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
This article was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 1:14 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, English, Hanukkah, Hanukkah Songs, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, Israel, Israeli Children's Songs, Languages, Mama Lisa, Oh Hanukkah, USA, YouTube. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
2 Responses to “Oh Hanukkah – A Holiday Song with a YouTube Video”
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December 15th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
[…] Holiday Jazz Animation Yiddish version of Oh, Chanukah with YouTube video and lyrics English Video of Oh Chanukah with lyrics Video and Lyrics of Willie Take Your Little Drum Patapan video in French with Lyrics and […]
December 14th, 2011 at 10:06 am
Thank you for publishing Oh Channuka in Yiddish and Hebrew. I really enjoy it.