Long Chanukah Poems
Long Chanukah Poems. Below are the most popular long Chanukah by PoetrySoup Members. You can search for long Chanukah poems by poem length and keyword.
A few hundred ragtag, rabbinic Maccabees
faced the might of Antiochus’ army
60,000 fighting men strong
The Chanukah story we all know
The rabbis delivered Greece a knockout blow
Rededicated the Temple, and with a small cruise of oil
lit the lamps of the Menorah, eight nights in all
Yet in our prayers, not a single word about
the military prowess of the ‘Mighty Maccabees’
We thank God, and God alone, for routing Greece
Mattathias, the leader, and his sons,
five indomitable priests
we praise instead
~ but only for their spiritual feats
___________________________________________
The Talmud asks: 'What is Chanukah?' The above is
(a much-condensed version of) the answer it gives.
(Tractate 'Shabbos,' 21a - 23b)... Also found in the
'Abridged Book of Jewish Law, Laws of Chanukah,
Solomon Gantzfried, (English version)
I’ve never had a Christmas tree
Nor stockings filled with treats.
I’ve never gone to midnight mass
Nor hoped for Santa-meets.
I’ve never woken Christmas morn
With presents to unwrap
And no one in my household
Ever wore a stocking cap.
I’ve never eaten Christmas ham
Or fruitcake and to drink,
My sibs and I stirred rags for “eggnog”
In the basement sink.
But don’t feel bad for me because
I celebrated, too.
The holiday of Chanukah
Was what my family knew.
We had our presents and our foods
And candles every night,
With songs and family gathered ‘round,
Eight days of pure delight.
But still, today, I’d like to wish
Amid the bright displays,
To all my Christmas friends
The very merriest of days.
It sat there on the bookstore shelf
And called attention to itself;
With stairs and lights and rooms to fill,
I thought that joy it would instill.
I schlepped it home and wrapped it tight,
Anticipating sheer delight
When both the grandkids got their gift;
How it would give my heart a lift!
The paper ripped, the house unpacked,
Assembled with our wits intact,
I waited for the eyes to light
But never counted on a fight.
For each one thought that he did know
Where every item ought to go
And naturally, their views diverged
While tempers flared and shrieking surged.
At last, to combat noise pollution,
We arrived at a solution –
Separate times for each to play
To keep the rivalry at bay.
But hours later, there’s a truce;
The reason why, I can’t deduce.
I’m watching them attempt to share;
To intervene, I wouldn’t dare!
‘Twas the night before Christmas and I didn’t care;
I had dozens of latkes I had to prepare.
The menorah was ready, with candles to light,
Waiting there by the window, a wonderful sight.
The presents were wrapped and I lined up the dreidels;
The soup was a’bubble, with floating knaidels.
The applesauce waited to chill in the fridge
In a Chanukah bowl. (Yes, I tasted a smidge.)
The cookies were baked like my grandmother taught,
(So much better than any that anyone bought)
Shaped like candles and dreidels and six-sided stars;
There were plenty to fill cookie platters and jars.
When I suddenly sensed there was something the matter.
I raced to the kitchen – the oil was a’splatter!
For while I was fixing the festive display,
I should have been frying (not quite my forte).
The first batch of latkes was burnt to a crisp
And smoke filled the kitchen (much more than a wisp),
But tying my apron for take number two,
I ditched all the burnt ones and knew what to do.
I lowered the flame and reheated some oil,
Plopping spoonfuls of batter I wouldn’t let spoil.
Then I conjured my childhood and Chanukahs past,
When I had no idea years would fly by so fast.
And I pictured my nana and grandma, as well
As my parents, my grandfathers and Aunt Sydelle
And my brothers and sister and cousins galore
And my uncles and aunts I’ve not mentioned before.
While my latkes were frying, so crispy and gold,
I remembered how Chanukah used to unfold,
When we played with our dreidels and gathered our gelt,
In our family’s embrace and the love we all felt.
So I cooked the new latkes with patience and care,
Knowing that with my kids and my grandkids I’d share
All the pent-up emotions I’ve hidden inside
With a platter of latkes, now perfectly fried.
And to all who will celebrate Chanukah time,
I do hope there’s a lesson for you in this rhyme –
For the very-best feelings our childhoods instill,
Through traditions, our hearts and our bellies will fill.
December 7, 2022
The Festival of Lights, Chanukah has arrived
a hopeful time of praise each year revived.
The Menorah lit, each home becomes a church.
Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe.
Our sister Miriam lights the shamash taper first
a maiden fair and scholarly her prayers rehearsed
to bring together all that's beautiful, diverse.
Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe.
Eight nights we praise the L-rd for gifting us with Light
and pass around small things which bring delight.
We rejoice. In brotherhood we are immersed.
Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe.
May G-d in his greatness light all your days
May family, friends, and foes mend their ways
for all have needs, let kindness tame their thirsts
Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe.
*Bo-ruch A-toh Ado-noi E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech Ho-olom A-sher Ki-de-sho-nu Be-mitz-vo-sov Ve-tzi-vo-nu Le-had-lik Ner Shel Cha-nu-kah.
* Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Chanukah.
Luke 2:6-7 King James Version (KJV)
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished
that she should be delivered, and she brought forth her firstborn son,
and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger;
because there was no room for them in the inn.
Jesus Is The Reason
Written: by Miracle Man
12/28/2018
On the very first Christmas, God exited His throne,
And into Human flesh laid Himself in a manger.
Glory Himself was birthed into a baby and swaddled,
To scandal shrouded Mary, was born a world changer.
By embracing obedience He took a common life,
And accomplished a miracle by elevating the mundane.
Salvation lay nestled among the creature food,
The humblest of beginnings for His eternal reign.
Now each Christmas I find myself more thankful,
While being touched by the story of Jesus' birth.
I praise Him for the things that I don't comprehend,
While analyzing once more, to each, His worth.
Merry Christmas
Tom & Ernestine
2019
The Forgotten holidays
Written or in this case typed…
correctly; “The” as it was at the beginning correct.
“Forgotten” as it was naming not the action but the lost.
(holidays) No capital as they are thought to be small,
and unimportant by most everyone,
except those that remember.
The truth is we are never sure
who they may be,
until they are; us.
My good friend died last year.
Cancer ate her up.
I missed her birthday,
Valentines cookies,
April songs, May flowers,
Summer showers, birds…
and laughter…
Tea and cakes,
under the big tree, in the back.
Memorial day for the brave,
Labor for the strong,
The 4th, so spectacular,
to light the sky.
She would have loved the show,
I did, but less so without her.
Her anniversary, with him.
She was in love.
Now he is lost.
What happens when no one remembers,
the days that never get to happen,
gone from us, not in our reach at all.
The rest we rearrange,
our schedule to correct the path,
for our new, if unwontedly changed…
Life.
Cards with only one name,
one sender… or worse,
one addressee.
Stark realization, I harbor sacrilegious objection...
Against merry christmas premature blowout,
(or otherwise) ejaculation galore burnout,
hence I feel like the odd man out
neither yours truly, nor the missus
spends money and/or
time at checkout
avoid madding crowds like the plague
elbowing, hustling, jostling,
pushing, racing, shoving...
seconds before blue
light special closeout,
though neither of us
reformed practicing Jews, nor devout
mass consumerism capitalistic fallout,
we steer clear taking refuge within
our underground (arched)
all in the family bunker hideout
remain hermetically sealed
courtesy NASA tested grout
hunkering inside spatially
roomy subterranean getaway
created viz 3d printing
immediately after rollout
ready to take nesty plunge
steeply, perpendicularly, giddily... south
to go down rabbit hole,
where we carouse, cavort,
thermally heated cavernous redoubt
reaping efforts after donning
(MAGA) hardhats constructing roustabout,
whereby protruding innocuous periscope
allows, enables, and provides
mean ways to scout,
since Marshall Mathers Law
declared, mandated trumpeted
courtesy special ops stakeout
regarding our subversive
passive actions hashtagged illegal
if perchance discovered vis a vis,
we Americans express timeout
before changing role as seekers
playing wargames no matter
suddenly Nor'easter creates whiteout
futile search until spring thaw
melting snow exhumes
mister and missus Santa Claus
thank you climate change
regarding attributed drought.
Like ‘Nevermore’ sketched into water by Salvador Dali
Quickly running a message up a high mast in Mali
Or Michaelangelo his genius wild, cutting a lady less forlorn
With a savior already finished with work and free from scorn
Oddyseus’ raft might have hurried home
Had it not been for the Sirens’ mercurial foam
Everyman distracted, with each passing year
And epoch of pain pouring tear upon tear
Without discerning the rhyme or the reason
Or gaining knowable time season upon season
Always the lure of fruitless eternity insipid
The body and mind empty: blood, bone and lipid
When fools or king’s would rush in where others feared
Bombs fired all round and their people were seared
In jest, a plague of doubt, a feast for Decameron’s clowns
In love, the firing flesh of sin falling down
In war, the rage of the people aimed at shadows’ night
In peace, moments too few to count, the treasure slight
Wherefore the incessant loss and vainglory
From what source the endless folly
With each generation aimless proceeding
And substantial hope forever receding
How this vague sense of emptiness and sorrow
And no real horizon to fill one’s soul tomorrow
Each city above ground falling in on itself
A cascading destruction from the continental shelf [river]
All built upon empty dreams, from false stories past
Or emptied like a dream, when the brain wakes fast
Awake to the shuddering quake of earth below
Or perhaps Earth itself, blowing up in a glow
Just like Rome to fall away at the end of time
to pass the cup, to self-destruct on the vine
From Aeneas came the Trojan horde
Yet he ate his tables instead of fall on his sword
While some chanced Paris instead
Without casting runes or checking their head
To hence or from where it could not matter
On the fat of the lamb each gentile growing fatter
Over the centuries, the meaning of things or remorse
Grew dim and stolid, owning a garden or grooming a horse
With all of the sparkling treasure and treats so kind
None could fathom true nature’s curse, or pay it any mind
A discordant drumbeat from Washington comes
Lawmakers to senseless partisanship succumb
Midst the darkness, light a candle
Pave the way for the Savior to come
From the Oval Office menacing texts and tweets
Leaving a sour taste behind holiday treats
Midst the darkness, light a candle
Thrill to the triumph of the Maccabees**
Social media's blasphemers, angry trolling mobs
Intimidating their victims, making them sob
Midst the darkness, light a candle
Send a signal to the bullies and snobs
Terrorism the world over rears its ugly head
So many innocents, injured or dead
Midst the darkness, light a candle
May the Flame of Goodness be spread
**The Maccabees restored and rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem,
including the Menorah Lamp, their brave deeds memorialized in the
Holiday of Chanukah.