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Archive for the 'Hanukkah Songs' Category

Contents

Happy Hanukkah!

“Oy Chanukah” – The Yiddish Version of “Oh, Hanukkah” with a YouTube Video

Oh Hanukkah – A Holiday Song with a YouTube Video

The Dreydl Song and an Easy Way to Make Potato Latkes for Hanukah

The Dreydl Song

Oh Hanukkah

Chanukah Song – “I Have a Little Dreidel” and The Dreidel Game

Posts

Happy Hanukkah!

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

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Posted in Countries & Cultures, Hanukkah, Hanukkah Songs, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, I Have a Little Dreidel, Israel, USA, YouTube | No Comments »

“Oy Chanukah” – The Yiddish Version of “Oh, Hanukkah” with a YouTube Video

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

The other day I posted the popular English version of “Oh, Hanukkah” with a YouTube rendition of the song. Here’s the Yiddish version of “Oh, Hanukkah”. It was originally written by Mordkhe Rivesman (1868 – 1924), who was born in Lithuania. The song was also called “Latke Song” and “Khanike Oy Khanike”.

Below you’ll find a YouTube video of 7 year old Aviv singing “Oy Chanukah”, followed by the transliterated Yiddish lyrics, and then an English translation I did to go along with it.

Chanukah, Oy Chanukah
Yiddish Transliteration

Oy Chanukah, Oy Chanukah
a yontif a sheiner,
A lustiger; a freilicher
nito noch a zeyner.

Alle nacht in dredlech,
Shpiln mir,
zudig heise latkes, es un a shir.
tsindt kinder geshvinder*
Di dininke lichtlech ohn.**

Lumir ale singen
Und lumir ale shpringen
Und lumir ale tantzen in khur.

Lumir ale singen
Und lumir ale Shpringen
Und lumir ale tantzen in khur.

Oh Chanukah, Oh Chanukah
(English Translation)

Oh Chanukah, Oh Chanukah,
A holiday, a lovely one,
A cheerful and happy one,
There’s none other like it.

Every night with dreidels
Do we play,
Fresh*** hot latkes, do we eat.
Quickly children light
The thin, little candles!

Let’s all sing,
And let’s all jump,
And let’s all dance together!

Let’s all sing,
And let’s all jump,
And let’s all dance together!

*Normally this line is in reverse: “geshvinder tsindt kinder”.
**Alternatively: “Di Chanukah lichtlech on” = “The Chanukah candles!”
***Literally: Scalding or burning hot.

I welcome comments and suggestions on the transliteration and translation and we would also love for someone to send in the Yiddish text in the original characters to the version above.

Happy Hanukkah!

Mama Lisa

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Posted in Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Hanukkah, Hanukkah Songs, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, Israel, Israeli Children's Songs, Languages, Mama Lisa, Oh Hanukkah, USA, Yiddish, YouTube | 4 Comments »

Oh Hanukkah – A Holiday Song with a YouTube Video

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

My mother-in-law sent me the lyrics to Oh Hanukkah. She sings it while lighting the Menorah* every year.

Oh Hanukkah was originally Yiddish. I believe the original version was written by Mordkhe Rivesman (1868 – 1924), who was born in Lithuania. This song is extremely popular in English now.

Here is a YouTube video rendition by the Chicago Children’s Choir, followed by the English lyrics.

Oh Chanukah, Oh Chanukah

Oh Chanukah, Oh Chanukah,
Come light the Menorah
Let’s have a party, we’ll all dance the horah**.

Gather ’round the table, we’ll give you a treat
S’vivivim*** to play with, and latkes**** to eat.

And while we are playing,
The candles are burning low.

One for each night, they shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago.
One for each night, they shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago.

*A Menorah is a nine-branched candelabrum used on Hanukkah.
**The horah is a popular Jewish circle dance that’s still done at special functions. It’s often done to the song Hava Nagila (see video below of people dancing it).
***S’vivim (also spelled ‘Sivivon’) is the Hebrew word for Dreidel or top.
****Latkes are potato pancakes.

Here’s a video of people dancing the Horah…

Next I’ll post the Yiddish version of Oh Chanukah with a Video!

Happy Chanukah!

