Latke ditties
I remember 2 latkes songs.
Who can deny the king of the fry?
The latke precious
Who can withhold all glory and gold from such as he?
[The rest is not clear in my mind, though it goes on with a "Hear. . ]
The lyrics of the second:
Each Chanukah we celebrate great Judah Macabeus
Who had the courage to defy Antiochus and free us
Yet it is not fair that we should forget
Mrs. Macabeus, whom we owe a debt
She mixed it
She fixed it
She poured it into a bowl
You may not guess
But it was the latkes
That gave brave Judah a soul
[The last 2 lines are repeated. "She mixed it. . ." serves as the chorus. Another part of that song I remember is]
One latkes, two lates
and so on into the night
Anyone have the complete text?
Who can deny the king of the fry?
The latke precious
Who can withhold all glory and gold from such as he?
[The rest is not clear in my mind, though it goes on with a "Hear. . ]
The lyrics of the second:
Each Chanukah we celebrate great Judah Macabeus
Who had the courage to defy Antiochus and free us
Yet it is not fair that we should forget
Mrs. Macabeus, whom we owe a debt
She mixed it
She fixed it
She poured it into a bowl
You may not guess
But it was the latkes
That gave brave Judah a soul
[The last 2 lines are repeated. "She mixed it. . ." serves as the chorus. Another part of that song I remember is]
One latkes, two lates
and so on into the night
Anyone have the complete text?
Comments
Mrs. Maccabeus
(by Ben Aronin, z"l, of Congregation Anshe Emet in Chicago)
(to the tune of "O Chanukah")
Each Chanukah we glorify brave Judah Maccabeus
Who had the courage to defy Antiochus, and free us,
Yet it is not fair that we should forget
Mrs. Maccabeus, whom we owe a debt.
She mixed it, and fixed it
She poured it into a bowl
You may not guess, but it was the latkes
That gave brave Judah a soul.
You may not guess but it was the latkes
That gave brave Judah a soul.
The Syrians said: "It cannot be that old Mattathias
Whose years are more than 83 will dare to defy us!"
But they didn't know his secret, you see
Mattathias dined on latkes and teac.
One latke, two latkes
And so on into the night
You may not guess but it was the latkes
that gave him the courage to fight.
You may not guess but it was the latkes
that gave him the courage to fight.
Now this is how it came about this gastonomic wonder
That broke the ranks of Syria like flaming bolts of thunder
Mrs. Maccabeus wrote in the dough
Portions of the Torah then fried them so.
They shimmered, they simmered,
Absorbing the olive oil
You may not guess but it was the latkes
that made the Syrians recoil.
You may not guess but it was the latkes
that made the Syrians recoil.
Now these little latkes brown and delicious
must have hit the spot 'cause with appetites vicious
All the heroes downed them after their toil
Causing in our Temple a shortage of oil
One latke, two latkes,
And so on into the night.
You may not guess but it was the latkes
that gave us the Chanukah light.
You may not guess but it was the latkes
that gave us the Chanukah light.