HANUKKAH — RIGLI PRODUCTION NOTES

Preserved project account, checked 5 September 2026.
Source: JewishHit editorial casebook, Hanukkah (case 16), revision 37395a8 dated 16 August 2026.
This is the project’s account of its own work, not independent evidence about the 1912 song.
The former JewishHit article URL now redirects to its homepage; this copy preserves the relevant account for readers.

Olga wrote a Russian Hanukkah world for families

Walter commissioned Olga Anikina to write an original Russian holiday lyric filled with snowy wind, warm light, a spinning dreidel, latkes and candles that shine like stars.

Walter composed the music and created the arrangement and production. The verse carries a thread of the traditional Khanike Oy Khanike melody, the way Elechka still sings it. The chorus and the full arrangement are new, rewritten until the source is barely recognizable.

Walter kept the images and rewrote the lyric to sing naturally

Walter created an English lyric based on Olga's Russian text. The version keeps the home, winter, dreidel, latkes, growing menorah lights and sense of wonder while making each line work as an English song rather than a literal gloss.

The central answer becomes simple and memorable: the greatest of wonders is love.

The song now serves homes, classrooms and communal celebrations

The finished English release gives children and families a contemporary song they can hear, sing and discuss. Its public description also includes history, themes, questions and educator prompts.

That educational layer does not replace the song. It helps the recording become a doorway into participation and memory.

Recordings for comparison are embedded on JewishSong.org/songs/hanukkah and JewishSong.org/russian/hanukkah-ru.