Mama Lisa

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Posted in Countries & Cultures, English, Hanukkah, Hanukkah Songs, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, Israel, Israeli Children's Songs, Languages, Mama Lisa, Oh Hanukkah, USA, YouTube | 1 Comment »

The Dreydl Song and an Easy Way to Make Potato Latkes for Hanukah

Thursday, December 6th, 2007

Mark Bittman at the NY Times makes an alternative to latkes that’s called potato nik. He learned it from his grandmother. It’s easy and that’s the point! You simply use your favorite potato pancake recipe (click the link to see mine). Instead of cooking them individually, Mark cooks them as one large pancake. He coats the bottom of the pan with oil and pours in the latke batter. Once one side is cooked, he slides it out onto a plate, and covers it with another plate. Then he turns it over and slides it back into the pan to cook the other side. Once it’s done, voila! It’s ready to be eaten. Much quicker than individual pancakes. You can watch Mark prepare his Potato Nik to see how it’s done.

Serve latkes with sour cream and/or apple sauce. I’d recommend trying my recipe for homemade applesauce to have with it. Yum!

If you’d like to teach your kids a Hanukah song here’s a link to The Dreydl Song and the rules for the Dreydl Game.

-Mama Lisa

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Posted in Applesauce, Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Customs, Games, Hanukkah, Hanukkah Songs, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, I Have a Little Dreidel, Israel, Languages, Main Course, Mama Lisa, Potato Latkes, Potato Nik, Recipes of the World, Side Dishes, The Dreidel Game, USA | No Comments »

The Dreydl Song

Sunday, December 24th, 2006

We went to a Hanukah party last night. My mother-in-law, Susan Pomerantz, played The Dreidel Song on the piano – so of course I asked her if I could record it! Here you can hear the tune of The Dreydl Song, with lots of party noise in the background…

MP3 of The Dreydl Song (or click the “PLAY” triangle below).

Here are the basic lyrics in English…

I Have a Little Dreydl

I have a little dreydl
I made it out of clay,
And when it’s dry and ready
Then dreydl I shall play.

Chorus
O dreydl, dreydl, dreydl
I made it out of clay,
And when it’s dry and ready
Then dreydl I shall play.

Happy Hanukah! Happy Kwanzaa and Merry Christmas!

-Lisa

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Posted in Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Games, Hanukkah, Hanukkah Songs, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, I Have a Little Dreidel, Israel, MP3's, Mama Lisa, Recordings of Songs, The Dreidel Game, USA | No Comments »

Oh Hanukkah

Sunday, December 11th, 2005

Here’s another Hanukkah song. I believe it’s sung while lighting the menorah.

Oh Hanukkah

Oh Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah,
Come light the menorah.
Let’s have a party,
We’ll all dance the hora.
Gather round the table,
We’ll give you a treat.
Dreidels to play with, latkes to eat.

And while we are playing
The candles are burning low.
One for each night,
They shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago;
One for each night,
They shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago.

Menorah = Ceremonial Candelabra used for Hanukkah
Hora = A circle dance
Dreidels = Special tops, played with on Hanukkah
Latkes = Potato pancakes, the traditional food for Hanukkah

Happy Hanukkah!

-Lisa

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Posted in American Kids Songs, Children's Songs, English, Hanukkah, Hanukkah Songs, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, Languages, Oh Hanukkah, Songs by Theme, USA | 2 Comments »

Chanukah Song – “I Have a Little Dreidel” and The Dreidel Game

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005

The Dreidel Song is very popular at this time of year. Dreidels are tops. Here are the lyrics…

I Have a Little Dreidel

I have a little dreidel
I made it out of clay,
And when it’s dry and ready
Then dreidel I shall play.

Chorus
O dreidel, dreidel, dreidel
I made it out of clay,
And when it’s dry and ready
Then dreidel I shall play.

It has a lovely body
With legs so short and thin,
And when my dreidel’s tired
It drops and then I win.

Chorus

My dreidel’s always playful
It loves to dance and spin,
A happy game of dreidel
Come play now, let’s begin.

Chorus

Here’s the Tune to the Dreidel Song

Children are often given dreidels for Hanukkah. Dreidels are tops that have four Hebrew letters on them. One letter is on each side of the dreidel. The letters are nun, gimel, hay, and shin.

The Dreidel Game

The dreidel game is usually played using chocolate in the shape of a coin, often wrapped in gold foil. Each player puts a coin in the “pot”. They then take turns spinning the dreidel. The letter the dreidel lands on will determine what happens next.

נ – Nun = nothing happens
ג – Gimel = you get the whole pot
ה – Hay = you take half of the pot
ש- Shin = you put a coin into the pot

If the pot ends up being empty, each player has to add a coin. If someone loses all their coins, they’re out of the game. Whoever gets the most coins in the end wins.

Happy Hanukkah!

-Lisa

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Posted in Games, Hanukkah, Hanukkah Songs, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, I Have a Little Dreidel, Songs by Theme, The Dreidel Game | 15 Comments »

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