Storyteller/Speaker EvaGrayzel.com Chanukah RAP with Beatboxer: YouTube/EvaGrayzel

13 CHANUKAH SONGS3 Who Fought Antiochus Who fought Antiochus tell me please We know! We know! The Maccabees!

Who won the battle, tell me please We know! We know! The Maccabees!

Who saved the temple, tell me please We know! We know! The Maccabees!

Who gave us Chanukah, tell me please We know! We know! The Maccabees!

2 I Have a Little Dreidel I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay. When it’s dry and ready, oh dreidel I shall play.

CHORUS Oh dreidel (3x) , I made it out of clay. When it’s dry ‘n ready, Oh dreidel I shall play.

I has a lovely body, with legs so short and thin, When it gets all tired, it drops and then I win!

CHORUS My dreidel is playful, it loves to dance and spin a happy game of dreidel, play now lets begin.

CHORUS I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay. When I try to eat it, my stomach says OY Vey!

(Make up your own rhyme:) I had a little dreidl, I made it out of ________ ________________________________

4 O’ Chanukah O’Chanukah O’Chanukah. Light the menorah. Let’s have a party, we’ll all dance the Horah. Gather ‘round the table, we’ll give you a treat. Dreidels to play with and Latkes to eat.

And while we… are singing The candles are burning low. One for each night. They shed a sweet light to remind us of days long ago

O’Chanukah O’Chanukah. A time to remember A holiday, a jolly day, that comes in December Spin the whirling dreidel all week long Tell the age old story, sing a happy song

And nightly, so brightly, the candles of Chanukah glow Shining with glory, telling the story, The wonders of long, long ago.

1 Blessings

1- Baruch ata Adonai, e-lo-hay-nu melech ha-olam, asher kidhshanu bemitzvotav, v’tzivanu lehad-lik ner, shel Chanukah.

2- Baruch ata Adonai, e-lo-hay-nu melech ha-olam, sheh-asah nee-seem la-vo-taynu ba-yamim ha-heym ba-zman ha-zeh.

* First night only: ‘Shehechiyanu’ Baruch ata Adonai, elohaynu melech ha-olam, Shehechiyanu v’key-emanu v’hig-ee-yanu lazman hazeh

Storyteller/Speaker EvaGrayzel.com Chanukah RAP with Beatboxer: YouTube/EvaGrayzel

5 MaOz Tsur/Rock of Ages Maoz tsur yeshuati. Lecha na-eh leshebay-ach. Tikon bayt tefi-lati. Vesham todah neza-bayach. Le-ayt tachin mat-bay-ach, mitsar ha-mna-bay-ach. Az egmor beshir mizmor, hanukat hamizbayach(2x)

Rock of ages let our song praise your saving power You amid the raging foes, were our sheltering tower. Furious, they assailed us. But your arm availed us. And your word, broke their sword, when our own strength failed us. 2x

9 Light One Candle Peter Yarrow Light one candle for the maccabee children. Give thanks that their light didn’t die. Light one candle for the pain they endured when their right to exist was denied. Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice justice and freedom demand. Light one candle for the wisdom to know when the peace-makers time is at hand.

CHORUS: Don’t let the light go out. It’s lasted for so many years. Don’t let the light go out. Let it shine through our hope and our tears.

Light one candle for the strength that we need to never become our own foe. Light one candle for those who are suffering the pain we learned so long ago. Light one candle for all we believe in. Let anger not tear us apart. Light one candle to bring us together with peace as the song in our hearts.

10 The Latke Song 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. I sit here wondering what will come of me. I can’t be eaten looking as I do. I need someone to take me out and cook me. Or, I’ll really end up in a royal stew.

CHORUS 2x: I am a Latke. I am a Latke. And I am waiting for Chanukah to come.

Every holiday has foods so special. I’d like to have that same attention too. I do not want to spend life in this blender. Wondering what I’m supposed to do. Matzah and Charoset are for Pesach. Chopped liver and challah for Shabbat. Blintzes on Shavuot are delicious. Gefilte fish no holiday’s without.

6 How Many Candles How many candles? How many candles? How many candles do we light? On our Chanukiah, on our Chanukiah, The FIRST Chanukah night? One. One. One. One. One. One. One candle burning. One candle burning. The FIRST Chanukah night. (Continue for each night of Chanukah)

7 Al Hanissim Al ha-nisim v’al ha-purkan v’al ha-g’vurot. v’al ha-t’shu-vot. V’al ha-milchamot she-a-sitah la-votaynu ba-ya-mim ha-heym bizman ha-zeh.

8 Tune: Mickey Mouse Now it’s time to sing a song of Jewish history M-A-C-C-A-B-E-E Maccabee. Maccabee! Maccabee! Menorahs shine as far as I can see. We celebrate a miracle. Oh Lord our thanks to thee M-A-C, C-A-B, E-E Maccabee.

