"Ocho Kandelikas" ( 'Eight Little Candles') is a Ladino song celebrating the holiday of

Hanukkah or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem) , nickname = , observedby = Jews , begins = 25 Kislev , ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet , celebrations = Lighting candles each nig ...

, written by the

Jewish-American American Jews or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by religion, ethnicity, culture, or nationality. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who descend from diaspora Je ...

composer

Flory Jagoda Flory Jagoda (born Flora Papo; December 21, 1923January 29, 2021) was a Bosnian Jewishborn American guitarist, composer and singer-songwriter. She was known for her composition and interpretation of Sephardic songs, Judeo-Espanyol (Ladino) song ...

in 1983. The song is sung in Ladino, an

Old Spanish Old Spanish, also known as Old Castilian ( es, castellano antiguo; osp, romance castellano ), or Medieval Spanish ( es, español medieval), was originally a dialect of Vulgar Latin spoken in the former provinces of the Roman Empire that provided ...

-derived language traditionally associated with the

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

Jewish community. The song is often performed in an Argentine

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

-rhythm with accompanying accordion and violins. The lyrics of the song describe a child's joy of lighting the candles on the menorah. The song has been recorded and performed by: * Sarah Aroeste, an American singer and composer on the album Hanuká *

Voice of the Turtle Voice of the Turtle is a musical group specializing in Sephardic music. Voice of the Turtle is unique in its emphasis on doing original historical research before making recordings. The band members travel the world looking for documents of Sephar ...

(appearing on their CD: Circle of Fire; Boston 1986) *

Erran Baron Cohen Erran Boaz Baron Cohen (born May 1968) is an English composer and trumpet player known for collaborations with his younger brother, Sacha Baron Cohen. Life and career Baron Cohen is a founding member of the world music group Zohar who are sig ...

* Portland-based lounge orchestra

Pink Martini Pink Martini is an American band that was founded in 1994 by pianist Thomas Lauderdale in Portland, Oregon. Group members call it a little orchestra that crosses several styles, such as classical, latin, traditional pop, and jazz. The co-lead vo ...

* Multilingual rock group

Hip Hop Hoodios In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint. The hip region is ...

* London-based jazz flamenco group Los Desterrados * Female Acappella ensemble

Vocolot Vocolot is a contemporary Jewish women's a cappella ensemble based in California, USA. History Vocolot began in 1988, when singer-songwriter Linda Hirschhorn informally assembled a group of musicians to record some of the songs she had written ...

chazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' ( he, חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish ''khazn''; Ladino ''Hasan'') is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer. In English, thi ...

Alberto Mizrahi *

Yasmin Levy Yasmin Levy ( he, יסמין לוי; born December 23, 1975) is an Israeli singer-songwriter of Judeo-Spanish music. Biography Yasmin Levy was born on December 23, 1975, in Baka, Jerusalem. She is of Sephardic Jewish descent. Her parents were A ...

, an Israeli singer-songwriter of Ladino music *

Idina Menzel Idina Kim Menzel ( ; ; born May 30, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Particularly known for her work in musicals on the Broadway stage and having achieved mainstream success across stage, film and music, Menzel has garnered the honorif ...

, an American actress, performer, singer and songwriter *

Bella Ríos Bella is a feminine given name. It is a diminutive form of names ending in -bella. ''Bella'' is related to the Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Latin words for beautiful, to the name Belle, meaning ''beautiful'' in French. It increased in ...

, Cuban-Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter.

Lyrics

References

Hanukkah music Judaeo-Spanish-language songs 1983 songs 2021 songs {{Folk-song-stub