Ma’oz Tzur
By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
Listen carefully to the Blessing of the New Month (Kislev) this Shabbat, and you are likely to hear a few lines sung to the melody of the traditional Chanukah song, Ma’oz Tzur. Known in English as “Rock of Ages,” it is not to be confused with the Christian hymn of the same name!
Customarily sung after lighting Chanukah candles, often only the first stanza is included, together, less frequently, with the Chanukah-themed fifth. Stanzas 2, 3, 4, and 6 deal, respectively, with the persecution of our ancestors by Pharaoh, the destruction of the First Temple by Babylonia, the genocidal threat represented by Haman, and an impassioned plea for divine justice and redemption.
The initial letters of the first five stanzas form an acrostic spelling out “Mordechai” – apparently the name of the author, not the beloved character from the Book of Esther!
Written in the 12th or 13th Century, Ma’oz Tzur may have been a liturgical response to the Crusades, invoking iconic examples of Jewish national redemption in times of oppression and national loss.
The most popular tune for Ma’oz Tzur appears to date to the mid-15th Century. Musically emblematic of Chanukah, its melody is also commonly woven into the Musaf Kedushah, Adon Olam, and Hallel during the Holiday.
Defining the season, Ma’oz Tzur simply rocks
