Chanukah Songs
Many songs have been written to commemorate Chanukah, and they come from a wide variety of sources. Some are based on medieval liturgical poetry (e.g., Ma'oz Tzur. Others find their roots in our various folk traditions, for example: Yiddish (O Chanukah), Sephardic/Ladino (Ocho Kandelikas); and Israeli (Mi Y'maleil). Modern composers have added their own takes on the holiday (Light One Candle). And of course, there's always "I Have a Little Dreidel," with so many versions and so many parodies over the years. Include here are the songs and a brief background of a few of the songs we'll be singing on Chanukah this year:
Click on any title to hear Cantor George sing!
For the lyrics of all the songs click "song sheet" so you may sing along.
O (Oi) Chanukah: Chasidic melody with roots in classical pieces called "Freylechs" ("freylech," in Yiddish, means "joyous.") The song has Yiddish, Hebrew, and English verses, all of which focus on the happiness of Chanukah.
Mi Y'maleil: 20th century Israeli folk song written by Menashe Rabinowitz, incorporating verses from the Psalms.
Sheet Music for Mi Y'Maleil-Who Can Retell
Ocho Kandelikas: written by Sephardic folk singer Flory Jagoda in 1983 as part of her efforts to bring back the Ladino language and music of her childhood in Bosnia. To her credit, the song sounds much older than it actually is.
Sheet Music for Ocho Kandelikas
Light One Candle: written by Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary) to express the need to promote freedom everywhere, using the Chanukah candles as a powerful image: "Don't let the light go out." Peter, Paul and Mary first performed the song in their 1982 Hanukkah/Christmas Concert at Carnegie Hall with the New York Choral Society.
I Have a Little Dreidel: I have no idea who composed this song, but we all know it so well! As with so many Jewish holiday songs, this one has both Yiddish and English versions, but the two versions are very different. The English song is about a dreidel, and the dreidel is made of clay. By contrast, the Yiddish song is actually sung by a dreidel, and this dreidel is made of lead (blay). And of course, in English, there are so many verses that have been written or improvised about dreidels made from just about anything.
Ma'oz Tsur: verses were written in the 13th Century as a liturgical poem called a "piyyut." (We sing many "piyyutim" during the High Holy Days.) The melody we usually sing is likely from 19th Century Germany, although there is also a lovely version composed by the Italian composer Marcello in Venice in the early 1700s.
Sheet Music for Ma'oz Tsur
Sat, October 31 2020
13 Cheshvan 5781
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CANCELLATIONS DUE TO CORONA VIRUS
To best protect the members of our community Kol HaLev services and activities AT CHC have been canceled until further notice.
Candle lighting, Torah study, classes, and other gatherings will continue virtually online. Read the weekly bulletin or check on this Kol HaLev website for details on how to connect to these virtual gatherings and for announcements about when we will be meeting again in person.
Shabbat Music
Kol HaLev, with the guidance of Cantor George has been introducing new, exciting, stimulating, joyful music to our services. Much of this music is for Friday nights and is played by Kol HaLev Unplugged on the fourth Friday night of the month. Kol HaLev Unplugged has made recordings so that the community can learn the melodies more easily. This link takes you to the recordings and the lyrics for the songs. You can also check out our latest You Tube video of Kol HaLev Unplugged singing Cantor George's Shalom Rav! Come to Shabbat and enjoy guitar, drum, voices and song!
Black Lives Matter
Kol HaLev has joined over 400 Jewish synagogues and organizations that signed this declaration:
Jewish Organizations and Synagogues say: Black Lives Matter
We are Jewish organizations and synagogues from across the racial and political spectrum; from different streams of Judaism; whose members trace their lineage from countries around the world.
We speak with one voice when we say unequivocally: Black lives matter.
We support the Black-led movement in this country that is calling for accountability and transparency from the government and law enforcement. We know that freedom and safety for any of us depends on the freedom and safety of all of us.
There are politicians and political movements in this country who build power by deliberately manufacturing fear to divide us against each other. All too often, anti-Semitism is at the center of these manufactured divisions.
