From the Lawton Constitution
Last week, I dedicated my column to the music of the season. This week, I want to add one more essential song to that playlist.
In my previous piece, I mentioned that one of my favorite holiday records is “Barenaked for the Holidays” by Barenaked Ladies. While the band is often known for their quirky humor, one track is slow, reverent, and deeply moving. It is titled “Hanukkah Blessings,” written by one of the founding members, Steven Page.
Though it is not a Christmas song, its message of light and resilience carries the very spirit of peace and goodwill that we celebrate this time of year.
How lucky are we that we
Have lights so that we can see
Although the day is done
What a miracle that a spark
Lifts these candles out of the dark
Every evening one by one
Until the end of Hanukkah
Of Hanukkah
When the band decided to record a holiday album, Page, who is Jewish, felt it was important to include songs that reflected his own heritage. The only Hanukkah song that ever received air time is Adam Sandler’s “Eight Crazy Nights,” but Page wanted something different. While he included classics like “Hanukkah, Oh, Hanukkah,” he wanted to write something more personal—a song that captured the experience of celebrating Jewish traditions in a society where Christmas is the dominant landscape.
In an interview with Lifestyles Magazine, Page explained, “I wanted a melodic idea that was personal to me… The song I wanted to sing was about someone who celebrates Hanukkah in a society where everyone else celebrates Christmas.” You can hear that contrast in these lines:
With the jingle bells and the toys
And the TV shows and the noise
It’s easy to forget
At the end of the day
Our whole family will say
These words for Hanukkah:
The song then transitions into the traditional Hebrew blessing over the candles: Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melekh ha’olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner shel Hanukkah.
Translated, it means: “Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to kindle the light of Hanukkah.”
Page also uses the song to touch on the history of the holiday. Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and the miracle of a single day’s worth of oil lasting for eight days. The song concludes with the Second Blessing, which honors the miracles of the past:
We remember how Maccabees
Fought so all of us could be free
And so we celebrate
On this festival of the lights
There’s a joyful time every night
Where we illuminate
The candles of Hanukkah
Of Hanukkah
Barukh atah ADONAI Elohaynu Melekh ha’olom She’asah neesim l’avotaynu bayamim hahem ba’zman hazeh
Translated, it means: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days, at this time.”
As a Christian, I have always loved this song for its melody, but it carries a much heavier weight for me today. In the wake of rising antisemitism—most tragically seen in the recent horrific attack on the Jewish community at Bondi Beach in Australia—the song’s message of “lifting a spark out of the dark” feels more urgent than ever.
My heart goes out to the families who will have empty chairs at their tables this year, and to the millions of Jewish people around the world facing a climate of fear. Our faiths share deep roots, and it is my hope that this season, we can stand in solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters.
I will keep “Hanukkah Blessings” on my playlist every year as a reminder to celebrate the “Festival of Lights” and to ensure my Jewish friends know they do not stand alone.
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James Finck is a professor of American history at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. He can be reached at james.finck@swoknews.com.
https://www.swoknews.com/multimedia/photo_galleries/column-hanukkah-blessings/article_3b568590-e41c-5475-8257-83a246fe9d02.html
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