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בָּאנוּ חׇשֵׁךְ לְקַדֵּשׁ | Banu Ḥoshekh l’Qadesh (We come to sanctify the dark), by rabbis David Seidenberg and Jill Hammer

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 Ḥanukkah
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Source (Hebrew) Transliteration (English) Translation (English)
Alternative lyrics (full rewrite), ver. 1.0, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org) after Banu Ḥoshekh L’Garesh by Sara Levi-Tanai (1960)

בָּאנוּ חׇשֵׁךְ לְקַדֵּשׁ
קוֹדֶם שֶׁמֶשׁ תִּתְחַדֵּשׁ
בְּיָדֵינוּ אוֹר וְנֵר
לֵיל כַּשַּׂלְמָה לְפָאֵר
Banu choshech l’kadesh
Kodem shemesh titchadesh
B’yadeinu or v’ner
Leil kasalmah l’fa’er
We come to sanctify the dark
Afore the sun renews its light
In our hands, may light and flame
Bejewel, as tapestry, the night

נִשְׁתֳּלֶנּוּ גַּרְעִין אֵשׁ
בַּד הַחוֹשֶׁךְ מְלַפֵּף
גַּרְעִינִים שֶׁל אֵשׁ וָאוֹר
בּוֹהֲקִים מִתּוֹךְ הַשְׁחוֹר
Nish’talenu gar’in esh
Bad hachoshekh m’lapef
Gar’inim shel esh va-or
Bohakim mitokh hash’chor
We will plant our fire’s seed
In weave of darkness nestling
Seeds of fire and of light
Radiant within the night
Alternative lyrics (lightly amended), ver. 1.0, by Rabbi Jill Hammer & David Seidenberg (neohasid.org) after Banu Ḥoshekh L’Garesh by Sara Levi-Tanai (1960)

בָּאנוּ חוֹשֶׁךְ לְקַדֵּשׁ
בְּיָדֵינוּ אוֹר וָאֵשׁ
כָּל אֶחָד הוּא אוֹר קָטָן
וְכֻלָנוּ אוֹר אֵיתָן
Banu choshekh l’kadesh
B’yadeinu or va’esh
Kol echad hu or katan
V’khulanu or eitan
We’ve come to sanctify the dark,
in our hands a little spark
Each of us a tiny light,
and together we’re so bright.

קוּמָה חוֹשֶׁךְ
עֲלֵה שְחוֹר
קוּמָה לִקְרַאת הָאוֹר
Kumah choshekh
Aleh sh’chor
Kumah, likrat ha-or!
Come up darkness,
rise up night,
Come up, to greet the light! (2x)

These are alternative lyrics to the popular Ḥanukkah song, Banu Ḥoshekh L’Garesh (We come to chase the dark away) by Sara Levi-Tanai (1960).

Source(s)

Download Banu-Hoshekh-lQadesh-David-Seidenberg-neohasid.org-2018.pdf (PDF, 103KB)

Related liturgy and liturgy-related work:

✍ באנו חשך לגרש | Banu Ḥoshekh l’Garesh (We come to chase the dark away), by Sara Levi-Tanai (1960)

✍ תפילה ליום הודו על חנוכּה | Prayer on Thanksgivukah by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)

✍ תפילה לראש חודש טבת ותקופת החורף על חנוכּה | Prayer for the new moon of Tevet on Ḥanukkah occurring on the winter solstice, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)

✍ חנוכה מדריך | A Guide for the Blessing over kindling the Ḥanukkah lights, (German trans. by Chajm Guski)

✍ ברכה לסבוב הסביבון | A Blessing for Dreidel Spinning, by Lieba B. Deutsch

✍ כוונה להדלקת נרוֺת חנוּכה | Kavvanah for Ḥanukkiah Lighting by Bonna Devora Haberman, z”l (Mistabra Institute for Jewish Textual Activism, 2002)

✍ חנוכה שמח – מנדלה | Ḥanukkah Sameaḥ Mandala by Ḥatul Yehudi (Cat Jew)

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“בָּאנוּ חׇשֵׁךְ לְקַדֵּשׁ | Banu Ḥoshekh l’Qadesh (We come to sanctify the dark), by rabbis David Seidenberg and Jill Hammer” is shared by David Seidenberg with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
David Seidenberg

David Seidenberg

Rabbi David Seidenberg, the founder of NeoHasid.org, teaches text and music, Jewish thought and spirituality, in their own right and in relation to ecology and the environment. David is the author of the acclaimed book Kabbalah and Ecology: God's Image in the More-Than-Human World (Cambridge U. Press, 2015). To read selections and find out about ordering the book, go to kabbalahandecology.com. David has smikhah (ordination) from the Jewish Theological Seminary and from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and he has taught at over 100 synagogues, communities, retreats and conferences across North America (and a few in Europe and Israel), and is published widely on ecology and Judaism. David's teaching empowers learners to become creators of Judaism through deep study and communion with texts and tradition. Areas of specialty include Kabbalah and Chasidut, Talmud, davenning, evolution and cosmology, sustainability, Maimonides, Buber, and more.

Rabbi Jill Hammer, Ph.D.

Rabbi Jill Hammer, Ph.D.

Jill Hammer is the Director of Spiritual Education at the Academy for Jewish Religion. Jill is the author of two books: “Sisters at Sinai: New Tales of Biblical Women” (JPS, 01) and “The Jewish Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons” (JPS, 06). She is the co-founder of the Kohenet Institute, a program in Jewish women's spiritual leadership. An essayist, poet, midrashist and ritualist, her work has been in publications including Zeek Magazine, The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, The Torah: A Women's Commentary, The Forward, The Jewish Spectator, and Lilith as well as on-line on many websites. Several of her divrei torah can be heard on soundcloud, thanks to the Romemu congregation.

neohasid.org

neohasid.org

NeoHasid.org was created by Rabbi David Seidenberg to help folks integrate Chasidic song, learning, and nusach into their davenning and communities and to explore embodied Torah. It evolved to focus on eco-Torah and to share liturgy that honors our relationship with the Earth and/or expresses gender parity.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established."–Psalms 90:17

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