7th candle: God, Humanity & Redemption through partnership

The 8 blogs of Chanukah. Each night a new blog from the community of Congregation B'nai Israel.

Tonight, the seventh blog of Chanukah is brought to you by Dr. Lisa Grant.  Lisa is a member of both Congregation B'nai Israel and Beth El.  She is Associate Professor of Jewish Education at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, on the New York campus.  Lisa has done extensive research and writing on Israel education.  She regularly chants Torah at B'nai Israel on a Shabbat morning, and has contributed in many other ways since her arrival in our community two years ago, teaching adult education classes and giving several divrei Torah at services.  She is married to Dr. Billy Weitzer, Senior Vice President of Fairfield University, and they have two adult children, Hannah and Nate.

Hanukkah is one of the most celebrated holidays in American Jewish life and there are probably more Jews who know at least one Hanukkah song than for any other holiday.  Even public school Holiday concerts often include a Hanukkah song such as “I Have a Little Dreidl” or “Light One Candle” or my all-time favorite for the silliness factor Debbie Friedman’s “I am a Latke.”  But my favorite Hanukkah song is a Hebrew one and my holiday celebration would be incomplete without singing it at least a few times over the eight nights. It’s called “Mi Yimalel” or “Who Can Retell”. 

I learned this song as a child and confess that I didn’t give much thought to the words for many years.  It has a lively tune with simple words that are fun to sing in a round.  The song doesn’t mention the miracle of oil; it doesn’t talk about religious freedom.  It’s just a gleeful celebration of the heroes who rise up in every age to save the Jewish people from disaster.  Here are the lyrics as they are usually sung in English with the more literal translation included in parentheses:

Who can retell the things that befell us? (heroic deeds of Israel)

Who can count them?

In every age, a hero or sage (arises)

Came to our aid (To redeem the people).

Hark!! (Listen!)

The second part of the song is translated much less often.  These words name Judah Maccabee as the hero of that time long ago, but say that now all Israel must unite together to redeem themselves.

In those days at this season

Judah the Maccabee saved us.

Now in these days all the people of Israel

Must unite and rise to redeem themselves.

The song was composed by Menashe Ravina a Ukrainian Jew who made aliyah to Palestine (pre-State Israel) in 1924.  It is one of hundreds of folk tunes that were composed throughout the 20^th century to express and embed Zionist ideology into Israeli culture.  The song is based on a biblical verse from Psalm 106 that is also part of traditional liturgy both in Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals) and the Hymn of Glory that Orthodox and some Conservative congregations sing at the end of Shabbat morning services.  Here’s that verse in Hebrew, transliteration and English translation: 

:Iœ,ŠK¦v§T›kŠF ‹gh½¦n§J³Ãh v·²u«v±h ,IÉrUc±D k‡K©n±Óh h½¦n

Mee y’maleil g’vurot Adonai, Yashmi’a kol t’hilato

Who can tell the mighty acts of Adonai?  Who can declare all God’s praise?

As a Labor Zionist, Ravina embraced the notion that it was up to human beings to save the Jewish people, not God.  For Ravina, saving the Jewish people meant building up the Jewish State. So Mi Yimalel is a celebration of the classical secular Zionist notion that the Jewish people, not God will be the ones to reclaim, resettle, and re-establish Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel. 

At an earlier point in my life, I think I would have endorsed these words more strongly than I do today where they raise profound questions for me theologically and ideologically. I’m not  at all sure we Jews should or could go it alone, without God’s help in our individual lives and in our collective future.  I’m also not altogether comfortable thinking about Jewish history as simply a string of disasters that require salvation.  There’s much much more to celebrate than that.  But, in the meantime I still sing this song, joyfully at Hanukkah.  I sing it because of its history and also because I believe that as God’s partners, we are ultimately responsible for  here in America, in Israel and all other places where Jews dwell.  

The lyrics to the song are included below as are two youtube links to hear two very different renditions!

Chag Urim Sameach!! May the lights of Hanukkah bring you happiness during this festive time.

Mi Yimalel

?v®b§n°h h¦n i¨,Ut k¥t¨r§J±h ,IÉrUc±D k‡K©n±Óh h¦n

/oŠg¨v k¥tUD rUC°d©v oUe²h rIs kŠf‰C i¥v

!g©n§a

v®Z¨v i©n±z‹C o¥v¨v oh¦n²h‹C

/v¤sUpU ‹gh¦aUn hˆCF©n

k¥t¨ra±h o‹g kŠF Ub¥n²h‰cU

!k¥t²D°h±u oUe²h s¥j©t§,°h

Mee y’maleil g’vurot Yisrael, otan mee yimneh?

Hein b’chol dor yakum ha’gibor

Go-eil ha’am.

Sh’ma!

Ba’yamim ha’hem ba’zman ha’zeh.

Makabi moshiyah u’fodeh

U’v’yameinu kol am Yisrael

Yit’ached yakum v’yiga’el.

Who can retell the things that befell us? (heroic deeds of Israel)

Who can count them?

In every age, a hero or sage (arises)

Came to our aid (To redeem the people).

Listen!

In those days at this season

Judah the Maccabee saved us.

Now in these days all the people of Israel

Must unite and rise to redeem themselves.