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See, the Conquering Hero Comes and the Hebrew Hanukkah tradition

Hebrew versions of Handel's beloved "See the Conqu'ring Hero" chorus from the oratorio Judas Maccabeus emerged in in the Land of Israel in the first half of the 20^th century, to meet the need for children's songs, especially celebrating Jewish heroism, and as part of the development of high culture in Hebrew. Just as translations of Shakespeare became major achievements of Hebrew poetry, selected great works of the European musical tradition were produced to celebrate Bible and Jewish History, in the revived language of the Bible and the revived homeland of the people of the Bible.

 

"See the Conqu'ring Hero" was originally a very popular piece in G. F. Händel's otherwise not very successful oratorio Joshua (1747). Perhaps it would have been forgotten in due course. The world is lucky that Handel added "See the Conqu'ring Hero" to Judas Maccabeus, written and first performed a year earlier, in 1746. Today it is hard to imagine Judas performed without it.

 

The text was written by Thomas Morell (he wrote the libretto for both oratorios). Judas Maccabeus' popularity in England was based in part on the story's perceived parallels to the Duke of Cumberland's victory over the forces Bonnie Prince Charlie in April 1746 (by the way, according to Wikipedia this was the last pitched battle ever in Great Britain).

 

Of course, since it is the story of the victory of Judah the Maccabee, the story of Hanukkah and the rededication of the Temple, the oratorio was popular among Jews. London's small Jewish community subscribed to Handel's oratorios, and to this day it is often performed in honor of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. See a column on this athttp://people.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Shokel/981210_HandelHanukkah.html

 

The most familiar Hebrew version is the popular children's song for Hanukkah, Hava Narima. (The first line translates to "Let's raise the banner and torch…."). The words are by Levin Kipnis, (15 Av, 1890 or 1894--20 June 1990),[1] the prolific author of children's stories, poems, and song lyrics. Kipnis was one of the key creators and adapters of songs and literature, forming the basis for programming for very young children in the growing Hebrew-speaking pre-State Yishuv—and continued to be active until his death in 1990. According to Zemereshet, Kipnis wrote these lyrics in 5696 (1936), well before the establishment of the state. 

 

The other version is a translation of Morell's words by Aharon Ashman, Hine hu ba. Literally something like "Behold, he comes." The oratorio Judas Maccabeus was translated for a choir founded and conducted by Fordhaus Ben-Tzisi, a major proponent of bible-based Oratorios in the Yishuv. It was one of a string of songs of Jewish heroism performed in 1932 at the opening of the first Maccabiah—world-wide Jewish gathering for sports competition (a "Jewish Olympics"). Other vocal works performed in Hebrew on that occasion included the vocal section of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

 

Ashman translated a number of other oratorios for Fordhaus, including Creation, Elijah and Judas Maccabeus, and quite a few librettos for the Palestine Opera, including Carmen, Samson and Delila, Gounod's Faust and many others. Like Kipnis, he was known for children's songs as well.

 

On Ashman's lyric: http://www.zemereshet.co.il/song.asp?id=362 (Hebrew).

On Kipnis' Lyric: http://www.zemereshet.co.il/song.asp?id=363 (Hebrew).

 

Music in the Jewish Community of Palestine 1880 1948: A Social History, by Yehoash Hirschberg—available on the internet with no deletions: (English)

http://gfax.ch/literature/history/Music_in_the_Jewish_Community_of_Palestine_1880_1948__A_Social_History%5B1%5D.pdf  (the relevant section is pp. 93ff.)

 

Kipnis:

מילים  : לוין קיפניס
לחן  : גיאורג פרידריך הנדל
שנת כתיבה  : תרצ"ו 

 

Hava narima Nes va-avukah Yaḥad po nashira Shir ha-Ḥanukkah	Let's raise Banner and torch Together here, let's sing The song of Hanukkah	הָבָה נָרִימָה  נֵס וַאֲבוּקָה   -  יַחַד פֹּה נָשִׁירָה שִׁיר-הַחֲנֻכָּה  .
Makabim anaḥnu Diglenu ram nachon Bayevanim nilḥamnu Velanu ha-nitzaḥon	We are Maccabees Our flag is raised on high We fought the Greeks And victory is ours!	מַכַּבִּים אֲנַחְנוּ  , דִּגְלֵנוּ רָם, נָכוֹן  , בַּיְּוָנִים נִלְחַמְנוּ וְלָנוּ הַנִּצָּחוֹן
Peraḥ el peraḥ Zer gadol nishzor Lerosh hamnatzeaḥ Makabi gibor	Flower to flower We will weave a great wreathe For the head of the Victor The Hero Maccabee	פֶּרַח אֶל פֶּרַח זֵר גָּדוֹל נִשְׁזֹר  , לְרֹאשׁ הַמְּנַצֵּחַ  , מַכַּבִּי גִּבּוֹר.

 

 

Zamreshet refers to a source who recalls an additional stanza (sung to the same melody asmakkabim anahnu…) that does not appear to have been written by Kipnis.

 

לַגִּבּוֹר

כָּבוֹד נָרֹן

שִׁירַת חֹפֶשׁ

נִצָּחוֹן.

