This week, I have chosen S’vivon Sov Sov Sov as my song share piece, which is an Israeli Hanukkah song performed by the Girls Choir of South Florida for their 2015 Christmas Choral Concert. S’vivon Sov Sov Sov, which translated means “dreidel, spin, spin, spin,” is a traditional Jewish children’s song sung during the season of Hanukkah, which is an 8-day winter holiday known as the Festival of Lights that commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem and reaffirms the teachings of Judaism. The lyrical aspects of the piece, commonly sung as children compete for prizes by spinning dreidels, discuss the great miracles that have happened to the Jewish people and the joy felt during the Hanukkah season. The dreidel, though seemingly just for fun, was adopted by the Jewish people during the Maccabean era as a way for Jews to study the Torah in secret. During this era, government powers forbade Jews from reading this text and practicing Judaism, which led to the creation of clever methods of study. To avoid persecution, Jews hid their Torah scrolls and replaced them with dreidels, carving Hebrew letters on the toy’s four sides that represented the first four books of the Torah, with the bottom being the fifth book. In this way, Jews could appear to be playing a harmless gambling game while, in reality, studying the various religious readings, avoiding the wrath of the Maccabean government. Since then, dreidels have become a well-known symbol of Jewish culture and Hanukkah traditions, therefore being added to many Israeli songs, including S’vivion Sov Sov Sov. 

When listening to the performed piece, the repetition of lyrics in an acapella style, meaning no musical instruments, is instantly identified by individuals due to the uncommon element of having a vocal tune that lacks musical instruments, making this piece pronounced to a listener’s ear. Despite this, the piece contains a very rhythmic air that, when combined with the bright timbre of the composition’s vocals, paints an image of holiday cheer and joyful emotions.

I chose S’vivon Sov Sov Sov as my song share piece for the week because I performed this song last year for my high school’s Winter Choir Showcase, which was truly memorable. Although the repetitive piece was straightforward to retain, the final performance was breathtaking, leading to the composition becoming one of my favorite songs to perform. Because I enjoyed this musical composition so much, I wanted to learn more about its history and meanings for myself and my colleagues through this week’s song share assignment.