English translation

This is one of the more popular Hanukkah songs, with lyrics set to the music of ‘See, the Conqu’ring Hero Comes!’ from George Frideric Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus—one of several Hebrew renditions of the same melody.

The original oratorio used the story of the Maccabean revolt as a metaphor for England’s victory at the Battle of Culloden, but this song celebrates the actual revolt’s success itself; however, given the absence of religious themes in the song and the significance that the Maccabees had for early secular Jewish pioneers in Israel (especially the Second Aliya, of which Kipnis was a part), it may also be a celebration of modern Jews gaining a foothold again in their ancestral homeland.

The song was originally titled ‘The Victory Celebrations’, and was originally part of a play for children by that title.

(Cf.: ‘We Bear Torches’, ‘Who Will Recount’)