Ma'oz Tzur
"Ma'oz Tzur" (Hebrew: מָעוֹז צוּר, romanized: Māʾōz Ṣūr) is a Jewish liturgical poem or piyyut.
[2][3] Judging from the appeal in the closing verse, he may have been the Mordecai whose father-in-law was martyred at Mayence (now Mainz, Germany) in 1096 as part of the First Crusade.
[6] The hymn retells Jewish history in poetic form and celebrates deliverance from four ancient enemies, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Haman and Antiochus.
Like much medieval Jewish liturgical poetry, it is full of allusions to Biblical literature and rabbinic interpretation.
Thus, malchut eglah denotes Egypt (Jeremiah 46:20); noges is Nebuchadnezzar; y’mini is Mordechai (Esther 2:5); y’vanim is Antiochus; shoshanim is the Jewish people (Shir HaShirim 2:2); b’nei vinah are the rabbinic sages; and shir refers to the Hallel psalms.
The four middle stanzas refer to the salvations from the four persecutions of the Jewish people: The Exodus from Egypt, the end of the Babylonian captivity, escaping the persecution in Persia by Haman (the miracle of Purim according to the Book of Esther) and the successful revolt against the Greek rule in Syria during the Hasmonean period, as commemorated by Hanukkah.
[9] The bright and stirring tune now so generally associated with "Ma'oz tzur" serves as the "representative theme" in musical references to the feast (compare Addir Hu, Aḳdamut, Hallel).
51)[13] Traditional version: Mombach’s version: This most popular melody for the Hanukkah hymn has been identified by Birnbaum as an adaptation from the old German folk-song "So weiss ich eins, dass mich erfreut, das pluemlein auff preiter heyde," given in Böhme's "Altdeutsches Liederbuch" (No.
[14] It is the tune for a translation by F. E. Cox of the hymn "Sei Lob und Ehr dem höchsten Gut," by J. J. Schütz (1640–1730).
The earliest transcription of the Jewish form of the tune is by Isaac Nathan, who set it to the poem "On Jordan's Banks" in Byron's "Hebrew Melodies" (London, 1815).
It was modified to the form now favoured by British Jews by Julius Mombach, to whom is due the modulation to the dominant in the repetition of the first strain.
[13] Prior to the World War II in Germany this hymn was commonly sung with an alternative melody to the 2nd and 4th verses as recorded by Cantor Israel Alter.
This alternative pre-war melody was revived by the Jewish Amsterdam Chamber Ensemble in the Royal Concertgebouw in 2018.
But God with His mighty power Brought out His treasured people; While Pharaoh's host and followers Sank like a stone into the deep.
The Agagite,[b] son of Hammedatha, plotted to cut down the lofty fir;[c] But it proved a snare to him, and his insolence was silenced.
[h] A popular non-literal translation, called "Rock of Ages", is based on the German version by Leopold Stein (1810–1882), and was written by Talmudic linguist Marcus Jastrow and Gustav Gottheil.
[19][failed verification] Rock of Ages, let our song, praise Thy saving power; Thou, amidst the raging foes, wast our sheltering tower.
Furious they assailed us, but Thine arm availed us, And Thy Word broke their sword, when our own strength failed us.
Kindling new the holy lamps, priests, approved in suffering, Purified the nation's shrine, brought to God their offering.
And His courts surrounding, hear, in joy abounding, Happy throngs, singing songs with a mighty sounding.
In this song Shemer drew a connection between the Jewish hymn and the military positions that were attacked in the War of Attrition of the time.
