Yā Ḥanukka[t] | יָא חַנוּכָּה | يَا حَنُكَّة — a Judeo-Arabic adaptation of Mordkhe Rivesman’s “Oy Khanike” by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

Shared on:

7 December 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Ḥanukkah

Tags:

זמירות zemirot, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Arabic translation, אױ חנוכה Oy Khanike

An original Judeo-Arabic adaptation of the song “Oy Khanike” (derived from the Yiddish poem of the same name by Mordkhe Rivesman) also known in English as “Oh Ḥanukkah” or in Hebrew as “Y’mei ha-Ḥanukka.” With thanks to Mazen Haddad for his help with the Arabic! Some notes: 1) Case endings and nunation, which would (in colloquial dialects) often be skipped or dropped, are transcribed in brackets. 2) The word “sufnāj” is a Moroccan Arabic dialectal word which is the agent noun for sfenj, a traditional type of North African doughnut.

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Adaptation (English)	Transliteration (Romanized Arabic)	Transliteration (Judeo-Arabic)	Translation (Arabic)
Hey Ḥanukkah, hey Ḥanukkah, glowing among the festivals!	Yā Ḥanukka[t], yā Ḥanukka[t], bayn[a] al-a3yād[i] talma3īn[a]!	יָא חַנוּכָּה̈, יָא חַנוּכָּה̈ בֵּין אַלְאַעְיָאדּ תַּלְמַעִין!	يَا حَنُكَّة، يَا حَنُكَّة، بَيْنَ الْأَعْيَادِ‎ تَلْمَعِينَ!
Above every festival are you and in you we are happy!	Fawqa kull 3īdin ant[i] wa-biki náḥnu fariḥīn[a]!	פֿוֹקָא כֻּל֘ עִידִּן אַנְתְּ וַבִּכִּי נַחְנוּ פַֿרִחִין!	فَوْقَ كُلّ عِيدٍ أَنْتِ وَبِكِ‎ ‎نَحْنُ فَرِحِينَ!
Let’s celebrate our freedom for eight nights.	Li-naḥtáfil bi-ḥurriyyátna fi laylāt[in] ṯamān[in].	לִנַחְתַּפִֿל בִּחֻרִ֘יַ֘תְּנָא פִֿי לֵילָאתּ תַֿמָאן	لِنَحْتَفِلْ بِحُرِّيَّتْنَا فِي لَيْلَاتٍ‎‎ ثَمَانٍ‎
Hey, donutman, for us, fry the dough!	Yā sufnāj, min ájlinā, íqli al-3ajīn[a]!	יָא סֻפְנָאגּ, מִן אַגְּלִנָא, אִקְלִי אֲלְעַגִּין!	يَا سُفْنَاجْ، مِنْ أَجْلِنَا اِقْلِ الْعَجِينَ‎‎‎!
And while we are gathered The fire of the oil is burned.	Wa-baynamā nujma3 Túḥraqu nār[a] az-zayt[i]	וַבֵּינַמָא נֻגְּמַע תֻּחְרַקוּ נָאר ﭏֲזֵ֘יתּ	وَبَيْنَمَا نُجْمَعْ تُحْرَقُ‎ نَارُ الزَّيْتِ‎
The lights shine so as to remind us About the Maccabees sanctifying the house!	Al-aḍwā'[u] tuḍā’u li-taḏkīruna 3an taqdis al-Mukabiyyin[a] lil-bayt[i]!	אֲלְאַצְ֗וָא תֻּצָ֗אוּ לִתַּדְֿכִּירֻנָא עַן תַּקְדִּיס אַלְמֻכָּאבִּיִ֘ין לִאלְבֵּיתּ!	الْأَضْوَاءُ‎‎‎ تُضَائُوا لِتَذْكِيرُنَا عَنْ تَقْدِيس اَلْمُكَابِيِّنَ لِلْبَيْتِ

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“Yā Ḥanukka[t] | יָא חַנוּכָּה | يَا حَنُكَّة — a Judeo-Arabic adaptation of Mordkhe Rivesman’s “Oy Khanike” by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also authors his own original works and transcribes Hebrew and Aramaic text, adding niqqud and t'amim as needed.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

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20th century Hanukkah lamp from Tunisia – Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme (credit: Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme, license: CC BY-SA)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17