Universities Are in Thrall to a Constituency That Sees Israel as an Affront to Its Identity
Anti-Semitism is a symptom.
December 8, 2023
A New Look at a Popular Hanukkah Song’s Mysterious, and Controversial, Final Stanza
“In exile, not only is history unfinished, but so is poetry.”
Last night, many Jewish families sang the song "Ma’oz Tsur" (usually translated as “Rock of Ages”), authored by a medieval poet about whom nothing is known save his name, Mordechai. The song—of which the first stanza is the best known—describes various historical incidents where the Jews were oppressed and then triumphed, culminating with the Hasmonean victory over the Seleucid monarchy. The sixth and final stanza refers to the future, messianic redemption and the end of the exile, yet there is an ongoing debate among modern scholars about whether this was a later addition. Yitz Landes suggests a literary solution to the puzzle:
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A New Look at a Popular Hanukkah Song’s Mysterious, and Controversial, Final Stanza
“In exile, not only is history unfinished, but so is poetry.”