Ma'oz Tzur

"Ma'oz Tzur" is a Jewish liturgical poem or piyyut. It is written in Hebrew, and is sung on the holiday of Hanukkah, after lighting the festival lights. The hymn is named for its Hebrew incipit, which means "Strong Rock " and is a name or epithet for God in Judaism. It is thought to have been written sometime in the 13th century, although recent research suggests the 12th century. It was originally sung only at home, but has been used in the synagogue since at least the 19th century. In more recent years, of its six stanzas sometimes only the first stanza is sung.

Time and author

"Ma'oz Tzur Yeshuati" is commonly thought to have been written in the 13th century, during the Crusades. The first letters of the first five stanzas form an acrostic of the composer's name, Mordechai. There are several hypotheses regarding his identity. He may have been the Mordecai ben Isaac ha-Levi who wrote the Sabbath table-hymn "Mah Yafit". Judging from the appeal in the closing verse, he may have been the Mordecai whose father-in-law was martyred at Mainz massacre in 1096 as part of the First Crusade.
Avraham Fränkel suggests it was composed in Germany between 1160 and 1190.
Some argue that the sixth stanza is an original part of the poem and was removed due to concerns of creating conflict with non-Jews, while others argue that it is a late addition.

Content

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 ; noges is Nebuchadnezzar; y’mini is Mordechai ; y’vanim is Antiochus; shoshanim is the Jewish people ; b’nei vinah are the rabbinic sages; and shir refers to the Hallel psalms.
A second acrostic is found in the first letters of the opening words of the final stanza, the acrostic contains the word hazak.
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 and the successful revolt against the Greek rule in Syria during the Hasmonean period, as commemorated by Hanukkah.
The first and last stanzas are written in the present tense. The first expresses hope for the rebuilding of the Temple and for the defeat of enemies, who are metaphorically referred to as barking.
The final stanza once again calls for divine retribution against the enemies of the Jewish people. The term Admon, meaning "the red one", was understood by some to refer to the emperor, Friedrich Barbarossa, whose name means Frederick "Redbeard". It was speculated that it was a later addition; at least it was not found in print up to the 18th century. It is suggested that the stanza was passed only in oral tradition as self-censorship due to its strong anti-Christian hints.

Tune

The bright and stirring tune now so generally associated with "Ma'oz tzur" serves as the "representative theme" in musical references to the feast. It is sung almost universally by Jews on this festival. It was originally sung for "Shene Zetim", a piyyut, preceding the Shema of shaharith of the Shabat of Hanukah. "Shene Zetim" alone is now sometimes sung to a melody which two centuries ago was associated with "Ma'oz tzur". The latter is a Jewish-sounding air in the minor mode, and is found in Benedetto Marcello's "Estro Poetico Armonico," or "Parafrasi Sopra li Salmi", quoted as a melody of the German Jews, and utilized by Marcello as the theme for his "Psalm XV." This air has been transcribed by Cantor Birnbaum of Königsberg in the "Israelitische Wochenschrift"
Traditional version:
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Mombach’s version:
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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" ; it was widely spread among German Jews as early as 1450. By an interesting coincidence, this folk-melody was also the first utilized by Luther for his German chorales. He set it to his "Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein". 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. As such it is called "Erk", and, with harmonies by Bach, appears as No. 283 of "Hymns, Ancient and Modern". 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". Later transcriptions have been numerous, and the air finds a place in every collection of Jewish melodies. 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. In Mombach's version the closing phrase of each verse is not repeated. Prior to World War II in Germany this hymn was commonly sung with an to the 2nd and 4th verses as recorded by Cantor Israel Alter. This was revived by the Jewish Amsterdam Chamber Ensemble in the Royal Concertgebouw in 2018.

Text

Hebrew	Romanization	Translation
		My Refuge, my Rock of Salvation! 'Tis pleasant to sing Your praises. Let our house of prayer be restored. And there we will offer You our thanks. When You will have slaughtered the barking foe. Then we will celebrate with song and psalm the altar's dedication.
		My soul was sated with misery, my strength was spent with grief. They embittered my life with hardship, When enslaved under the rule of Egypt. But God with His mighty power Brought out His treasured people; While Pharaoh's host and followers Sank like a stone into the deep.
		He brought me to His holy abode. Even there, I found no rest. The oppressor came and exiled me, Because I served strange gods, and drank poisonous wine. Yet scarcely had I gone into exile, When Babylon fell and Zerubbabel took charge; Within seventy years I was saved.
		The Agagite, son of Hammedatha, plotted to cut down the lofty fir; But it proved a snare to him, and his insolence was silenced. You raised the head of the Benjamite, but the enemy's name You blotted out. His numerous sons and his household You hanged upon the gallows.
		The Greeks gathered against me, in days of the Hasmoneans. They broke down the walls of my towers, and defiled all the oils. But from the last remaining flask a miracle was wrought for the Jews. Therefore the sages of the day ordained these eight for songs of praise.
		O bare Your holy arm and bring the end salvation. Wreak vengeance upon the wicked nation, On behalf of your faithful servants. For deliverance has too long been delayed; And the evil days are endless. O Reject the enemy into the shadows of death, and set up for us the seven shepherds.

English version

A popular non-literal translation, called "Rock of Ages", is based on the German version by Leopold Stein, and was written by Talmudic linguist Marcus Jastrow and Gustav Gottheil.
These are the original English lyrics, which are sometimes changed into gender neutral language.

In popular culture

The piyyut inspired Israeli songwriter Naomi Shemer to write the song "Shivchei Ma'oz", as performed by the IDF's Southern Command Band in 1969. In this song Shemer drew a connection between the Jewish hymn and the military positions that were attacked in the War of Attrition at the time.
Folk-rock band Blackmore's Night included a version of this song on their 2006 album Winter Carols, which includes the first verse in Hebrew followed by an adapted English translation.