Of all the Chanukah* songs that have been written one of my favorites is Debbie Friedman’s “Not By Might and Not By Power,” the text of which comes from the prophet Zachariah. Well, the bulk of the text comes from this prophet, but one word is missing. That word was left out on purpose for a musical reason. In my humble opinion, its absence is a major error.
Following the seven words above, Debbie wrote, “but by spirit alone”; and then in order to make it gender neutral, the newer version continued, “can we all live in peace” (originally, “can all men live in peace.”)
That’s not the problem.
What disturbed - and continues to disturb - me is the missing word that, I am certain, has Zachariah turning in his grave. At a URJ Biennial I had the opportunity to tell Ms. Friedman the error she made and how that error changed the entire meaning of the prophet’s message. This is it….
She left out the word “MY.” It should read, “but by MY spirit.”
When I first heard the song, I asked our youth group what it meant. They said - and without “MY” they were correct - “You need ruach, excitement, enthusiasm, rah-rah, yay team for the cause of peace.”
That’s not the prophet’s point, as good as it sounds.
Despite the victory of the Maccabees, there were many upset that war was necessary, that the entire Chanukah tale, except for the supposed miracle of the oil, was basically secular. It celebrates human strength, but God’s spirit was missing. Poetic license is one thing, but when you take a biblical phrase and alter it because of one musical note that would have to be added to make it “sound right,” the purpose of that phrase, the heart of the phrase in fact, may be lost.
And to think that Mattathias began his campaign to wrest the Temple from the Syrian-Greeks with “All who are for God, follow me” adds insult to injury, as it were. While the enemy did not seek to destroy the people, they did seek to destroy our religion. They sought to have those in their empire pay homage to the Greek gods. They wanted to neutralize the “spirit” of God…Torah wasn’t allowed to be read; commandments weren’t allowed to be followed; the Holy Temple could no longer be focal point of our worship. It was the Greek way or the highway, and Mattathias and his sons wouldn’t stand for it!
Zachariah’s message which has become an unofficial motto of our Festival of Lights is mighty powerful. A musical note shouldn’t be a reason to modify it!
Happy Chanukah! May the light of our faith enlighten us all!