Chanukah
The Editors
This bibliography compiles texts on Chanukah by Jewish authors of the Victorian era, reflecting diverse approaches to the Festival of Lights, which commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days.
Many of these texts center on the Maccabees, Jewish rebel warriors who led a successful revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE. Three works by women authors incorporate the Maccabean narrative into broader explorations of Jewish history. Grace Aguilar (1816–1847), a prominent Anglo-Jewish writer known for her religious works that emphasize Jewish faith and identity, includes “The Martyr Mother,” an account of Hannah and her seven sons, in The Women of Israel (1845). Constance de Rothschild (1843–1931) and Annie de Rothschild (1844–1926), sisters, philanthropists, and educators, provide biographical sketches of the Maccabees in “The Jews Under the Asmoneans,” part of their The History and Literature of the Israelites (1871). Celia Moss Levetus (1819–1873) and Marion Moss Hartog (1821–1907), sisters and co-authors who explored Jewish themes in their historical novels and poetry, feature a fictionalized retelling, “The Asmoneans,” in The Romance of Jewish History (1840). Hartog’s poem “Chanukah” reminisces on the Maccabean victory over oppression. Morris Joseph (1848–1930), an Anglo-Jewish minister, gives a succinct retelling in “The Story of the Maccabees,” published in a collection by Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz.
Additional texts are drawn from Apples and Honey (1921), a collection for teen readers compiled by Nina Salaman (1877–1925), a British poet, translator, and social activist who was acquainted with Israel Zangwill. The collection includes one work by a British author and three by non-Britons, highlighting the transnational connections of Jewish literary traditions. Aaron Selig Doniach (1879–1959), a Russian immigrant to London who helped establish a Jewish school system for girls in London’s East End, contributes “What the Candles Say,” a story recounting a child’s vision of the Maccabees inspired by the Chanukah lights. Emma Lazarus (1849–1887), an American poet best known for her sonnet “The New Colossus,” inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, extols Maccabean victories in “The Banner of the Jew.” Morris Rosenfeld (1862–1923), a Yiddish poet from Russian Poland, offers “Hanucah Lights,” which evokes memories of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel. Martha Wolfenstein (1869–1906), a Prussian-born American writer known for her portrayals of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, provides “Nittel-Nacht.” This short story fictionalizes the experience of Nittel Nacht, the Yiddish term for Christmas Eve, historically marked by attacks on Jewish communities in Eastern Europe.
Other works in the bibliography explore Chanukah through unique perspectives. Lady Katie Magnus (1844–1924), a writer and philanthropist dedicated to Jewish education, writes “Feast of Dedication,” a children’s story included in her Little Miriam’s Holyday Stories for Little Jewish Readers (1868). Israel Zangwill (1864–1926), a prominent Anglo-Jewish novelist and playwright known for works like Children of the Ghetto (1892), often examined themes of assimilation, conversion, and Jewish identity. His stories “Anglicization,” from Ghetto Stories (1899), and “Joseph the Dreamer,” from Dreamers of the Ghetto (1898), reflect these themes. “Anglicization” portrays an interfaith relationship in London during Chanukah, while “Joseph the Dreamer” narrates a Jewish conversion in Rome on a night when Chanukah and Christmas coincide.
Full texts of these works are available through the accompanying links.
Bibliography
Zangwill, Israel. “Anglicization.” Ghetto Comedies, The Macmillan Company, 1907, pp. 57–102.