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Hanerot Halalu: These candles

Chanukah, between the blessings and Maoz Tzur · הַנֵּרוֹת הַלָּלוּ
HomeHanerot Halalu
The short declaration said the moment the candles are burning, before anyone starts singing. It is one sentence and it does one job: it states, out loud, that these particular flames are not for lighting the room. You may not read by them, work by them, or use them to light anything else. The only permitted use is looking at them. For a language learner it is an unusually clear piece of prose — no poetry, no allusion, just a rule and its reason.
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♪ Tuning E A D G B E
Key: Dm · 3 chords used ·  Dm · Gm · A
84 BPM · 4/4 · said or sung immediately after the candles are lit, before Maoz Tzur · one long sentence, which is why it is broken into six phrases here · to reset the chord panel:
Active voicings · printable
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1 · the declaration
הַנֵּרוֹת הַלָּלוּ שֶׁאָנוּ מַדְלִיקִין עַל הַנִּסִּים וְעַל הַנִּפְלָאוֹת וְעַל הַתְּשׁוּעוֹת וְעַל הַמִּלְחָמוֹת שֶׁעָשִׂיתָ לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם בַּזְּמַן הַזֶּה עַל יְדֵי כֹּהֲנֶיךָ הַקְּדוֹשִׁים וְכָל שְׁמוֹנַת יְמֵי הַחֲנֻכָּה הַנֵּרוֹת הַלָּלוּ קֹדֶשׁ הֵם וְאֵין לָנוּ רְשׁוּת לְהִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בָּהֶם אֶלָּא לִרְאוֹתָם בִּלְבָד כְּדֵי לְהוֹדוֹת וּלְהַלֵּל לְשִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל עַל נִסֶּיךָ וְעַל נִפְלְאוֹתֶיךָ וְעַל יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ
הַנֵּרוֹת
ha-ne-ROT
the candles
הַלָּלוּ
ha-la-LU
these
שֶׁאָנוּ
she-a-NU
that we
מַדְלִיקִין
mad-li-KIN
light
עַל
al
for
הַנִּסִּים
ha-ni-SIM
the miracles
וְעַל
ve-AL
and for
הַנִּפְלָאוֹת
ha-nif-la-OT
the wonders
וְעַל
ve-AL
and for
הַתְּשׁוּעוֹת
hat-shu-OT
the deliverances
וְעַל
ve-AL
and for
הַמִּלְחָמוֹת
ha-mil-cha-MOT
the wars
| Dm | Gm |
These candles that we light are for the miracles, and for the wonders, and for the deliverances, and for the wars
שֶׁעָשִׂיתָ
she-a-si-TA
that You did
לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ
la-a-vo-tei-NU
for our ancestors
בַּיָּמִים
ba-ya-MIM
in the days
הָהֵם
ha-HEM
those
בַּזְּמַן
baz-MAN
at the season
הַזֶּה
ha-ZE
this
| Dm | A |
that You performed for our ancestors in those days, at this season,
עַל
al
by
יְדֵי
ye-DEI
the hands of
כֹּהֲנֶיךָ
ko-ha-nei-CHA
Your priests
הַקְּדוֹשִׁים
hak-do-SHIM
the holy ones
וְכָל
ve-CHAL
and all
שְׁמוֹנַת
shmo-NAT
the eight of
יְמֵי
ye-MEI
the days of
הַחֲנֻכָּה
ha-cha-nu-KA
the Chanukah
| Gm | Dm |
by the hand of Your holy priests. And for all eight days of Chanukah
הַנֵּרוֹת
ha-ne-ROT
the candles
הַלָּלוּ
ha-la-LU
these
קֹדֶשׁ
KO-desh
holy
הֵם
hem
they are
וְאֵין
ve-EIN
and there is not
לָנוּ
la-NU
to us
רְשׁוּת
re-SHUT
permission
לְהִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ
le-hish-ta-MESH
to make use
בָּהֶם
BA-hem
of them
| Dm | A |
these candles are holy, and we have no permission to make use of them,
אֶלָּא
e-LA
except
לִרְאוֹתָם
lir-o-TAM
to look at them
בִּלְבָד
bil-VAD
alone
כְּדֵי
ke-DEI
in order
לְהוֹדוֹת
le-ho-DOT
to give thanks
וּלְהַלֵּל
ul-ha-LEL
and to praise
לְשִׁמְךָ
le-shim-CHA
to Your name
הַגָּדוֹל
ha-ga-DOL
the great
| Gm | Dm A |
but only to look at them, in order to give thanks and praise to Your great name
עַל
al
for
נִסֶּיךָ
ni-sei-CHA
Your miracles
וְעַל
ve-AL
and for
נִפְלְאוֹתֶיךָ
nif-le-o-tei-CHA
Your wonders
וְעַל
ve-AL
and for
יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ
ye-shu-a-te-CHA
Your salvations
| Dm | Dm |
for Your miracles, and for Your wonders, and for Your salvations.
The sentence names the same four things twice, and the difference between the two lists is the whole point. The first time — הַנִּסִּים (ha-ni-sim), הַנִּפְלָאוֹת (ha-nif-la-ot), הַתְּשׁוּעוֹת (hat-shu-ot), הַמִּלְחָמוֹת (ha-mil-cha-mot) — they are plain nouns with the definite article: the miracles, the wonders. The second time — נִסֶּיךָ (ni-sei-cha), נִפְלְאוֹתֶיךָ (nif-le-o-tei-cha), יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ (ye-shu-a-te-cha) — they carry a possessive ending: Your miracles, Your wonders. The declaration starts by describing history and ends by addressing the one it is talking about.

♫ Singing notes

♦ About this song

The rule it states

The candles may not be used for any practical purpose, which is why a separate candle, the shamash, is lit alongside them and used for the lighting itself. The declaration is the reason that extra candle exists.

An early text

A version of this passage appears in Masekhet Sofrim, a post-Talmudic tractate about scribal and liturgical practice, which puts it among the older pieces of the Chanukah liturgy — older than Maoz Tzur by centuries.

Looking as an act

לִרְאוֹתָם (lir-o-tam) is the single permitted use: to look at them. A festival that forbids every practical use of its own light and permits only watching it is making an unusual claim about what the light is for, and the sentence spends its second half explaining that claim.

Hebrew: Siddur Ashkenaz, Festivals, Chanukah, Service for Lighting Chanukah Candles, Hanerot Hallalu · Daat Siddur Ashkenaz · Public Domain, via Sefaria, pinned in this repo at content/songs/source/019.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).