Ma'oz Tzur

[rhu]

The singing of "Ma'oz Tzur" is a strong Channukah tradition. And it seems to trump people's personal beliefs. Jews who no longer pray for the Messianic redemption or the restoration of the sacrificial service in the Temple sing with great gusto:

Ma'oz, Tsur yeshuati	Strong One, Rock of my salvation
L'cha na'eh l'shabe'ach	To you it is fitting to utter praise
Tikon beit t'filiati	Repair the house of my prayer [the Temple]
V'sham todah n'zabe'ach	and there a Thankgsgiving-sacrifice I will offer.
L'et tachin matbe'ach	In the hour when you have prepared the slaughter
Mitzar ham'nabe'ach	of the enemy, the blasphemer
Az egmor, b'shir mizmor,	Then I shall complete, with song and singing
Chanukat hamizbe'ach	the dedication of the altar.

The poem "Ma'oz Tzur" then enumerates various incidents when we were deprived of the ability to offer God the sacrifices at the temple, and in each case celebrates our return to it: first the Pesach story, then the exile to Bavel, then the Purim story, and finally we get to Channukah. And this fifth verse is, in my opinion, very beautiful and the only one of the six verses with which every Jew today can agree:

Y'vanim nik'b'tsu alai	[Selucid] Greeks gathered against me
azai bimei Chashmanim	then, in the days of the Hasmoneans
Ufar'tsu chomot migdalai	And they penetrated the walls of my towers
V'tim'u kawl hash'manim	And defiled all the oils
Uminotar kankanim	And from what remained of the flasks
Na'asah nes lashoshanim	occurred a miracle for the roses [Israel]
B'nei vinah y'mei sh'monah	People of wisdom did "eight days"
kav'u, shir ur'nanim	establish for singing and for joyous songs.

I don't mean to put down the rest of "Ma'oz Tzur", which I think is a beautiful example of piyyut (paraliturgical poetry) and which I personally find inspiring and meaningful as an expression of yearning for the Redemption and the end of our Dispersion. I merely toss out as something to think about: should an individual or a movement of Judaism who disagrees with the words of the first verse of Ma'oz Tzur sing the fifth verse instead?

(A topic for another year: what is the sixth verse doing there anyway?)

Chag sameach!

Comments

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

My guess is that most people who sing Ma'oz Tzur only sing the first verse simply because it is the first one, and don't really think about what it means. KInd of like most Americans only know the first verse of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

You joined the cult and didn't tell us? Hmph! (Glad to have you aboard!) :-)

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

Cult? What cult? All I know is that Michael mentioned something about LJ and when I woke up I was here, in the pretty white room with the low-protein mush and....

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall your resisting attempts to recruit you a couple months ago... glad you took leave of came to your senses.