Der Rebbe Elimelech is a Yiddish song published in 1927 by the communist satirist

Moyshe Nadir Yitzchak Rayz (1885, Narayiv – 1943, Woodstock), better known by his pen name Moyshe Nadir (Yiddish: משה נאדיר ; also transliterated "Moishe") was an American Yiddish language writer and satirist. Rayz was born in the town of Narayiv, in ...

and loosely based on the song

Old King Cole "Old King Cole" is a British nursery rhyme first attested in 1708. Though there is much speculation about the identity of King Cole, it is unlikely that he can be identified reliably as any historical figure. It has a Roud Folk Song Index numb ...

Lyrics and translation

(first verse)

Yiddish

Yiddish lyrics:https://folkways.si.edu/mark-olf/der-rebbe-elimelech-the-rabbi-elimelech/judaica/music/track/smithsonian

English translation

When Rabbi Elimelekh Became happy, (Became happy, Elimelekh) He took off his

tefillin Tefillin (; Modern Hebrew language, Israeli Hebrew: / ; Ashkenazim, Ashkenazic pronunciation: ), or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Te ...

And he put on his glasses And he sent for his two

fiddlers A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...

. And the fiddling fiddlers Fiddlingly fiddled! Oh, they fiddlingly fiddled, they did!

References

Songs in Yiddish 1927 songs {{Folk-song-stub