"I Have a Little Dreidel"University of Pennsylvania Library: Freedman Collection of Recorded Jewish Music
/ref> (also known as "The Dreidel Song" or "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel") is a children's Hanukkah song in the English-speaking world that also exists in a

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

version called "Ikh Bin A Kleyner Dreydl", (

: Lit: I am a little dreidel german: Ich bin ein kleiner Dreidel). The song is about making a dreidel and playing with it.

History

The lyrics for the English version were written by Samuel S. Grossman and the composer of the English version is listed as Samuel E. Goldfarb (also S. E. Goldfarb). The song was written in 1927. The Yiddish version was both written and composed by Mikhl Gelbart, albeit under the name of Ben Arn, a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

referring to himself as the son of Aaron.Lori Cahan-Simon Ensemble / Vessel of Song: The Music of Mikhl Gelbart
/ref>) There is a question about who composed this music since the melody for both the Yiddish and the English versions are precisely the same. The

United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is the major congregational organization of Conservative Judaism in North America, and the largest Conservative Jewish communal body in the world. USCJ closely works with the Rabbinical Assembly ...

(formerly known as The United Synagogue of America) is believed to be the first to publish the song in a collection of songs with its first printing in 1950 of the book, ''The Songs We Sing'' by Harry Coopersmith. The writers of the song in English only translated the original Yiddish version which was considered a folk song with the lyrics written by Mikhl Gelbart. Most believe that neither Goldfarb nor Grossman actually copyrighted the song and it was not included in Goldfarb's own printed book of songs because of this fact. The meaning of the lyrics to the Yiddish and English versions is largely the same. However, in the original Yiddish version, the singer is referring to his or herself as the dreidel -- a four-sided spinning top -- made out of "blai" ( yi, בלײַ), which translates to

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

. In the English version, the lyrics refer to the singer having a dreidel made out of

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

Versions

References

{{authority control English children's songs Hanukkah music Jewish songs Yiddish-language songs Year of song unknown

History

Versions

See also

References