# Need Jewish holiday songs, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-jewish-holiday-songs-please/312112 "2005-07-12T02:56:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-jewish-holiday-songs-please/312112/1 "2005-07-12T02:56:26Z")
My partner and I are putting together a holiday medley for this coming (December) holiday season. What Chanukah songs should we include? Which are the most popular and where can I grab copies? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-jewish-holiday-songs-please/312112/2 "2005-07-12T03:03:57Z")
Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel, I made it out of clay. When it’s dry and ready, Dreidel I will play. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-jewish-holiday-songs-please/312112/3 "2005-07-12T03:32:19Z")
Other than the dreidel song and Adam Sandler’s The Chanukah Song, are there any others? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-jewish-holiday-songs-please/312112/4 "2005-07-12T03:36:11Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Other than the dreidel song and Adam Sandler’s The Chanukah Song, are there any others? 😕 There’s [What We Do On Christmas](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/What-We-Do-On-Christmas-lyrics-Atom-And-His-Package/55F04F23D3D51E6448256D290017D530) by Atom And His Package… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-jewish-holiday-songs-please/312112/5 "2005-07-12T10:05:45Z")
I’m rather fond of [Have a Jewish Christmas](http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/have_a_jewish_christmas.htm). This is actually only the opening song for a (mostly non-musical) record of the same name. It’s 40 or 50 years old, but still quite funny. Tee-hee, “rent-a-goy.” ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-jewish-holiday-songs-please/312112/6 "2005-07-12T13:06:19Z")
\ I knew this would happen. I’m serious now! 🙂 We want well-known, everybody-sings-'em songs for the season. Thank you. Where do I find audio for Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel? ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-jewish-holiday-songs-please/312112/7 "2005-07-12T13:29:27Z")
Google is your friend. Trust Google. Several sites have the audio for the traditional songs. Other suggestions… “O Chanukah, O Chanukah” “Maoz Tzur” “Who Can Retell” “Al HaNissim” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-jewish-holiday-songs-please/312112/8 "2005-07-12T14:13:11Z")
The Broadway’s Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure CDS at [Broadway Cares](http://store.yahoo.com/broadwaycares/holiday-holidaycd.html) all have Jewish holiday songs on them. My favorite is from 2004; Shalom Santa: So I’ve got to say an ave And a oy veh And a mea culpa too. Cause my Mommy is a lapsed Catholic And my Daddy is a cultural Jew. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-jewish-holiday-songs-please/312112/9 "2005-07-12T14:27:29Z")
“Maoz Tzur” is the top Chanukkah song amongst Orthodox Jews. The title translates, roughly, to “Rock of My Salvation.” It contains six verses, the first an introduction, the middle four declaring thanks to G-d for various deliverances over the centuries, the last expressing hope for the final, Messianic salvation. The fifth verse of that six-verse song begins with “Yevanim” (the Hebrew word for Greeks) and specifically addresses the miracle of Hanukkah. There is a popular tune for that specific verse as a standalone song as well. There is also a popular tune for “Al Hanissim”, part of a special added prayer that is common to both Hanukkah and Purim. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-jewish-holiday-songs-please/312112/10 "2005-07-12T15:27:11Z")
> [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > We want well-known, everybody-sings-'em songs for the season. Basically, you’re asking for something that doesn’t exist. “Dreidel, Dreidel” and “Oh Chanukah” come the closest to qualifying. The others will probably not be recognized by non-Orthodox Jews. Channukah just isn’t a holiday that traditionally involves a ton of singing. You want Passover songs, we got 'em by the truckload. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-jewish-holiday-songs-please/312112/11 "2005-07-12T17:17:40Z")
When I was growing up, my siblings and I learned a completely different Draedel song than the hackneyed one everyone whips out during Chanukah. Whenever I sing it aloud people are always amazed and admit they’d never heard it before. You (obviously) can’t hear me sing it, but it has a decidedly Jewish cadence and tune, whereas “Draedel, draedel, draedel”, to me, sounds so American and unimaginative…not to mention making me want to shoot myself every time I hear it. Anyway, here are the lyrics to the one I learned as a kid in Kansas: Draedel spins round and round makes a merry whirring sound Chanukah brings good joy Happy are the girls and boys One by one, lighting candles at this joyous time of year As they go, spin the draedel Chanukah brings good cheer \<\< pause, then repeat from the top \>\> One day, before I die, someone will tell me they remember this song 🙂