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Home , Dreidel, I Have a Little Dreidel, Light One Candle, Maccabees, Mattathias

13 CHANUKAH SONGS

1 Blessings 3 Who Fought Antiochus 1- Baruch ata Adonai, e-lo-hay-nu melech Who fought Antiochus tell me please ha-olam, asher kidhshanu bemitzvotav, We know! We know! The ! v’tzivanu lehad-lik ner, shel Chanukah. Who won the battle, tell me please 2- Baruch ata Adonai, e-lo-hay-nu melech We know! We know! The Maccabees! ha-olam, sheh-asah nee-seem la-vo-taynu ba-yamim ha-heym ba-zman ha-zeh. Who saved the temple, tell me please We know! We know! The Maccabees! * First night only: ‘Shehechiyanu’ Baruch ata Adonai, elohaynu melech ha-olam, Who gave us Chanukah, tell me please Shehechiyanu v’key-emanu v’hig-ee-yanu We know! We know! The Maccabees! lazman hazeh

2 I Have a Little 4 O’ Chanukah , I made it out of clay. O’Chanukah O’Chanukah. Light the menorah. When it’s dry and ready, oh dreidel I shall play. Let’s have a party, we’ll all dance the Horah. Gather ‘round the table, we’ll give you a treat. CHORUS to play with and to eat. Oh dreidel (3x) , I made it out of clay. When it’s dry ‘n ready, Oh dreidel I shall play. And while we… are singing The candles are burning low. I has a lovely body, with legs so short and thin, One for each night. They shed a sweet light When it gets all tired, it drops and then I win! to remind us of days long ago

CHORUS O’Chanukah O’Chanukah. A time to remember My dreidel is playful, it loves to dance and spin A holiday, a jolly day, that comes in December a happy game of dreidel, play now lets begin. Spin the whirling dreidel all week long Tell the age old story, sing a happy song CHORUS I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay. And nightly, so brightly, When I try to eat it, my stomach says OY Vey! the candles of Chanukah glow Shining with glory, telling the story, (Make up your own rhyme:) The wonders of long, long ago. I had a little dreidl, I made it out of ______Storyteller/Speaker EvaGrayzel.com Chanukah RAP with Beatboxer: YouTube/EvaGrayzel 5 MaOz Tsur/Rock of Ages 9 Maoz tsur yeshuati. Lecha na-eh leshebay-ach. Light one candle for the maccabee children. Tikon bayt tefi-lati. Vesham todah neza-bayach. Give thanks that their light didn’t die. Le-ayt tachin mat-bay-ach, Light one candle for the pain they endured mitsar ha-mna-bay-ach. when their right to exist was denied. Az egmor beshir mizmor, Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice hanukat hamizbayach(2x) justice and freedom demand. Light one candle for the wisdom to know Rock of ages let our song when the peace-makers time is at hand. praise your saving power You amid the raging foes, CHORUS: Don’t let the light go out. were our sheltering tower. It’s lasted for so many years. Furious, they assailed us. Don’t let the light go out. But your arm availed us. Let it shine through our hope and our tears. And your word, broke their sword, when our own strength failed us. 2x Light one candle for the strength that we need to never become our own foe. Light one candle for those who are suffering 6 How Many Candles the pain we learned so long ago. Light one candle for all we believe in. How many candles? How many candles? Let anger not tear us apart. How many candles do we light? Light one candle to bring us together On our Chanukiah, on our Chanukiah, with peace as the song in our hearts. The FIRST Chanukah night? One. One. One. One. One. One. One candle burning. One candle burning. The FIRST Chanukah night. 10 The Song (Continue for each night of Chanukah) I’m so mixed up that I cannot tell you. I’m sitting in this blender turning brown I’ve made friends with the onions and flour and the cook is scouting oil in the town. 7 Al Hanissim I sit here wondering what will come of me. Al ha-nisim v’al ha-purkan I can’t be eaten looking as I do. v’al ha-g’vurot. v’al ha-t’shu-vot. I need someone to take me out and cook me. V’al ha-milchamot she-a-sitah la-votaynu Or, I’ll really end up in a royal stew. ba-ya-mim ha-heym bizman ha-zeh. CHORUS 2x: I am a Latke. I am a Latke. And I am waiting for Chanukah to come.

8 Tune: Mickey Mouse Every holiday has foods so special. Now it’s time to sing a song of I’d like to have that same attention too. M-A-C-C-A-B-E-E Maccabee. I do not want to spend life in this blender. Maccabee! Maccabee! Wondering what I’m supposed to do. Menorahs shine as far as I can see. Matzah and Charoset are for Pesach. We celebrate a miracle. Chopped liver and challah for Shabbat. Oh Lord our thanks to thee Blintzes on Shavuot are delicious. M-A-C, C-A-B, E-E Maccabee. Gefilte fish no holiday’s without.

