This is an archive of prayers, prayer-poems, and songs for the festival of חֲנֻכָּה (Ḥanukkah), commemorating the crucial victory of the Jewish people in retaining its culture, lifeways, and Temple vis-à-vis the oppressive hegemony of the Seleucid Greek kingdom around 164 BCE. Click here to contribute a prayer you have written, or a transcription and/or translation of a historic Ḥanukkah prayer or song in any language, familiar or obscure. Filter resources by Collaborator Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category Filter resources by Language Filter resources by Date Range
Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman introduced the tradition of reading these verses from Isaiah during the month of Kislev through the end of Ḥanukkah in his Siddur Ha’Avodah Shebalev of Kehillat Kol HaNeshamah (R’ Levi Weiman-Kelman, R’ Ma’ayan Turner, and Shaul Vardi, 2007). The translation provided here was adapted from the one made by Shaul Vardi in Siddur Ha’Avodah Shebalev. –Aharon Varady. . . . The blessings for kindling the Ḥanukkah lights in Hebrew with English translation. . . . This “Prayer for Chanukah” (5 December 1942) by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) from the archives of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), p. 352-353. . . . The Yiddish resistance song, “Partisaner Lid” (The Partisan Song) was composed by Hirsh Glick in the Vilna Ghetto in 1943. . . . Tags: 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., anti-fascist, anti-fascist action, anti-Nazi, Guerrilla warfare, partisan resistance, resistance, the Holocaust, Ukrainian translation, Vilna, World War Ⅱ, Yiddish songs, Yiddish vernacular prayer, Yiddishland In 1960, the Publishing House of the Composers’ League in cooperation with the Center for Culture and Education (בית הוצאה של איגוד הקומפוזיטורים בשיתוף עם המרכז לתרבות ולחינוך), published the songbook זמר־חן (Zemer Ḥén), containing the now popular Ḥanukkah song and melody “Banu Ḥoshekh l’Garesh” (p. 49), originally simply titled “Ḥanukkah” by Sara Levi-Tanaiׁ (1910-2005). . . . “[I’m Spending] Hanukkah in Santa Monica” by Tom Lehrer was first written at the request of Garrison Keillor for his radio show The American Radio Company on which it was performed twice, in 1990 and 1992. The song was later released on the album, Bible & Beyond (Larry Milder, 1999). The first recording of Tom Lehrer singing his song can be heard on The Remains of Tom Lehrer (Disc 3) (2000). In 2022, Tom Lehrer gave an enormous Ḥanukkah present to the world, dedicating his entire oeuvre to the Public Domain including this song. . . . This is an intention that I composed for the conclusion of a performance piece, Inner Fire, created and performed by my Mistabra Institute for Jewish Textual Activism at Brandeis University in 2002. It is as relevant today as ever. Please use it for inspiration when you light Ḥanuka candles. . . . Just in time for Ḥanukkah, Chajm Guski shares a חנוכה מדריך (Ḥanukkah Madrikh), Handbook for Ḥanukkah, with a Deutsch translation and transliteration of the blessings on lighting the Ḥanukiah, the kavanah, HaNerot HaLalu, and the piyyut, Maoz Tzur. . . . Every Jewish holy day, even Shabbat and the highest ones, we call forth all the 22 Hebrew Letters to join us in celebration. For those of us who study Kabbalah from within the realm of the Alef-Bet, Ḥanukkah is unique in that we are given a magical tool with which to activate these signs and wonders. . . . A prayer for “Thanksgivukkah,” on the rare year that the two festivals intersect. . . . Here’s a first draft of a brief liturgy for last night, for solstice plus Ḥanukkah. Note that this is a kind of eco-liturgy, but it also stands on its own without imposing an ecological overlay. Since it’s still solstice all day, you may want to use this prayer now, or at dusk tonight. . . . This is a new version of the popular Ḥanukkah song, Banu Ḥoshekh. (The original by Sara Levi-Tanai can be found here.) Our new version does two things: 1) it avoids the association of darkness and blackness (shḥor) with evil and harm, which in our society gets tangled up with white supremacy, and 2) honors the darkness as something precious that we need, especially in our time of light pollution when so much of the time, so many people can’t even see the stars. . . . An interpretive version of Al HaNisim for Ḥanukkah that is playful, powerful, and embodied. May it fuel our activism, including the self-care and community-building that is part of activism. . . . A Ḥanukkah meditation on the hidden, infinite light of creation, the Or HaGanuz, with some of the midrashic and Ḥasidic sources it is based upon. . . . “How Much Light? A Ḥanukkah Meditation” by Rabbi Menachem Creditor was first shared on the second night of Ḥanukkah 5782 (2021) via the Open Siddur Project discussion group on Facebook. . . . A supplemental stanza to the popular 13th century piyyut, Maoz Tsur, for the Ḥanukkah occurring in the aftermath of the horrors on 7 October. . . . An original Judeo-Arabic adaptation of the song “Oy Khanike” (derived from the Yiddish poem of the same name by Mordkhe Rivesman) also known in English as “Oh Ḥanukkah” or in Hebrew as “Y’mei ha-Ḥanukka.” With thanks to Mazen Haddad for his help with the Arabic! Some notes: 1) Case endings and nunation, which would (in colloquial dialects) often be skipped or dropped, are transcribed in brackets. 2) The word “sufnāj” is a Moroccan Arabic dialectal word which is the agent noun for sfenj, a traditional type of North African doughnut. . . . An original Ladino adaptation of the song “Oy Khanike” (derived from the Yiddish poem of the same name by Mordkhe Rivesman) also known in English as “Oh Chanukah” or in Hebrew as “Y’mei ha-Ḥanukka.” I’m aware that the custom of spinning tops was not originally a Sefaradi one. So sue me, I was looking for something to rhyme with “libertaḏ.” I’ve included the Rashi script, the Aki Yerushalaim orthography, and (as an added bonus) the Cyrillic transcription used by the Jews of the Balkans. . . . A supplemental stanza to the popular 13th century piyyut, Maoz Tsur, for the Ḥanukkah occurring in the aftermath of the horrors on 7 October, as written and shared by דנה פרל. . . . In the midst of terrible violence and war in Israel and Gaza, these words came in response to the questions: how to engage meaningfully with Ḥanukkah in 5784 with integrity. How can it still be a source of wisdom and liberation? . . . Four things to pray and learn for the last night and day of Ḥanukkah. . . . The Opening Prayer given in the U.S. Senate on 12 December 2023 . . . Eight qualities are mentioned in the prayer: Peace, Blessing, Hope, Return, Promise, Strength, Life, Courage. You can pick one to focus on each night. (You can do them in the order they appear in if you like.) Where do you find that quality in you? Where do you find it in the world? What will a life, or a world, transformed by that quality look like? Feel like? . . . This Ḥanukkah prayer for the well-being of the captives taken during the massacres of HAMA”S and its allies on 7 October 2023, and for all in Israel affected by the ensuing war, was prepared by Rabbi Yuval Cherlow for Tzohar and Atid l’Otef. The prayer and its English translation were disseminated by social media and news services before Ḥanukkah on 25 December 2024. . . . |
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