Sung every night of Chanukah once the candles are lit, and the tune is one of the few in the Ashkenazi repertoire that everyone in the room already knows. What is less known is the shape of the poem: six stanzas, each about a different exile — Egypt, Babylon, Haman, the Greeks — and the acrostic of the first letters spells the poet's name. Most tables sing the first stanza and stop, which is a pity, because the first stanza is the only one that is not about history.
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♪ TuningE A D G B E
Key: Am · 3 chords used ·Am · Dm · E
96 BPM · 4/4 · sung standing, in front of the lit candles · six stanzas of four lines each, and the first is the only one most households sing · to reset the chord panel:
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Rock of my salvation, it is fitting to praise You.
תִּכּוֹן
ti-KON
may it be established
בֵּית
beit
the house of
תְּפִלָּתִי
tfi-la-TI
my prayer
וְשָׁם
ve-SHAM
and there
תּוֹדָה
to-DA
thanksgiving
נְזַבֵּחַ
ne-za-BE-ach
we will offer
|Am|E|
Let my house of prayer be established, and there we will offer thanks.
לְעֵת
le-ET
at the time
תָּכִין
ta-CHIN
You prepare
מַטְבֵּחַ
mat-BE-ach
a slaughter
מִצָּר
mi-TZAR
from the foe
הַמְנַבֵּחַ
ham-na-BE-ach
the blaspheming one
|Dm|Am|
When You prepare the slaughter of the blaspheming foe,
אָז
az
then
אֶגְמוֹר
eg-MOR
I will finish
בְּשִׁיר
be-SHIR
with a song of
מִזְמוֹר
miz-MOR
psalm
חֲנֻכַּת
cha-nu-KAT
the dedication of
הַמִּזְבֵּחַ
ha-miz-BE-ach
the altar
|AmE|Am|
then I will finish, with a song of psalm, the dedication of the altar.
Four lines that rhyme on the same syllable — לְשַׁבֵּחַ (le-sha-be-ach), נְזַבֵּחַ (ne-za-be-ach), הַמְנַבֵּחַ (ham-na-be-ach), הַמִּזְבֵּחַ (ha-miz-be-ach) all end in -be-ach — and that rhyme is doing an argument. חֲנֻכַּת (cha-nu-kat) is the word chanukah itself: dedication. The poem announces its own subject in its last word, and the festival is named after it.
My soul was sated with troubles, my strength consumed with grief.
חַיַּי
cha-YAI
my life
מָרְרוּ
mar-RU
they embittered
בְּקוֹשִׁי
be-ko-SHI
with hardship
בְּשִׁעְבּוּד
be-shi-BUD
under the servitude of
מַלְכוּת
mal-CHUT
the kingdom of
עֶגְלָה
eg-LA
the calf
|Am|E|
They embittered my life with hardship, under the rule of the calf-kingdom.
וּבְיָדוֹ
uv-ya-DO
and with His hand
הַגְּדוֹלָה
hag-do-LA
the great
הוֹצִיא
ho-TZI
He brought out
אֶת
et
the
הַסְּגֻלָּה
has-gu-LA
treasured people
|Dm|Am|
But with His great hand He brought out the treasured people,
חֵיל
cheil
the army of
פַּרְעֹה
par-O
Pharaoh
וְכָל
ve-CHAL
and all
זַרְעוֹ
zar-O
his seed
יָרְדוּ
yar-DU
went down
כְאֶבֶן
che-E-ven
like a stone
בִּמְצוּלָה
bim-tzu-LA
into the deep
|AmE|Am|
the army of Pharaoh and all his seed went down like a stone into the deep.
כְאֶבֶן (che-e-ven) and בִּמְצוּלָה (bim-tzu-la) are lifted straight out of the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15, where the same two words close the same image. The poem quotes rather than describes, and it will do this in every stanza.
He brought me to His holy sanctuary, and even there I found no rest.