Storyteller/Speaker EvaGrayzel.com Chanukah RAP with Beatboxer: YouTube/EvaGrayzel Well, they whooped ‘um good, 11 CHANUKAH RAP and his sons. They chased the bad guys out, everyone. Chanukah did I hear you say, is the They reclaimed the Temple in , biggest and the best commercial holiday? and cleaned it up for the the Holy One. I’ll tell you something Got a brand new ark, new upholstery, that might come as a surprise; hung a new Mezuzah and a new tapestry. Those presents that you get The interior designer made a are for you to realize, proclamation the deeper meaning of this holiday. ‘We are ready at last for a rededication.’ I’m gonna tell you about it right away. Listen up you hear The problem you see: the Eternal Light; with some concentration, supposed to burn all day and all night. Chanukah it means ‘rededication.’ To burn eight days you need special oil. of what? But there was none to be found. Why the answer is quite simple The celebration was spoiled. Dedication of the holy place called the temple. They searched high and low. They searched here and there Why it happened a long long time ago, for some oil to burn, In the city of Jerusalem, don’t cha know. but there was none to spare. A guy named Antiochus Until Judah Maccabee, bold and brave, was the ruler of Greece. found a jar buried deep in a cave. tried to stir up trouble Just enough oil to burn one day, and disrupt the peace. but a strange miracle happened they say: He ordered the That little jar of oil, it lasted for eight! not to study the . Not to There was light in the Temple sing to the Lord or dance the Horah. for eight day straight! He destroyed the Temple and the people who prayed. Well, the people were joyous, He terrorized the Israelites in every way. it was some occasion! He tried to break the people’s spirit, For eight days they had a celebration. this mighty Greek. Rededication. Dedication I say. Tried to hurt all the Jews That’s the true meaning of this holiday. and make them weak. It was a war of the many against the few, fought for religious freedom as a Jew. Mattathias had 5 sons, brave as could be. The strongest was Judah Maccabee. Now I don’t want to spoil any of your fun Sure, you heard of him, Buy your presents for everyone. his name means ‘hammer’, But don’t forget the meaning ‘cause his strength was so great, of the Chanukah light. he made the enemy stammer. A time of victory of spirit, and of might. Storyteller/Speaker EvaGrayzel.com Chanukah RAP with Beatboxer: YouTube/EvaGrayzel 12 Those Were the Days Once upon a time we had a temple. ABOUT CHANUKAH Where every Jew would go 3 times a year. There we worshipped God in our tradition ‘till suddenly a did appear. Chanukah begins in the reign of Alexander Then at Modin, Mattathias told us the Great who allowed religious freedom. ‘Whoever is for God come join our band” Under his benevolent rule, many Jews Let by Judah and his faithful brothers. assimilated Hellenistic culture in much the We drove the tyrant from our Holy Land. same way Jews do today. CHORUS: Eight days of Chanukah (2x) We celebrate the festival of light. A successor of Alexander, Antiochus IV Those days in history still live for you and me. outlawed . He looted and desecrated Let’s keep the flame forever shining bright. The Temple which provoked a large-scale revolt. Mattathias, a Jewish , and his five When they came to dedicate the Temple. sons led the rebellion. The temple was How their hearts were heavy with despair. liberated and rededicated. Impurities and idols all around them. And just one jar of crude oil was there. But with faith in God they cleaned the Temple. According to the , unadulterated pure Kindled that small lamp with hope and love. olive oil with the seal of the gadol (high Then the story had a happy ending. priest) was needed for the menorah in the Eight days of blessed light came from above. Temple, required to burn throughout the night every night. The story goes that one flask was found with only enough oil to burn 13 Chanukah, Chanukah one day, yet it burned for eight, the time Chanukah, Chanukah, Chag yafeh kol kach. needed to prepare a fresh supply of kosher Or chaviv, mi-saviv, gil le-yeled rach. oil. An eight-day festival was declared by the Chanukah Chanukah s’vi-vohn sov sov Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle. sov sov sov, sov sov sov, mah na-im va-tov. There is no historical proof of the miracle of Chanukah, Chanukah. Candles all aglow. Shining bright, what a sight, 8 nights in a row. the oil. However, there is documentation Chanukah, Chanukah, dreidels spin about about the eight-day celebration of sacrifices Spin Spin Spin (2x) as the children shout. and songs.

Chanukah was a minor festival in the Jewish HOW TO PLAY DREIDEL calendar. With the commercialization of Each player starts with 10 pennies (or nuts, Christmas and the pressure to give gifts candies, jelly beans). Before each spin, during the holiday season, Chanukah has everyone puts ONE in the pot. If it lands on a: become a gift-giving holiday. However, we try : You win Nothing. to emphasize the inherent concepts and נ : You win the whole pot. values of this holiday: religious freedom ג HAY: You win Half the pot. (separation of church and state), Jewish ה identity and Jewish solidarity. .: You have to put ONE in ש Storyteller/Speaker EvaGrayzel.com Chanukah RAP with Beatboxer: YouTube/EvaGrayzel