Tumbalalaika
                                                 Lyrics and Music Originated in Eastern Europe in the 1930s. Exact origin is hard to pinpoint.
                                                                            Singers  Cantor Benzion Miller(Canada), Cantor Alberto Mizrahi(USA),  Cantor  Naftali Herstik (Israel)

 Tumbalalaika” is a riddle song seeped in ancient European tradition. The boy picks a girl to answer his riddle. "What can grow without rain? What can burn and never  stop burning? What can weep and never shed a tear?" - the boy asks the girl.  "Tumbalalaika" provides us with an opportunity for young people to explore the mysteries of life. This is while they get to know each other. I have spent hours and hours to pin point the origin. No luck. In the 1930s, Jewish boys, Jewish children in Volhynia, Hungary, or Romania were singing this song to their Libes ( English Sweet Heart). 
The most distinguished cantors in the world ,Cantor Benzion Miller (Canada), Cantor Alberto Mizrahi (USA) and Cantor Naftali Herstik (Israel) performed this song at the Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam in 2003 during their tour of 
“A Faith in Song”. 

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Yiddish 
Shteyt a bokher, un er trakht
Trakht un  trakht a gantse nakht
Vemen tzu nemen un nisht farshemen
Vemen tzu nemen  un nisht farshemen
((chorus))
Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
 Tumbala, Tumbala,  Tumbalalaika
Tumbalalaika, shpil balalaika
Tumbalalaika freylekh zol zayn

 Meydl, meydl, kh'vil bay dir fregn,
Vos ken vaksn, vaksn on regn?
Vos  ken brenen un nit oyfhern?
Vos ken benken, veynen on trern?
((chorus))

 Narisher bokher, vos darfstu fregn?
A shteyn ken vaksn, vaksn on regn.
Libe ken brenen un nit oyfhern.
A harts ken benken, veynen on trern.
((chorus)) 

Vos iz hekher fun a hoyz?
Vos iz flinker fun a moyz?
Vos iz tifer fun a  kval?
Vos iz biter, biterer vi gal?


A koymen iz hekher fun a hoyz.
A kats iz flinker fun a moyz.
Di toyre  iz tifer fun a kval.
Der toyt iz biter, biterer vi gal.
((chorus))

English
A young lad stands, and he thinks
Thinks and thinks the whole  night  through
Whom to take and not to shame
Whom to take and not  to shame
((chorus))

Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbala, Tumbala,  Tumbalalaika
Tumbalalaika, strum balalaika
Tumbalalaika, may we be  happy

 Girl, girl, I want to ask of you
What can grow, grow without rain?
What  can burn and never end?
What can yearn, cry without tears?
((chorus))

 Foolish lad, why do you have to ask?
A stone can grow, grow without  rain
Love can burn and never end
A heart can yearn, cry without  tears
((chorus)) 

What is higher than a house?
What is  swifter than a mouse?
What is deeper than a well?
What is bitter, more  bitter than gall?

 A chimney is higher than a house
A cat is swifter than a mouse
The  Torah is deeper than a well
Death is bitter, more bitter than  gall
((chorus))