Chanukah: The Eighth Night

[scarlettina]

Tonight we light the eighth and final candle of Chanukah. And to conclude the posts for the year, I'm linking to a story on NPR about a matter of much debate in the Jewish community and beyond: the actual, correct spelling of Chanukah/Hanukkah/Hannukah/Channuka.

Oh! And one more thing: I've presented a lot of Chanukah music this year. The one thing I didn't do, was present my own. I give you "My Dreidel".

My Dreidel
(Sung to the tune of "Maria" from West Side Story)

My dreidel
I just spun a top called a dreidel
And suddenly this game will never be the same again!
A dreidel,
A Jewish toy spun by a meidel*
And suddenly this game is lucky as a game can be!
My dreidel!
It spins round and round over the table,
And it turns up a gimel**... my driedel!
My dreidel, you bring me the gelt*** by the ladle!
My dreidel (sung rapturously nine times)
My dreidel
It spins round and round over the table,
And it turns up a gimel ... my dreidel!
My dreidel, I just can't stop spinning . . . my dreidel!


* Yiddish, meaning "girl"
** The symbol on a dreidel that means you've won the whole pot
*** Yiddish, meaning "gold"

Happy Chanukah everyone!

Comments

[garyomaha.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the lyrics. I shall be humming that tune all day now. (It's also my favorite song from WSS.)

And now for the snark: I knew Chanukah has many spellings, but you've now introduced a new way to spell "Hapy." :b

L'chaim!

EDIT: It dawned on me that perhaps you did that on purpose. Vewwy, vewwy clever!

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Not so clever, really. I was typing fast. I shall fix. ::blush::

[prettyshrub.livejournal.com]

What a great song!