Happy Chanukah
[NOTE: This is a slightly edited version of a previous post.]
Chanukah began last Sunday at sundown. But since it has eight days I still get a chance to wish you a happy one—tonight and for three more days, anyway.
The words of this Chanukah song in Yiddish—written in 1924 before the Holocaust and before the establishment of Israel—are not happy. But I didn’t know that when I first heard it, and I post it anyway because I think it’s very beautiful:
Here are the lyrics, as translated by Theodore Bikel (you can hear an excerpt of him singing it—or rather, reciting it, quite hauntingly— here):
O little lights of mystery
You recall our history
And all that went before
The battles and the bravery
And our release from slavery
Miracles galore.As my eyes behold your flames
I recall our heroes’ names
And our ancient dream:
“Jews were learning how to fight
To defeat an awesome might
They could reign supreme”“They would rule their own domain
When the enemy was slain,
The Temple cleansed and whole.
Once there was a Jewish land
And a mighty Jewish hand.”
Oh, how it moves my soul!O little lights of mystery
You retell our history
Your tales are tales of pain.
My heart is filled with fears
My eyes are filled with tears
“What now?” says the haunting refrain.
Remember: written in 1924.
Bikel translated the song that way in order to make the rhymes come out. But a more literal translation of that last verse might be:
Oh little candles,
your old stories
awaken my anguish;
deep in my heart there
stirs
a tearful question:
What will be next?
Indeed.
Happy to you too.
I read somewhere long ago – not in class – that the ascendance of Hanukkah to its current significance or emphasis was in part due to a desire to have a parallel celebration to Christmas.
I have no idea if it is true or how one would go about actually demonstrating such a proposition. I think you would have to find a population of Jews somewhere who had no contact with western Christians to act as a baseline.
DNW:
I was told the same thing. Also don’t know whether it’s true, but it makes sense.
The big Jewish holidays are Passover, Yom Kippur, and the Jewish New Year. There are many subsidiary holidays in Judaism, too, and Chanukah was apparently one of them. It’s still considered nowhere near as important as those I just listed, but it’s nice for the kiddies at Christmastime.
It’s true — thirty years ago, when I lived in Israel, banks were open and schools were in session; there was no time off for Hanukkah. The holiday’s basis is outside of the Tanakh — the Book of Maccabees is not part of the cannon. It’s even subsidiary to the subsidiary holidays. But it’s fun, and I love donuts (the festive food in Israel for Hanukkah.)
I have loved this song since I first got the CD it was on, about twenty years ago. I’ve always thought it would be great in a musical or a movie…
In this, my Christmas season, I wish you too, a reverent and joyous Happy Chanukah.
” … the Book of Maccabees is not part of the cannon.”
Yeah but, not to be too flippant, it’s got some of the best stuff in it from a certain perspective.
Almost as good as when Jehu riding up in a fury, demands of of the eunuchs peeping out of the upper story windows as to who is on his side or not. Then eying Griselda* the pagan wife and priestess or whatever she and her name was, says to them “Throw the bitch down!” … or something along those lines.
Or Joab’s sneeringly dismissive remark to the guy who comes panting up to him that he has seen Absolom:
Of course from a strictly spiritual aspect they may lack something I guess.
* Yeah yeah, I know I know …
I had a Jewish boss once, long ago. And after the holiday, and knowing something of Jewish history, I asked him if he had “had a holy holiday” … “or if he had spent it laying on a couch eating chips and watching ball games.”
During that same sentence I could see his face go from seeming bewilderment at what he (I later surmised) was apparently imagining as an insult in the process of being delivered, to a recognition that it was a sympathetic challenge.
He acknowledged, apparently touched, that he had indeed tried to have a genuine holiday and to live its meaning.
I wish the same success for any other Jewish folks who might, as Neo’s visitors, read this.
For those of us who know little of Jewish traditions, Daniel Greenfield has a great post about Chanuka, which explains the meaning.
http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-light-of-chanukah.html
May the candles always stay lit.