About the work
Hanukkah remembers the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BCE, after the revolt of the Maccabees against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV. 1 Maccabees tells of eight days of dedication; the Talmud (Shabbat 21b) tells of a single cruse of pure oil that burned for eight days, and so for eight nights a light is added to the hanukkiah, one more each night, until all eight burn.
The lights are kindled by a ninth, the shamash, the helper, set apart from the others. The custom followed here: the lights are added from right to left, and lit left to right, the newest first. Facing the house from the street, the first night's light is the rightmost.
After the lights are kindled, Ma'oz Tzur is sung, "Rock of Ages": a hymn from the thirteenth century, signed in its acrostic by a poet named Mordecai, to a melody German Jews have sung for it since at least the eighteenth century.
The blessings said over kindling a hanukkiah are not spoken in these shows: they belong to lighting real lights, and said over a recording they would be said in vain.
Where the music comes from
The melody is Ma'oz Tzur's traditional one, as the Union Hymnal (Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1897) prints it with Gustav Gottheil's English, No. 107, "Rock of Ages (Chanuccah)", read from the copy on the Internet Archive (unionhymnal0000unse_l7i5) and checked note by note against the tune as it is sung today. One verse, at the hymnal's Maestoso, plays on an oboe from the middle of the porch, where the lights are. The strings' plain harmony under it is our own; a harp sounds each light as it catches.
The stage
| place on the house | what it is |
|---|---|
| Porch Front | the hanukkiah: nine places, eight lights in two groups of four, the shamash in the middle with a wider gap on each side. |
| Porch Left / Porch Right | warm a little with each light. |
| Left, Right and Side | low blue while the lights are kindled; when they are all lit, a warm glow spreads out along them from the porch. |
Who is who
| light | colour |
|---|---|
| the flames | olive-oil gold #ffb33a, tips #fff1c0 |
| the shamash | the same, a little whiter, brighter and wider |
| the night before the lights | low blue #0c2a8a |
| the lights' glow over the house | olive-oil gold |