Celebrate 10 Years of ‘Friends’ With the Holiday Armadillo

By Anne Cohen May 6, 2014

Today, dear friends (get it?), is the 10th anniversary of the “Friends” finale.

So to celebrate the good times spent with Ross, Phoebe, Monica, Rachel, Chandler and Joey, we revisit one of the iconic Jewish moments of the show: The Holiday Armadillo.

Ah interfaith problems.

Short summary: When Ross’ son Ben stays with him for the holidays, he tries to teach him about their shared Jewish heritage, which he feels has been neglected by Ben’s mother (who isn’t Jewish). Because a year without Santa sounds like a major punishment to any kid, Ross tries to come up with a suitable mascot for Hanukkah. And being Ross, the best he can do is a friendly mammal covered in a leathery armor shell.

So, sit and visit awhile, and let the Holiday Armadillo “tell you about the festival of lights.”

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO