Hallel: Rosh Chodesh Kislev VI
in
Rosh Chodesh
by admin on 05 Nov, 2010
“Give thanks to God Who is good, for His kindness is forever! Let Israel declare that His Kindness is forever!” is sung by all of Israel as they experience the infinite possibilities of life.
“Let the House of Aaron declare that His kindness is forever!”
is sung by the Chashmonaim, Kohanim of the House of Aaron.
“Let those who are in awe of God declare that His kindness if forever!”
is sung by the Sages who perceived to powerful eternal messages of the Chanukah story that taught us how to use the Chanukah experience to survive our travails in exile.
“I called to the Creator of Heaven and Earth from a tight spot, and He answered me broadly. God is with me, I have no fear; what can people do to me? God is with me to help me, so I can confront my enemies. It is better to depend in God than to trust people. It is better to depend on God than to trust people in power. All the nations surrounded me but I survived them in God’s Name. They surrounded and encircled me but I survived them in God’s Name. Though they surrounded me like a swarm of bees, they were snuffed out like burnt thorns. I survived them in God’s Name. I was pushed to fall but God helped me. The Creator of Heaven and Earth is my Help and my Hammer, and became my Savior.”
The weeks between Rosh Chodesh Kislev and Chanukah we a time of intense battles with the Syrian-Greeks. We sing this part of the paragraph imagining how the citizen-soldiers of the Chashmonaim sang it even in battle.
“Song and victory sound in the tents of the just. God’s Hand makes victory. God’s Hand is supreme. God’s Hand makes victory! I will not die but live, and tell of the doings of the Creator of Heaven and Earth.”
We sing these verses as if we are approaching the Beit Hamikdash ready to proclaim the “Song and victory sound in the tents of the just.”
