Cantor Bantor

A Reform Synagogue

"Let them make Me a Mishkan
that I may dwell among them"
Exodus 25:8

CANTOR BANTER by Cantor Bob Cohen – January, 2006

Now that we have “sung out” Chanukah, I thought it would be fun to review some of the Chanukah songs we know, and some we don’t know. I will be using as my main source the Transcontinental Music Publishers’ (the leading publishers of Jewish liturgical music) newest book: “The Complete Chanukah Songbook.” Of course when any collection is called ‘complete’ we can be skeptical enough to know that that is only a relative term – and relatives, terms and otherwise, are always fun.

The book divides up the songs into: Songs of Light, Songs from the Liturgy, Dreidl Songs, and Food Songs. This is a wonderful collection of traditional and contemporary melodies and words.

One of my favorite “Songs of Light” is Israeli-American songwriter, Danny Maseng’s “Bring on the Light”. Danny also wrote the setting of the “Mah Tovu” that we sing at the opening of the Saturday morning service. He has his way with the melodic “hook” which hooks you into singing along. “Bring on the Light” begins with a soft lilting melody and the words: “And when the night begins to fall/And when the world is dark and silent/then in your heart/a simple song/lights the way.” The chorus sings out: “Bring on the light/Don’t fear the darkness/Let every candle shine the light of freedom/Just light the flame/Its up to you and me/And know the light we give we give for all the world to see.” Further on his words become the Hebrew prayer: “Haneirot halalu/anu madlikin/Al hanisim v’haniflaot. Hal’lu” (These candles do we light in remembrance of miracles and wonders – sing praise). The melody reaches almost two octaves (sometimes as hard to sing as the Star Spangled Banner!) but its movement from plaintive and hopeful to exuberant and joyful is worth the effort.

A Temple favorite ‘Song of Light’ is Peter Yarrow’s (of Peter, Paul, and Miriam) “Light One Candle” written away back in 1983! (Ah, those ancient melodies!) Peter begins: “Light one candle for the Maccabee children, give thanks that their light didn’t die…Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice justice and freedom demand” and cautions us to “never become our own foe” and when you study the history of the Maccabees you find that their wonderful heritage of freedom and liberty also had in it the disturbances of corruption, power grabbing and other self-defeating traits of human nature as well – so the warning is well taken both yesterday and today. The chorus urges us: “Don’t let the light go out/Let it shine through our love and our tears.”

We stare into the candle’s light and what do we see? This song in Yiddish with words by the poet, Morris Rosenfeld, sees memories both ancient and not-so-long-ago in the European ghettos: “O, ir kleine lichtelech, ir dertseilt geshichtelech, maiselech on tsoi/Ir dertseilt fun blutikait/deryeshaft unmutikait/vunder fun amol. O you little candles, you are telling fairy tales, numberless stories/You tell of bloodshed, brotherhood, and valor/Wonders from long ago. This is a language lost to most of us, though it is taught at Oxford College in England! But it was the ‘mamaloshen”, the mother tongue of many of our parents and grandparents. They rejoiced around the menorah singing: O Chanukah, Oy Chanukah/a yontov a sheiner/a lustiker. A freilicher, nito noch a zoiner/O Chanukah, come light the menorah/Let’s have a party, we’ll all dance the hora” and goes on to sing of dreidls and latkes and winds up singing: “One for each night, they shed a sweet light to remind us of days long ago.” Try the Yiddish and don’t worry about stumbling – I once heard it said that in order to speak in another language you have to be ready to make a fool of yourself! And don’t I know this from personal experience!

Every Chanukah we also sing in Ladino, the language of our Sephardic parents and grandparents. We sing Flora Jagoda’s “Ocho Kandelikas” – “Una kandelika, dos kandelikas, tres kandelikas, kuartro kandelikas, sintyu kandelikas, sej kandelikas, sieto kandelikas, ocho candelas para mi.” I bet you can translate that on your own!

Many of us had the pleasure and inspiration this year to join in singing at our interfaith Thanksgiving service at Temple Emanuel (over 300 voices strong) the joyous Negro Spiritual: “This Little Light of Mine/I’m gonna let it shine…Everyday/I’m gonna let my little light shine!” This song and many others celebrating God’s light are sung all over the world by folks of different faiths, different perceptions of Adonai, united in singing of the hope that comes out of the darkness, the faith that comes out of the silence.