Why this tune?
I’m sharing a Hanukkah song this week to mark the start of the eight day holiday on the evening of December 7. “Nerot Dolkim” (“Candles Lit”) was written by Hanina Karchevsky and Levin Kipnis, two pioneers of modern Hebrew song in the early 20th century.
According to the National Library of Israel, “Nerot Dolkim” (“Candles Lit”) was first published in a 1920 book of “Songs for School.” The composer, Karchevsky, is considered the founder of Hebrew-language music education, working in Tel Aviv from 1910 until his untimely death by suicide in 1925. Kipnis, who wrote the lyrics, was also active as a writer and poet
from the late 1910s until his death in 1990, contributing lyrics for many Hebrew holiday
and children’s songs that are still familiar today.
I included two other Hanukkah songs with lyrics by Kipnis in my collection “Eight Songs for Eight Days,” which you can hear on my Bandcamp page.
Wishing you Hanukkah Sameach (Happy Hanukkah) and a happy and healthy holiday season.
Tunes On Tuesday Reel
Check it out!
Sung by Yaffa Yarkoni
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 