מָעוֹז צוּר | Maoz Tsur, attributed to Mordecai ben Yitsḥak haLevi (adapted by R' Joseph H. Hertz, trans. by Solomon Solis-Cohen)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=18422

Date: 2017-12-14

Last Updated: 2025-05-04

Categories: Ḥanukkah

Tags: 13th century C.E., 51st century A.M., Acrostic signature, British Jewry, Mainz, post-Holocaust liturgical adaptations, מעוז צור Maoz Tsur, פיוטים piyyuṭim

Excerpt: Maoz Tsur as translated by Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen, with Hebrew adapted in the first stanza by Joseph Herman Hertz, chief rabbi of the British Empire. . . .

Content:

Hebrew (source, adapted)	Transliteration (romanization)	Translation (English)
מָעוֹז צוּר יְשׁוּעָתִי לְךָ נָאֶה לְשַׁבֵּֽחַ תִּכּוֹן בֵּית תְּפִלָּתִי וְשָׁם תּוֹדָה נְזַבֵּֽחַ לְעֵת תָּשְׁבִּית מַטְבֵּֽחַ וְצָּר הִמְּנַבֵּֽחַ אָז אֶגְמֹר בְּשִׁיר מִזְמוֹר חֲנֻכַּת הַמִּזְבֵּֽחַ׃	Maˈoz tsur yeshuˈati lekha naˈeh leshabbeaḥ tikkon bet tefillati vesham toda nezabbeaḥ leˈet tashbit matbeaḥ vtsar himmnabbeaḥ az egmor beshir mizmor ḥanukkat hammizbeaḥ	Mighty, praised beyond compare, Rock of my salvation, Build again my House of Pray’r For thy habitation! Haste my restoration: let a ransomed nation[1] The literal translation of lines two and three is: “when Thou shalt have utterly destroyed the blaspheming foe, I will complete with song and psalm the dedication of the altar” [לעת תכין מטבח. מצר המנבח]. By a slight change, this is now: “when Thou shalt cause all slaughter to cease, and the blaspheming foe, I will complete, etc” [לעת תשבית מטבח. וצר המנבח].   Joyful sing To its King Psalms of dedication!
רָעוֹת שָׂבְעָה נַפְשִׁי בְּיָגוֹן כֹּחִי כָלָה חַיַּי מֵרֲרוּ בְקֽוּשִׁי בְּשִׁעְבּוּד מַלְכוּת עֶגְלָה וּבְיָדוֹ הַגְּדוֹלָה הוֹצִיא אֶת הַסְּגֻלָּה חֵיל פַּרְעֹה וְכׇל־זַרְעוֹ יָרְדוּ כְּאֶֽבֶן מְצוּלָה׃	Raˈot saveˈa nafshi beyagon koḥi khala ḥayyay meraru vekushi beshiˈbud malkhut egla uvyado haggedola hotsiˈ et hassegulla ḥel parˈoh vekhol-zarˈo yardu keˈeven metsula	Woe was mine in Egypt-land Tyrant kings enslaved me, Till Thy mighty, outstretched Hand From oppression saved me. Pharaoh, rash pursuing, vowed my swift undoing; Soon, his host That proud boast ‘Neath the waves was rueing!
דְּבִיר קׇדְשׁוֹ הֱבִיאַֽנִי וְגַם שָׁם לֹא שָׁקַֽטְתִּי וּבָא נוֹגֵשׂ וְהִגְלַֽנִי כִּי זָרִים עָבַֽדְתִּי וְיֵין רַֽעַל מָסַֽכְתִּי כִּמְעַט שֶׁעָבַֽרְתִּי קֵץ בָּבֶל זְרֻבָּבֶל לְקֵץ שִׁבְעִים נוֹשָֽׁעְתִּי׃	Devir kodsho heviˈani vegam sham lo shakatti uva noges vehiglani ki zarim avadeti veyein raˈal masakhti kimˈat sheˈavarti keits bavel zerubbavel lekeits shivˈim noshaˈeti	To thy holy Hill, the way Mad’st Thou clear before me; With false gods I went astray— Foes to Exile bore me. Torn from all I cherished, almost had I perished; Babylon fell, Zerubabel Had’st Thou to restore me!
כְּרוֹת קוֹמַת בְּרוֹשׁ בִּקֵּשׁ אֲגָגִי בֶּן־הַמְּדָֽתָא וְנִהְיָֽתָה לּוֹ לְמוֹקֵשׁ וְגַאֲוָתוֹ נִשְׁבָּֽתָה רֹאשׁ יְמִינִי נִשֵּֽׂאתָ וְאוֹיֵב שְׁמוֹ מָחִֽיתָ רֹב בָּנָיו וְקִנְיָנָיו עַל הָעֵץ תָּלִֽיתָ׃	Kerot komat berosh bikkesh Agagi ben-Hammedata venihyata lo lemokesh vegaˈavato nishbata roˈsh yemini nisseˈta veˈoyev shemo maḥita rov banav vekinyanav al haˈets talita	Then the vengeful Haman wrought Subtly to betray me; In his snare himself he caught— He that planned to slay me. (Haled from Esther’s palace, hanged on his own gallows!) Seal and ring Persia’s king Gave Thy servant zealous.
יְוָנִים נִקְבְּצוּ עָלַי אֲזַי בִּימֵי חַשְׁמַנִּים וּפָרְצוּ חוֹמוֹת מִגְדָּלַי וְטִמְּאוּ כׇּל הַשְּׁמָנִים וּמִנּוֹתַר קַנְקַנִּים נַעֲשָׂה נֵס לַשּׁוֹשַׁנִּים בְּנֵי בִינָה יְמֵי שְׁמוֹנָה קָבְעוּ שִׁיר וּרְנָנִים׃	Yevanim nikbetsu alay azai bimei ḥashmannim ufaretsu ḥomot migdalay vetimmeˈu kol hashemanim uminnotar kankannim naˈasa nes lashoshannim benei vina yemei shmona kavˈu shir urnanim	When the brave Asmoneans broke Javan’s chain in sunder, Through the holy oil, Thy folk Didst Thou show a wonder. Ever full remained the vessel unprofaned: These eight days, Lights and praise Therefore, were ordained.

