I Have a Little Dreidel — The True Story
by Susan Wolfe

Everyone knows the song, My Dreidel ("I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay…"). It’s the obligatory Jewish song tossed into the grammar-school Christmas concert to convert it instantly into a multicultural "holiday" program...and it’s the Jewish folk song seemingly so old that it’s no longer attributed.

When he was a young man living in Brooklyn Heights, eking out a living between the Kane Street Synagogue and the Bureau of Jewish Education of New York... Sam Goldfarb, wrote My Dreidel...

Along with his brother, Israel, he wrote many, many liturgical and holiday melodies, including the haunting Shalom Aleichem, the Friday night Kiddush (the blessing over the wine), Adon Olam,and the "traditional" Birkhat Hamazon (blessing after meals).

Complete Article:
http://beingjewish.org/magazine/winter2001/article4.html

http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=89