The famous Hanukkah hymn “Ma’oz Tzur”, or “Rock of Ages” in the best-known English version, is pretty much like any other hymn: thanks, God, because You did such great things for us by killing all our enemies, which is why we’re (a) still alive and (b) able to sing this song to you. Unfortunately, not that many people know how the actual text of the hymn translates into English, so I will translate some of the lyrics to Ma’oz Tzur here:
| Mighty rock of my salvation, it is pleasing to praise You, | מָעוֹז צוּר יְשׁוּעָתִי לְךָ נָאֶה לְשַׁבֵּחַ, |
| Restore the house of my prayer and there we shall sacrifice a thanksgiving-offering, | תִּכּוֹן בֵּית תְּפִלָּתִי וְשָׁם תּוֹדָה נְזַבֵּחַ, |
| At that time, You will be ready to slaughter the blaspheming enemy, | לְעֵת תָּכִין מַטְבֵּחַ מִצָּר הַמְנַבֵּחַ, |
| Then I shall finish, with a praising song, the dedication of the altar. | אָז אֶגְמֹר בְּשִׁיר מִזְמוֹר חֲנֻכַּת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ. |
Innocuous enough, right, at least by the standards of some other hymns? Let’s skip down to the final verse—
| Let Your holy arm be shown and bring near the final salvation, | חֲשׁוֹף זְרוֹע קָדְשֶׁךָ וְקָרֵב קֵץ הַיְשׁוּעָה, |
| Avenge the vengeance of your servant’s blood from the evil people, | נְקוֹם נִקְמַת דַּם עֲבָדֶיךָ מֵאֻמָּה הָרְשָׁאָה, |
| For salvation has been delayed for us, and there is no end to evil’s days, | כִּי אָרְכָה לָּנוּ הַיְשׁוּעָה וְאֵין קֵץ לִיְמֵי הָרָעָה, |
| Cast Edom down to the darkest darkness, and establish seven shepherds for us. | דְּחֵה אַדְמֹן בְּצֵל צַלְמֹן הָקֵם לָנוּ רוֹעִים שִׁבְעָה. |
ArtScroll helpfully provides you with the following comment:
This final stanza is generally regarded to be a later addition [about 1500] by a different author. The initial letters of the first three words for the acrostic חֲזַק, be strong. Since it contains a strong plea for Divine vengeance against Israel’s foes, this stanza was subject to much censorship by Christian authorities. Accordingly some siddurim have replaced certain stiches with others less offensive to the censors.
Whereas we, in our holy desire to remain as close to the original text as possible, have left in the original version of a forged last verse! Never mind that it’s bad poetry, or that it is genuinely offensive to anyone with modern sensibilities, or that after five previous verses of singing out the awful melody to the rest of Ma’oz Tzur you feel like giant cotton balls have been shoved down your ear canals. Look how extra-pious we are by leaving it in!
The Red One [what I have translated 'Edom' —S] refers to Esau/Edom, whose descendants brought the current exile. The seven shepherds (Micah 5:4) who will conquer Israel’s oppressors are David, Adam, Seth, Methusaleh, Abraham, Jacob, and Moses (Succah 52b).
That’s right—Isaac, Joseph, Solomon, Gideon, Ehud—you can all just go back home, because you’re clearly worthless. Come on in, Seth! Methuselah, you sure your 969-year-old self is up to this? What about your rib-cage, Adam? Okay, then, you can come too.
I guess what this reminds me most of is the last verse of ‘Il Canto degli Italiani’, the Italian national anthem. National anthems—especially older ones, like you would find in some parts of Europe—have this undeniable tendency to romanticise bloodthirstiness, especially against traditional enemies of the state. The last verse of the Italian anthem goes:
| Son giunchi che piegano le spade vendute, | They are feeble reeds, the mercenaries’ swords, |
| Già l’Aquila d’Austria le penne ha perdute. | The Austrian Eagle has lost its plumes. |
| Il sangue d’Italia, il sangue Polacco, | The blood of Italy, the Polish blood, |
| Bevé, col cosacco, ma il cor le bruciò. | Was drunk, with the Cossack’s, but it burnt her heart. |
Now, of course, nobody sings this last verse of the Italian anthem anymore, but it’s still on the books. Many Jews, however, not knowing any better, do sing the last verse of Ma’oz Tzur, which praises more or less the exact same kinds of things. Ruthless destruction of one’s enemies is sanctioned because they’ve done wrong to you. Of course this offends our modern sensibilities, as well it should, but that’s not the point I want to make: the point is that when we can recognise that this is what’s going on, we should stop singing these kinds of hymns—or change them; it’s not as if they’re Torah revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai—instead of continuing with this nonsense.
