Sandra Bernhard Looks For A 'Miracle'

(CBS)  Actress and singer Sandra Bernhard has co-written and recorded a new song for the holidays, "Miracle of Lights."

The original Chanukah song is featured on an album of all-new recordings called "Breaking for the Holidays," which includes tracks from Chaka Khan, Ben Jelen and "American Idol" finalists Vonzell Solomon and Peter Lewis.

"I wanted to do something that was in keeping with Chanukah, but I didn't want to do something schmaltzy and silly," Bernhard told The Showbuzz. "So I thought, 'what would I really like to achieve through the holiday message?' And that was to put out a word to the Middle East between the Palestinians and the Israelis and say 'Who's gonna like step back, who's gonna like make the first move towards relinquishing all of this ego and this stress and tension and hatred.'"

Bernhard said that she's spent time in Israel working on a kibbutz, one of the many collective communities in the country.

"You look at the Israelis, you look at the Palestinians and first of all so many of them look exactly alike. I mean, we are cousins," she said. "It's such a fine line between our cultures and our history. It just seems such a waste that we can't mend that gap."

The album is available on her Web site, SandraBernhard.com or through iTunes.

Bernhard recently shot a guest spot on an episode of NBC's "Las Vegas." In January, she'll be taping an appearance on the CBS comedy "The New Adventures Of Old Christine."

She also continues to perform live — she has a run of six shows at Joe's Pub in New York next weekend.

By Judy Faber