Storyteller/Speaker EvaGrayzel.com Chanukah RAP with Beatboxer: YouTube/EvaGrayzel

Chanukah did I hear you say, is the biggest and the best commercial holiday? I’ll tell you something that might come as a surprise; Those presents that you get are for you to realize, the deeper meaning of this holiday. I’m gonna tell you about it right away. Listen up you hear with some concentration, Chanukah it means ‘rededication.’ Dedication of what? Why the answer is quite simple Dedication of the holy place called the temple.

Why it happened a long long time ago, In the city of Jerusalem, don’t cha know. A guy named Antiochus was the ruler of Greece. He tried to stir up trouble and disrupt the peace. He ordered the Jews not to study the Torah. Not to sing to the Lord or dance the Horah. He destroyed the Temple and the people who prayed. He terrorized the Israelites in every way. He tried to break the people’s spirit, this mighty Greek. Tried to hurt all the Jews and make them weak.

Mattathias had 5 sons, brave as could be. The strongest was Judah Maccabee. Sure, you heard of him, his name means ‘hammer’, ‘cause his strength was so great, he made the enemy stammer.

CHANUKAH RAP Well, they whooped ‘um good, Mattathias and his sons. They chased the bad guys out, everyone. They reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem, and cleaned it up for the the Holy One. Got a brand new ark, new upholstery, hung a new Mezuzah and a new tapestry. The interior designer made a proclamation ‘We are ready at last for a rededication.’

The problem you see: the Eternal Light; supposed to burn all day and all night. To burn eight days you need special oil. But there was none to be found. The celebration was spoiled.

They searched high and low. They searched here and there for some oil to burn, but there was none to spare. Until Judah Maccabee, bold and brave, found a jar buried deep in a cave. Just enough oil to burn one day, but a strange miracle happened they say: That little jar of oil, it lasted for eight! There was light in the Temple for eight day straight!

Well, the people were joyous, it was some occasion! For eight days they had a celebration. Rededication. Dedication I say. That’s the true meaning of this holiday. It was a war of the many against the few, fought for religious freedom as a Jew.

Now I don’t want to spoil any of your fun Buy your presents for everyone. But don’t forget the meaning of the Chanukah light. A time of victory of spirit, and of might.

11

Storyteller/Speaker EvaGrayzel.com Chanukah RAP with Beatboxer: YouTube/EvaGrayzel

HOW TO PLAY DREIDEL Each player starts with 10 pennies (or nuts, candies, jelly beans). Before each spin, everyone puts ONE in the pot. If it lands on a: .NUN : You win Nothing נ .GIMEL: You win the whole pot ג .HAY: You win Half the pot ה.SHIN: You have to put ONE in ש

12 Those Were the Days Once upon a time we had a temple. Where every Jew would go 3 times a year. There we worshipped God in our tradition ‘till suddenly a tyrant did appear. Then at Modin, Mattathias told us ‘Whoever is for God come join our band” Let by Judah and his faithful brothers. We drove the tyrant from our Holy Land.

CHORUS: Eight days of Chanukah (2x) We celebrate the festival of light. Those days in history still live for you and me. Let’s keep the flame forever shining bright.

When they came to dedicate the Temple. How their hearts were heavy with despair. Impurities and idols all around them. And just one jar of crude oil was there. But with faith in God they cleaned the Temple. Kindled that small lamp with hope and love. Then the story had a happy ending. Eight days of blessed light came from above.

ABOUT CHANUKAH

Chanukah begins in the reign of Alexander the Great who allowed religious freedom. Under his benevolent rule, many Jews assimilated Hellenistic culture in much the same way Jews do today.

A successor of Alexander, Antiochus IV outlawed Judaism. He looted and desecrated The Temple which provoked a large-scale revolt. Mattathias, a Jewish priest, and his five sons led the rebellion. The temple was liberated and rededicated.

According to the Talmud, unadulterated pure olive oil with the seal of the kohen gadol (high priest) was needed for the menorah in the Temple, required to burn throughout the night every night. The story goes that one flask was found with only enough oil to burn one day, yet it burned for eight, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of kosher oil. An eight-day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle.

There is no historical proof of the miracle of the oil. However, there is documentation about the eight-day celebration of sacrifices and songs.

Chanukah was a minor festival in the Jewish calendar. With the commercialization of Christmas and the pressure to give gifts during the holiday season, Chanukah has become a gift-giving holiday. However, we try to emphasize the inherent concepts and values of this holiday: religious freedom (separation of church and state), Jewish identity and Jewish solidarity.

13 Chanukah, Chanukah Chanukah, Chanukah, Chag yafeh kol kach. Or chaviv, mi-saviv, gil le-yeled rach. Chanukah Chanukah s’vi-vohn sov sov sov sov sov, sov sov sov, mah na-im va-tov.

Chanukah, Chanukah. Candles all aglow. Shining bright, what a sight, 8 nights in a row. Chanukah, Chanukah, dreidels spin about Spin Spin Spin (2x) as the children shout.