Hanukkah Songs and Sounds From Across the Globe

From Turkey to France, in Hebrew, Yiddish and Ladino: Have a listen!

We have collected some holiday favorites from Jewish communities around the world. Have a listen to these recordings of Hanukkah songs and blessings from the Library’s National Sound Archive.

 

Ashkenaz Candle Lighting Blessing
Performed by Eliyahu Kum
Recorded by the National Sound Archives
Chabad Synagogue, the Old City, Jerusalem, Hanukkah 1968
YC 1945

 

Carlebach Style Candle Lighting Blessing
Performed by Shlomo Carlebach accompanied by instruments and audience
Recorded by Ephraim Yaakov
Wise Auditorium, Jerusalem, Hanukkah 1979
YC 1537

 

Hungarian Candle Lighting Blessing
Performed by Abraham Ahrenfeld
Recorded by Avigdor Herzog
The National Sound Archives studio, 1975
Y 1851

 

Algerian Candle Lighting Blessing
Performed by Meir Zini
Communaute Israelite
France, 1966
YC 2930

 

Sephardic Candle Lighting Blessing
Performed and recorded by the Recanati Family
Hanukkah 1968
YC 2865

 

 

Maoz Zur

Ashkenaz Version – Maoz Zur
Arranged and conducted by Arieh Levanon
Performed by Kol Israel Choir
1962
MCD 74

 

Germany, Frankfurt – Maoz Zur
Performed by Mr. Friedenberg
Recorded by Avigdor Herzog
Jerusalem, 1957
Y 3336

 

Hungary – Maoz Zur
Performed by Abraham Ahrenfeld
Recorded by Avigdor Herzog
The National Sound Archive studio, 1975
Y 1851

 

Boyan Hassidim – Maoz Zur
(Yewanim Niqbezu Alay)
Performed by a group of Hassidim
Recorded by Yaakov Mazor
“Tisch” on “Zot Hanukkah”
Tif’eret Yisrael Yeshiva, Jerusalem 1987
Y 5623

 

Italy, Verona (Ashkenaz) – Maoz Zur
(Variant of the tune transcribed by
Benedetto Marcello in the 18th century)
Performed by Mario Volterra
Recorded by Leo Levi
Italy, Bologna, 1956
Y 156

 

Mizmor Shir Chanukat Ha-bayit (Psalm 30)

Algeria, Oran
Performed by Meir Zini
Communaute Israelite
France, 1966
YC 2930

 

Shnei Nikhratim (Piyyut for “Shabbat Hanukkah”)

France, Alsace
Performed by Michel Heymann
Recorded by Chana Englard
Mulhouse, France, 1988
Y 5913

 

Yiddish song: Ir Kleyne Likhtelekh

Text by Morris Rosenfeld
Performed by Louis Danto
Recorded by Chana Englard
Hekhal Shelomo, Jerusalem, Hanukkah 1982
Yc 2137
Translation:
Oh, you little candles,
You tell stories,
Innumerable legends:
You tell of blood,
Triumph and courage –
Wonders of the past!
When I see you lighting
A shiny dream comes about,
An old dream is speaking:
“Jew, you fought once,
Jew, you triumphed once”.
God! It’s hardly believable! Oh, you little candles!
Your stories
Awaken my pain,
Deep down my heart moves
And with tears a question rises,
“What will happen now?”

 

Judeo-Spanish song: Dak il tas

Turkey
Performed by Bienvenida Aguado
Recorded by Susana Weich-Shahak
Bat-Yam, 2001
CD 2980

Dak il tas, toma’l tas
Las muchachas meten bas
En Sabat de Hanukkah
Ocho dias de Hanukkah
Lehadlik ner shel Hanukkah.

El vino de la serada
Que a mi muncho m’agrada
A beber en Hanukkah
Ocho dias…

Mete la carne al tandur
Taneremos un buen santur
En Shabat de Hanukkah
Ocho dias…

English translation:
Strike the tray, take from the tray
The girls play
On Shabbath Hanukkah.
Eight days of Hanukkah
“To light a candle of Hanukkah”

 

 

Try these articles as well:

Bringing Darkness to Light: Singing Chanukah Songs Through the Holocaust

The Enigmatic Researcher of the Magic of Music

The Majesty and the Mystery of Kol Nidre