Smokey Robinson Mispronouncing 'Chanukah' Sparks Hilarious Reactions and a Very Special Ending

My mom grew up on the same street as Smokey Robinson in Detroit. So for Chanukah, I wanted to reunite them via @Cameo. But the video takes a strange twist. pic.twitter.com/IZ3S9WusiJ

in the spirit of 2020, I'm gonna need a do-over! Please DM me your mother's phone number so we can try this again

Update - a Chanukah miracle- @smokeyrobinson called my mother while she was at school (she teaches Kindergarten) and it seems like they might be best friends now? Here is a short excerpt that someone in her class filmed. And dont worry, I made sure she put her mask right back on. pic.twitter.com/WXF5jPcKNc

As much as anyone might make fun of this, it teaches something great.

Smokey gives well-wishes despite not knowing the holiday.

Isn't that exactly the behavior we all want?

A default setting to acceptance and goodwill even when we don't understand.

If your mom is living in Vancouver, isn't it pronounced "Canuck-a"?

They're the same thing. There's multiple spellings, partly because the first letter of it in Hebrew doesn't really have an English equivalent

I hope you are recovered, healthy and well. Chanukah not the same for any of us this year but glad this video could bring you a bit of light. From my family to yours, wishing you all the best of the season and a Happy New Year.

He seems like a really nice man. It's adorable... It's even more gold that he mispronounced Chanukah.

Aww this was actually beyond super cute , he looks incredibly good and my mom would be over the moon of I paid ( which I wouldn’t, I’m too cheap) for Smokey Robinson to wish her a Happy Chanukah , in fact from now on I’m going to call it chanookah 🙈😂.

Many ways to spell Hanukkah, some more familiar than others. The point is @smokeyrobinson is such a kind soul he wished your Mom all the best even though he did not get #Chanukka More of that. What the World Needs Now Is Love. Happy #Hanukkah, however you spell it.

He tried sounding it out 😂

Ahhhhh, it all makes sense now! Thank you. The H spelling always seemed to *look* more authentic to me for some reason. But now that you've explained that Chanukah is more faithful to the actual pronunciation it makes much more sense!

Chi-nuka is the festival of Chi-lights. pic.twitter.com/gdjqAsjlhL

😂😂😂 he’s old we’ll let him hav that one 😂