{{Listen|filename=Raisins and Almonds - Singing Sergeants - United States Air Force Band.mp3|title="Raisins and Almonds"|description=Performed by the Singing Sergeants of the [[United States Air Force Band]]}} "'''Raisins and Almonds'''" ({{langx|yi|ראָזשינקעס מיט מאַנדלען|translit=Rozhinkes mit Mandlen}}) is a traditional [[Jewish]] lullaby popularized in the version by [[Abraham Goldfaden]] (1840-1908) for his 1880 [[Yiddish]] play, ''[[Shulamit (play)|Shulamit]]''.<ref>[https://www.bethsnotesplus.com/2020/02/rozhinkes-mit-mandlen.html "Words and Music for the Song 'Raisins and Almonds'"], on BethsNotesPlus.com</ref><ref>[http://www.songsofmypeople.com/rozhinkes-mit-mandlen.html "Rozhinkes mit Mandlen"] on Songs of My People.com</ref>
[[Gila Flam]] writes that the song was based on a Yiddish folk song which was forgotten and Goldfaden's acquired the status of the [[folk song]].<ref>[[Gila Flam]], [https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=999653 Raisins and Almonds: A Yiddish Song as a Metaphor of Yiddish Folk Culture in the 21st Century], ''[[Studia Judaica]]'', vol. 23, no. 1, 2021, pp. 51-80</ref> It has been recorded as both a vocal and instrumental by many artists over the years, including [[Itzhak Perlman]], [[Chava Alberstein]], [[Benita Valente]], and [[Ella Jenkins]]. It is a common lullaby among [[Ashkenazi]] European Jews. This song has multiple translations and multiple versions, which have slight changes in both Yiddish and English lyrics.
Several ghetto writers used Goldfaden's lullaby as the basis for new songs: out of the [[Kovno Ghetto]] came {{lang|yi-Latn|In Slobodker yeshiva}} (In the [[Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael (Slabodka)|yeshiva of Slobodka]]); in the [[Łódź Ghetto]], [[David Beigelman|Dovid Beygelman]] and [[Isaiah Spiegel]] wrote {{lang|yi-Latn|Nit keyn rozhinkes, nit keyn mandlen}} (No raisins, no almonds).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rozhinkes mit mandlen ♫|url=https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/places/ghettos/kovno/rozhinkes-mit-mandlen/|access-date=2020-12-14|website=holocaustmusic.ort.org}}</ref> One verse of the song appears in the [[Herman Wouk]] novel ''[[War and Remembrance]]'' in Yiddish as well as an English translation, and also in the [[War and Remembrance (TV miniseries)|TV miniseries]] based on the book.
The motif of a cradle, a goat kid, and raisins and almonds is present in a number of other recorded Yiddish folk tunes preceding Goldfadeen's, including "Unter soreles vigele" ("Under Little Sarah's Cradle") and other variants, such as "Unter yankeles vigele" and "Unter dem kinds vigele"<ref>[[Neil W. Levin]], [https://yivo.org/cimages/gimpel_the_fool.pdf ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER IN A YIDDISH OPERA David Schiff’s GIMPEL THE FOOL]</ref><ref>[[Alex Weiser]], [https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/preserving-reviving-yiddish-folksong A Song Still Vital: Preserving and Reviving Yiddish Folk Music]</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.hebrewsongs.com/?song=rozinkesmitmandlen Lyrics] and miscellaneous other materials related to the song * [https://yiddishlyrics.wordpress.com/2007/12/13/rozinkes-mit-mandlen-%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%96%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%A7%D7%A2%D7%A1-%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%98-%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%A0%D7%93%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%9F/ Lyrics], written using the Yiddish alphabet.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Raisins And Almonds}} [[Category:Lullabies]] [[Category:Songs in Yiddish]] [[Category:Abraham Goldfaden]]