Text
Celebrate the restoration, the renewal of customs, the freedom to worship, when we hardly dared hope for it the Festival of Lights.
Karen Siegel after Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Chapter 12 (1st Century CE)
Program Note
"So much pleasure did they find in the renewal of their customs and in unexpectedly obtaining the right to have their own [Temple] service after so long a time, that they made a law that their descendants should celebrate the restoration of the Temple service, for 8 days. And from that time to the present we observe this festival, which we call the Festival of Lights, giving this name to it, I think, from the fact that the right to worship appeared to us at a time when we hardly dared hope for it."
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Chapter 12 (1st Century CE) translation from the Greek courtesy of Jenny Labendz
I am grateful to Jenny Labendz for finding this quote from a secular source about the Jewish people’s early celebrations of Chanukah. The quote, and my poem based on it, emphasize an aspect of Chanukah that often gets lost in the modern trappings of the holiday Chanukah is, at its core, about appreciation for religious freedom, something that people of all religions can celebrate.
Karen Siegel
Performance Note
The final consonant should always be on the rest after a note. For example, in m. 5, the altos should put the “ts” of “lights” on the second half of beat 3; and in mm. 21-23 the altos should put the “ts” of “lights” on the second half of beat 1 (not on the downbeat).
(Rehearsal Only)