Ocho Kandelikas

"Ocho Kandelikas" (lit. 'Eight Little Candles') is a Ladino song celebrating the holiday of Hanukkah, written by the Jewish-American composer Flory Jagoda in 1983.[1]

The song is sung in Ladino, an Old Spanish-derived language traditionally associated with the Sephardic Jewish community.[2] The song is often performed in an Argentine tango-rhythm with accompanying accordion and violins. The lyrics of the song describes a child's joy of lighting the candles on the menorah.

The song has been recorded and performed by Voice of the Turtle (appearing on their CD: Circle of Fire; Boston 1986), Erran Baron Cohen, the Portland-based lounge orchestra Pink Martini, the multilingual rock group Hip Hop Hoodios, the London-based jazz flamenco group Los Desterrados, the female a cappella ensemble Vocolot, chazzan Alberto Mizrahi, Yasmin Levy, an Israeli singer-songwriter of Ladino music, and Idina Menzel,[3] an American actress, performer, singer and songwriter.