 

Ashman's lyric:

Hineh hu ba im tzva heilo Bashofar nari'a lo Zer dafna ve-shevah rav  Lam'natzeah ba-krav. Hineh hu ba ne'pad kavod Bitru'a beshefa' hod.

See, the conqu'ring hero comes! Sound the trumpets, beat the drums. Sports prepare, the laurel bring, Songs of triumph to him sing. See the godlike youth advance! Breathe the flutes, and lead the dance; Myrtle wreaths, and roses twine, To deck the hero's brow divine. See, the conqu'ring hero comes! Sound the trumpets, beat the drums!

הִנֵּה הוּא בָא   ,עִם צְבָא חֵילוֹ  , בַּשּׁוֹפָר   נָרִיעַ לוֹ  . זֵר דַּפְנָה וְשֶׁבַח רַב לַמְּנַצֵּחַ בַּקְּרָב  . הִנֵּה הוּא בָא נֶאְפָּד כָּבוֹד בִּתְרוּעָה בְּשֶׁפַע הוֹד

A different translation was used by the Massad choir (the forerunner of the Zamir Chorale) in the Israel Hootenany Album.

http://faujsa.fau.edu/jsa/search_music_LP.php?jsa_num=404273&queryWhere=&queryValue=404273&artisttext=&artist=contains&titletext=&title=contains&selectgenre=Israeli&selectlanguage=Hebrew&musiconly=&id=&select=title&side=B&track=02&fetch=225&pagenum=10

 

The iconic performance of the Kipnis lyrics may well be by Hani Nahmias and the late Uzi Hitman--about minute 4:40. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg3Be6doSCU

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me8oanol3DU A unique choreographed performance of Hava Narima (not the original arrangement from Judas Maccabeus even though the original was for three treble voices).

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw_GkvnyeR4&feature=related Performance under the baton of Johannes Somary. See the Conqu'ring Hero begins at about minute 13:40 of this recording.

 

One final link - a different piece from Judas Maccabeus: Richard Tucker singing "Sound an Alarm," a tenor aria from Handel's Judas Maccabeus, at the opening concert of the Hollywood Bowl 1951 season: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToQ9a5Z4t3g

 

 

 

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[1] Interestingly, in checking for Kipnis' dates, I found that his birthday was always given as either 15 Av, or either August 1 1890 or Aug 17 1894, both of which, in the Gregorian calendar, are 15 Av in the Hebrew calendar. However, he was born in Russian Empire, where presumably the Julian calendar took precedence.

 

 

 

Mom's Tallit Exhibit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDjE2FEccZY

Mom's Tallit exhibit

Seth Ward

Associate Lecturer in Islam and Judaism

Religious Studies Program, University of Wyoming

http://uwyo.edu/sward

http://uwyo.edu/sward/blog

Nittl Nacht

Perhaps this talk should have been from a text, rather than extemporaneous. “Nittel-nacht” is a name found in many Jewish sources for “Christmas Eve.” Some Jewish communities had the tradition of not studying Torah at this time. The most compelling explanation is that the practice arose from staying home Christmas eve, rather than going to the House of Study—in order to avoid drunken hooligans celebrating Christmas eve. If that’s the case, the practice would reflect only practical considerations of safety—not theoretical discussions about the date or the meaning of the date. But many Rabbis offered explanations that make the observance reflect ideology or religion, not simply safety. These run from halachic arguments based on Tractate Avoda Zarah, which indeed has a discussion about what can and cannot be done surrounding the period from December 25 to January 1 (Saturnalia in Roman times) to numerological explanations “proving” that only 364 days of a solar year (365 ¼ days) can be devoted to Torah (no Torah Study on Tish’a Be’Av and 6 hours on Nittel)—to explanations that refer to impurity in the world or imitating non-Jewish practices. One argument I saw suggests that non-Jews are running to Divine Worship at midnight, so Jews could hardly be less religious—surprising in its positive implications for the value of Christian religious activity.

The dates of the Maharsho that I could not find in the talk are 1555-1631. The "Tekufa" is the "average calculated solstice or equinox," that is, Jewish tradition uses the figure 365 1/4 days in a year (as in the Julian calendar), and divides this by 4, so each Tekufa comes 91 days and 7 1/2 hours after the previous one. At least in theory, the Tekufa of Tevet, (the "period of Winter") was on December 25 in the year of Jesus' birth, giving rise to the notion that "Nittl" should be marked on the evening when the Tekufah occurs. In the current year, the Tekufah occurs at 10:30 on 24 Tevet, that is Sunday January 6.

In the talk I mentioned the "Matza Ball" - a phenomenon in a number of US cities. I should note that Denver's Matza Ball on Christmas eve was "unofficial" - unaffiliated with the group that organized the event with this name in other cities- and in any case is now continued under the name "Heebonism."

I cited the Yiddish translation of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" -- a description of which can be found elsewhere in http://sethward.posterous.com

Seth Ward

Dec. 24 2012 (some editing Dec. 24-26). 

One URL for image of Lubavitch Rebbes playing chess: http://www.crownheights.info/media/4/20061224-Rabaiyim-Playing-Chess.jpg

I have no idea whether this photo is authentic--it's widely disseminated on the web and never provenanced well. There are, however, many references to Lubavitcher Rebbes playing chess on Nittl Nacht.