A Breslov Chanukah Nigun – Uminotar Kankanim
Cantor Richard Kaplan
This nigun is just five words, taken from the fifth verse of Maoz Tzur: וּמִנּוֹתַר קַנְקַנִּים נַעֲשָׂה נֵס לַשּׁוֹשַׁנִּים "Uminotar kankanim na'asah nes lashoshanim". That's the one verse that's actually about Chanukah (the first four verses are about Messianic times, Egypt, Babylon, and the Purim story). The meaning of the words is: "And from the remaining flasks [of oil], a miracle was made for the Roses".
Shoshanim, "roses", stands for the Jewish people, as we find in the midrash on verse 2:2 of Song of Songs ("Like a rose among the thorns, so is my love among the daughters" – all of Song of Songs is interpreted in midrash as a love story between God and Israel.
The song is sung by Cantor Richard Kaplan, z"l, who passed away in the first day of Sukkot, 2021. Like the pure oil of the flask in the song, Richard shined a sweet and precious light in the world. He will be sorely missed. This track is taken from Richard Kaplan's CD, "The Kabbalah of Chanukah", which he shared with neohasid when the album first came out in 2006.
"The Kabbalah of Chanukah" is an hour-long CD of Tales, Teachings, and Sacred Music for the Festival of Light with Cantor Richard Kaplan and Estelle Frankel, originally produced as a holiday special for KPFA.