday tune, “Eight Days of Hanukkah.” In short, he loves the Jews. And based on an early sampling of listeners, the feeling could be mutual. “Watching Orrin Hatch in the studio, I said to myself that nothing this great will ever happen to me again,” said Alana Newhouse, the editor-in-chief of Tablet. At one point, Mr. Hatch unbuttons his white dress shirt to expose the golden mezuzah necklace he wears every day. Mezuzahs also adorn the doorways of his homes in Washington and Utah. Mr. Hatch keeps a Torah in his Senate office. “Not a real Torah, but sort of a mock Torah,” he said. “I feel sorry I’m not Jewish sometimes.”