There is a long history to these attempts: during the Southern Freedom Movement of the 1950’s and ‘60’s, conspiracy theories were used by white supremacists attempting to delegitimize the extraordinary organizing of Black activists. Billboards were erected smearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a communist, signs and flyers claiming that “communist Jews” were behind the civil rights movement were common, and pro-segregation organizations like the John Birch Society popularized these lies.
Black Lives Matter, the recent uprisings across the globe in the wake of the murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, and so many others, and the decades of political organizing across the country that have led to this moment are movements led by and for Black people. We see through any attempt to suggest otherwise by pointing fingers, scapegoating, or using anti-Semitic dog whistles.
As Jews, we know how dangerous this is: when politicians target Jewish people and blame us for problems, it leads directly to violence against us. When Black movements are undermined, it leads to more violence against Black people, including Black Jews.
Anti-Semitism is part of the same machinery those politicians use to blame Black and brown people, people who are immigrants, people who are Muslim, and more. But whether they generate division and fear based on our religion, our skin color, or how long we’ve been here, their goal is to keep us from working together to win the things we all need to survive and thrive.
When Jewish people join together with our neighbors across racial and religious differences, as we have in the past, we can protect each other and build the future of freedom and safety we all deserve.
Jewish tradition teaches us that justice is not something that will be bestowed upon us, it is something that we need to pursue, and that the pursuit is itself sacred work. We’ll show up for each other every time one of us is targeted because of our differences, and reject any effort to use fear to divide us against each other.
The Black lives matter movement is the current day Civil Rights movement in this country, and it is our best chance at equity and justice. By supporting this movement, we can build a country that fulfills the promise of freedom, unity, and safety for all of us, no exceptions.
Jewish Organizations and Synagogues say: Black Lives Matter
We are Jewish organizations and synagogues from across the racial and political spectrum; from different streams of Judaism; whose members trace their lineage from countries around the world.
We speak with one voice when we say unequivocally: Black lives matter.
We support the Black-led movement in this country that is calling for accountability and transparency from the government and law enforcement. We know that freedom and safety for any of us depends on the freedom and safety of all of us.
There are politicians and political movements in this country who build power by deliberately manufacturing fear to divide us against each other. All too often, anti-Semitism is at the center of these manufactured divisions.
There is a long history to these attempts: during the Southern Freedom Movement of the 1950’s and ‘60’s, conspiracy theories were used by white supremacists attempting to delegitimize the extraordinary organizing of Black activists. Billboards were erected smearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a communist, signs and flyers claiming that “communist Jews” were behind the civil rights movement were common, and pro-segregation organizations like the John Birch Society popularized these lies.
Black Lives Matter, the recent uprisings across the globe in the wake of the murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, and so many others, and the decades of political organizing across the country that have led to this moment are movements led by and for Black people. We see through any attempt to suggest otherwise by pointing fingers, scapegoating, or using anti-Semitic dog whistles.
As Jews, we know how dangerous this is: when politicians target Jewish people and blame us for problems, it leads directly to violence against us. When Black movements are undermined, it leads to more violence against Black people, including Black Jews.
Anti-Semitism is part of the same machinery those politicians use to blame Black and brown people, people who are immigrants, people who are Muslim, and more. But whether they generate division and fear based on our religion, our skin color, or how long we’ve been here, their goal is to keep us from working together to win the things we all need to survive and thrive.
When Jewish people join together with our neighbors across racial and religious differences, as we have in the past, we can protect each other and build the future of freedom and safety we all deserve.
Jewish tradition teaches us that justice is not something that will be bestowed upon us, it is something that we need to pursue, and that the pursuit is itself sacred work. We’ll show up for each other every time one of us is targeted because of our differences, and reject any effort to use fear to divide us against each other.
The Black lives matter movement is the current day Civil Rights movement in this country, and it is our best chance at equity and justice. By supporting this movement, we can build a country that fulfills the promise of freedom, unity, and safety for all of us, no exceptions.
KHL - Please Join Us
We are located in The Church of the Holy Comforter (CHC), 130 W. Seminary Avenue, Lutherville 21093. All Friday and Saturday Shabbat services are handicap accessible. For directions to the Shul please click here.
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Sat, October 31 2020 13 Cheshvan 5781