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Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org) forwards a teaching related by a Rabbi H.D. Uriel Smith, “For several years I have sung Ma’oz Tsur using the variation Rabbi Dr. Joseph H. Hertz made to the first stanza of the hymn. Instead of לעת תכין מטבח. מצר המנבח “l’et takhin matbe-ah, mitzar ha-m’nabe-ah” (“When you have prepared a massacre of the barking foe”), he wrote לעת תשבית מטבח. וצר המנבח “l’et tashbit matbe-ah, v’-tzar ha-m’nabe-ah” (“When you have stopped any massacre and any barking foe”). Adapted text in GREEN above.

Since it has been seventy years since the death of Rabbi Hertz (1872-1946), the copyright on the initial editions to whom the copyright notice was assigned, has expired and the work resides in the Public Domain.

Source

Notes

Notes

1	The literal translation of lines two and three is: “when Thou shalt have utterly destroyed the blaspheming foe, I will complete with song and psalm the dedication of the altar” [לעת תכין מטבח. מצר המנבח]. By a slight change, this is now: “when Thou shalt cause all slaughter to cease, and the blaspheming foe, I will complete, etc” [לעת תשבית מטבח. וצר המנבח].

Contributor: Solomon da Silva Solis-Cohen (translation)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Solomon da Silva Solis-Cohen (translation)
  Bio: Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen (1857-1948) born in Philadelphia, was one of the founders of the Jewish Publication Society of America, and a member of its publication committee. A president of the Young Men's Hebrew Association of Philadelphia, he was also one of the founders and a member of the first board of editors of "The American Hebrew"; and a founder and trustee of the Jewish Theological Seminary Association. He was a member of the board of trustees of Gratz College, Philadelphia, president of the Philadelphia County Medical Society (1898-99), and recorder of the Association of American Physicians.
  Website: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4507-cohen-solomon-da-silva-solis
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/solomon-da-silva-solis-cohen
• 
  Name: Joseph Herman Hertz
  Bio: Joseph Herman Hertz (25 September 1872 – 14 January 1946) was a Jewish Hungarian-born rabbi and biblical scholar. He is most notable for holding the position of Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom from 1913 until his death in 1946, in a period encompassing both world wars and the Holocaust. Hertz edited a notable commentary on the Torah (1929–36, one volume edition 1937). Popularly known as the Hertz Chumash, this classic Hebrew-English edition of the Five Books of Moses, with corresponding Haftorahs, is used in synagogues and classrooms throughout the English-speaking world. He also edited a Hebrew-English edition of the Jewish Prayer Book or Siddur (1946), and contributed to the Jewish Encyclopedia and the Encyclopædia Britannica.
  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hertz
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/joseph-herman-hertz
• 
  Name: Mordecai ben Yitsḥok ha-Levi
  Bio: Mordechai Ben Yitsḥak haLevy was a 13th century rabbi and liturgical poet who emigrated from Iraq to Mainz in Germany. There, hiding in the Jewish quarter with the rest of the Jewish community of Mainz, he witnessed the terrible massacres of the Crusaders. Authorship of the popular piyyut for Ḥanukkah, Maoz Tsur, is often attributed to him on the basis of the acrostic, מרדכי found in it.
  Website:
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/mordecai-ben-yitshak-halevi

Featured Image:

Title: Second_battle_Ramla
Caption: "Second battle of Ramla" from the book *Les Passages d'outremer faits par les Français contre les Turcs depuis Charlemagne jusqu'en 1462*, (Sebastien Mamerot 1475) held in Bliotheque Nat.,Coll.des Manuscripts, Paris, France.