"The first performance of the song was at a 1982 concert in Carnegie Hall.[1]
The song was written in 1982[2] by group member Peter Yarrow as a pacifist response to the 1982 Lebanon War (with Israel), an intention was reflected in the lyrics "Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice justice and freedom demand, Light one candle for the wisdom to know when the peacemaker's time is at hand."[3][1]
In 1983, the three singers (only Peter is Jewish) traveled to Israel to perform at an large outdoor concert in the holy city of Jerusalem.
Tonight is the first night of Chanukah/Hanukkah.
We light our Hanukkah candles this year with heavy hearts remembering the horrific atrocities that recently transpired in Israel targeting babies, children, women, and the elderly. We pray for the release of all of the innocent hostages that were brutally abducted and are being kept in prisoners in dark underground tunnels. We mourn for the many that were not taken as hostages, but instead were burned alive or beheaded, some after first being brutally raped.
Where is the antisemitism coming from on college campuses?
An organzation called, "Students for Justice in Palestine" is a student group on every college campus in the US, is sponsored and funded by Muslim organizations for the sole purpose of spreading anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment on campus. This group has been very diligent and very successful over the past 15 years advocating for BDS (Boycott against Israel goods and anything relating to Israel and Judaism). Much of their rhetoric and accusations are based on lies. For example, "Israel is oppressing the people of Gaza." " Free Gaza".
Truth is Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and Gaza has been under the rule of Hamas since then which Gaza voted for."
Peter, Paul, and Mary's Hanukkah song, written during the Israel Lebanon war, is a song of hope for peace. It looks back to the story of Hannukah, the early struggle 2,000 years ago when the Jewish Maccabees defended Jerusalem against the mighty Assyrian army and saved the Jewish people and the holy Temple that the Assyrians had desecrated. That is the miracle of Hanukkah.
Peter, Paul, and Mary powerful Hanukkah song is still a reminder to be strong and have hope during the current situation of terror, war, and the anti-semitism that is brewing right now in the world and especially college campuses.
The song below is beautiful, inspiring, and worth taking a few minutes to listen to it.
