Oy, Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel

First, a few quick celebrity death watch notes. Gil Marks wrote about Jewish food. Ken Weatherwax played Pugsley Addams on TV. Mary Ann Mobley leveraged being Miss America into an acting career.

I have a number of serious things to write about, but this has been a hectic week and I am more inclined to be frivolous. Today’s holidailies prompt has to do with holiday music. The token Chanukah songs that got thrown into the mix for chorus when I was growing up were Mi Yimalel and I Had a Little Dreidel. The former is okay, but the latter annoys me. Clay is obviously a completely inappropriate material to make a dreidel from, since it is fragile. And you don’t just wait for clay to dry; you bake it in a kiln.

So let’s try some alternate lyrics.

I have a little dreidel
I made it out of wood
Getting splinters playing
Would not be very good.


I have a little dreidel
I made it out of tin
Now I can gamble pennies
Along with all my kin.


I have a little dreidel
I knitted it from wool
If you tried to spin it
You’d see that I’m a fool.


I made a little dreidel
With origami fold
No matter what I use
This song is dumb and old.