Last night was the first evening of the Jewish Festival Hanukkah. It is supposed to be festive season that celebrates a miraculous gift, light, and hope. This year the festivities are held under the painful pall of the brutal Hamas terrorist attack and Israel’s horrific war of revenge and retribution that has destroyed much of Gaza, made trapped refugees the majority of population, and killed thousands, most of them civilians.
The world is outraged but bitterly divided. Antisemitism is on the rise and reports of threats and hate crimes are up as much as 90% over last year in New York state alone. Just yesterday a man was arrested after firing a shotgun outside of a synagogue in Albany while toddlers we inside at preschool.
On the other hand, so have attacks and threats on American Muslims and their shops and mosques. Both these tribal and genetic cousins live in fear and rage against manifest injustice. But even as both sides and their supporters become increasingly hostile to each other, some brave souls in all of the effected communities have transcended the barriers and learned to see each other as human and worthy of life and dignity. Those are the real spark of light this Hanukkah.
Hanukkah, snuck up on me. I blame the wall calendar next to my desk which low tech me relies on to remind me of such things. This year that calendar doesn’t include Jewish holy days.
Today we will feature a song/prayer sung in the evening home service. Hanerot Halalu is recited after the lights on the Menorah are kindled. There are several different versions. The version by the Macabeats that we are sharing here is used by many Ashkenazi communities.
The Maccabeats were students at the Orthodox Yeshiva University in New York City. The 14 member a cappella group was organized by Julian (Chaim) Horowitz in 2007. By 2010 they were in the university’s graduate school when they released their first CD, Voices from the Heights which was underwritten by a grant from the school. The album initially sold only 5,000 copies but their first Hanukkah video attracted two million hits in its first ten days. The group was invited to sing at both the Israeli Knesset and twice at Barack Obama’s White House.
Now all graduated, members married, started secular careers, and moved all over the country but they continue to meet virtually weekly to rehearse and record. A quartet of the members make personal appearances.
In 2015 they released an EP collection of their first five Hanukkah songs, A Maccabeats Hanukkah from which this version was taken.
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