וּבָא
u-VA
and there came
נוֹגֵשׂ
no-GES
an oppressor
וְהִגְלַנִי
ve-hig-la-NI
and he exiled me
כִּי
ki
for
זָרִים
za-RIM
strangers
עָבַדְתִּי
a-vad-TI
I served
|Am|E|
An oppressor came and exiled me, for I had served strangers,
וְיֵין
ve-YEIN
and wine of
רַעַל
ra-AL
poison
מָסַכְתִּי
ma-sach-TI
I drank
כִּמְעַט
kim-AT
barely
שֶׁעָבַרְתִּי
she-a-var-TI
that I passed
|Dm|Am|
and I drank wine of poison; I had barely passed through
קֵץ
ketz
the end of
בָּבֶל
BA-vel
Babylon
זְרֻבָּבֶל
ze-ru-BA-vel
Zerubbabel
לְקֵץ
le-KETZ
at the end of
שִׁבְעִים
shiv-IM
seventy
נוֹשָׁעְתִּי
no-sha-TI
I was saved
|AmE|Am|
when Babylon's end came through Zerubbabel; after seventy years I was saved.
בָּבֶל (ba-vel) and זְרֻבָּבֶל (ze-ru-ba-vel) sit side by side on purpose: the name of the empire and the name of the man who ended it share three consonants. The poem is built out of that kind of pun, and it is a great deal easier to remember a stanza when you can hear the joke in it.
The Agagite, son of Hammedatha, sought to cut down the tall cypress,
וְנִהְיָתָה
ve-nih-ya-TA
and it became
לוֹ
lo
for him
לְפַח
le-FACH
a snare
וּלְמוֹקֵשׁ
ul-mo-KESH
and a trap
וְגַאֲוָתוֹ
ve-ga-a-va-TO
and his arrogance
נִשְׁבָּתָה
nish-ba-TA
was stilled
|Am|E|
but it became a snare and a trap for him, and his arrogance was stilled.
רֹאשׁ
rosh
the head of
יְמִינִי
ye-mi-NI
the Benjaminite
נִשֵּׂאתָ
ni-se-TA
You lifted
וְאוֹיֵב
ve-o-YEV
and the enemy
שְׁמוֹ
shmo
his name
מָחִיתָ
ma-chi-TA
You blotted out
|Dm|Am|
You lifted the head of the Benjaminite, and blotted out the enemy's name;
רֹב
rov
the many of
בָּנָיו
ba-NAV
his sons
וְקִנְיָנָיו
ve-kin-ya-NAV
and his possessions
עַל
al
on
הָעֵץ
ha-ETZ
the tree
תָּלִיתָ
ta-li-TA
You hanged
|AmE|Am|
the many sons he had, and his possessions, You hanged on the gallows.
בְּרוֹשׁ (brosh) is a cypress, and it means Mordechai — the poem never names him, it calls him a tall tree, and then יְמִינִי (ye-mi-ni) names his tribe instead. Naming by association rather than directly is the ordinary manner of a piyyut, and it is why these poems reward a second reading.
The Greeks gathered against me, then, in the days of the Hasmoneans,
וּפָרְצוּ
u-far-TZU
and they breached
חוֹמוֹת
cho-MOT
the walls of
מִגְדָּלַי
mig-da-LAI
my towers
וְטִמְּאוּ
ve-tim-U
and they defiled
כָּל
kal
all
הַשְּׁמָנִים
hash-ma-NIM
the oils
|Am|E|
and they breached the walls of my towers, and defiled all the oils.
וּמִנּוֹתַר
u-mi-no-TAR
and from what remained of
קַנְקַנִּים
kan-ka-NIM
the jars
נַעֲשָׂה
na-a-SA
was done
נֵס
nes
a miracle
לַשּׁוֹשַׁנִּים
la-sho-sha-NIM
for the roses
|Dm|Am|
And from the one jar that remained, a miracle was done for the roses.
