Ari Lesser - Hanukkah 5776 - Maoz Tzur

An original Translation of a Hanukkah classic Maoz Tzur By Ari Lesser 29, Kislev 5776 O Mighty Rock of my salvation Praising You is a pleasant thing Let my house of prayer see restoration And we’ll bring there a thanksgiving offering. At the time when you finish slaughtering Those foes who never stop barking At the culmination, of the dedication Of the altar, I’ll play music and sing Of troubles, my soul had quite enough By grief, my strength was worn to the bone They embittered my life with work that was tough As a slave serving the Egyptian Throne But by the great hand of G-d alone He brought His treasured people home Pharaoh's army and his whole family Sank down into the deep like a stone Though, I came to His Holy Sanctuary Even there I found no peace of mind Oppressors came and they exiled me A punishment for my idolatrous crimes I became drunk on poisoned wine But I’d scarcely left, when what did I find? Babylon was done, Zerubavel had come I was saved in just seventy years time The Agagite son of Hammedasa tried To chop down the lofty cypress tree But he was silenced by his own pride A trap and snare it turned out to be Benyamin’s head, you raised in glory But you wiped out the name of the enemy With his many sons, and his possessions He was hanged on the gallows for all to see Against me gathered a force Greeks Back in the days of the Hasmoneans The walls of my tower they breached And defiled all the oil with contamination Of the pure jars there remained just one But for rosy ones a miracle was done Those who understood, established for good Eight days of song and celebration Bare the arm of Your Holiness Let the time draw near for salvation Avenge the blood of Your servants That was spilled by that wicked nation. We’ve long awaited salvation These awful days never seem to end Let Edom be tossed, with that shady cross And raise our seven shepherds once again