בְּנֵי
bnei
the sons of
בִינָה
vi-NA
understanding
יְמֵי
ye-MEI
days of
שְׁמוֹנָה
shmo-NA
eight
קָבְעוּ
kav-U
they fixed
שִׁיר
shir
song
וּרְנָנִים
ur-na-NIM
and rejoicing
|AmE|Am|
Men of understanding fixed eight days for song and rejoicing.
This is the only stanza about Chanukah, and it arrives fifth. לַשּׁוֹשַׁנִּים (la-sho-sha-nim) — roses — is the poem's word for the people of Israel, and שְׁמוֹנָה (shmo-na) is the number eight, which is the whole festival in one word. Everything a household actually celebrates this week is compressed into four lines out of twenty-four.
Bare Your holy arm and bring near the end of the salvation.
נְקֹם
ne-KOM
avenge! (2ms)
נִקְמַת
nik-MAT
the vengeance of
דַּם
dam
the blood of
עֲבָדֶיךָ
a-va-dei-CHA
Your servants
מֵאֻמָּה
me-u-MA
from the nation
הָרְשָׁעָה
har-sha-A
the wicked
|Am|E|
Avenge the blood of Your servants upon the wicked nation,
כִּי
ki
for
אָרְכָה
ar-CHA
it has grown long
לָנוּ
la-NU
for us
הַשָּׁעָה
ha-sha-A
the hour
וְאֵין
ve-EIN
and there is no
קֵץ
ketz
end
לִימֵי
li-MEI
to the days of
הָרָעָה
ha-ra-A
the evil
|Dm|Am|
for the hour has grown long for us, and there is no end to the days of evil.
דְּחֵה
de-CHE
thrust back! (2ms)
אַדְמוֹן
ad-MON
the red one
בְּצֵל
be-TZEL
into the shadow of
צַלְמוֹן
tzal-MON
deep darkness
הָקֵם
ha-KEM
raise up! (2ms)
לָנוּ
la-NU
for us
רוֹעֶה
ro-E
a shepherd
שִׁבְעָה
shiv-A
seven
|AmE|Am|
Thrust back the red one into the deepest shadow; raise up for us the seven shepherds.
The sixth stanza is often omitted from printed siddurim and from most tables, and it is the one place the poem stops narrating and starts demanding. Whether to sing it is a decision each household makes; it is printed here because a poem with its last stanza removed is a different poem.
♫ Singing notes
Everyone sings the first stanza. Whether the table goes on to the other five is a household habit — ask before you launch into the second.
The melody is strophic: the same eight bars carry all six stanzas, so once you have the first you have all of them.
Lines one and two are the question, lines three and four are the answer. Let the voice lift at the end of line two and settle at the end of line four.
It is sung standing, in front of the candles, immediately after the blessings and while the flames are still small.
Around 96 BPM in a room; slower if the group is mostly reading it off a page for the first time.
♦ About this song
The acrostic
The first letters of the five original stanzas spell the name Mordechai. The sixth stanza does not fit that acrostic and is generally taken to be a later addition, which is one reason it is printed in some editions and not others.
Five exiles, one festival
Egypt, Babylon, Haman, the Greeks, and then the present. Chanukah occupies one stanza of five. The poem treats the festival as one entry in a series rather than as its subject, and the last stanza makes the series open-ended.
The tune
The melody now sung almost everywhere in the Ashkenazi world is a much later borrowing than the words, which are medieval. It is not reproduced here, and it does not need to be: you will hear it the first night you are in anyone's home during the festival.
Text and licence
The Hebrew on this page is the Daat Siddur Ashkenaz text, in the public domain, taken from Sefaria and pinned in this repository. Two variant readings marked in that edition were removed rather than printed, since they are alternatives to a word and not extra words to sing.
Hebrew: Siddur Ashkenaz, Festivals, Chanukah, Service for Lighting Chanukah Candles, Maoz Tzur · Daat Siddur Ashkenaz · Public Domain, via Sefaria, pinned in this repo at content/songs/source/018.json.
English gloss lines authored for this site; the source translation is used as raw material only. Transliteration generated by this site's own engine (assets/translit.js).