A video of Christian Swedish children singing "Maoz Tzur" on Saint Lucy's Day went viral on social media over the last few days.
These children are students at a public school in Stockholm (that has asked the Jerusalem Post to not publicize its name), a unique school that offers about 100 of its 900 students Jewish studies including the learning of Hebrew.
Every year, on December 13th, during Saint Lucy's Day, which is a Christian feast day, the students in the school sing Christmas carols but also devote one of the songs to the Jewish students and Hanukkah which falls in around the same time. The observance commemorates Lucia of Syracuse, an early-fourth-century virgin martyr under the Diocletianic Persecution, who according to legend, brought food and aid to Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs, wearing a candle-lit wreath on her head to light her way and leave her hands free to carry as much food as possible.
När Lucia möter ChanukkaUnder dagens Luciafirande i Vasa Real framfördes "Maoz Tzur" som sjungs när man tänder chanukkaljusen. pic.twitter.com/mihbeprLS7
— Judiska Ungdomsförbundet i Sverige (JUS) (@JudiskaUngdom) December 13, 2022
"Lucia is a cultural tradition in Sweden that is connected to Christmas," Talli David, a teacher at the school, told the Post. "A part of learning about Lucia is to have a Lucia show where people sing and dress in white gowns, holding a light. There is always one person chosen as Lucia and she wears a crown with candlelights. This holiday is to show lightness in the dark."
She explained that "the school where I work has a Jewish profile with students learning Hebrew, and Jewish studies and they have the ability to eat in a kosher dining hall. At the same time, they are integrated into our public school."
David said that "each year when my school has a Lucia show, they acknowledge the Jewish profile by singing "Maoz Tzur" and thereby giving a bit of the Hanukkah joy. It’s a small action but it means so much to the Jewish students at our school. That says a lot about how our school supports the Jewish traditions as they are a national minority in Sweden."
What happens on Sait Lucy's Day?
According to an official Swedish government website, "the annual candlelit Lucia procession on December 13 is perhaps one of the more exotic-looking Swedish customs, with girls and boys clad in white full-length gowns singing songs together."
The official site explained that "the real candles are now sometimes replaced with battery-powered ones, but there is still a special atmosphere when the lights are dimmed and the sound of the children singing grows as they enter from an adjacent room."
"Tradition has it that Lucia is to wear ‘light in her hair’, which in practice means a crown of electric candles in a wreath on her head. Each of her handmaidens carries a candle, too. Parents gather in the dark with their mobile cameras at the ready. The star boys, who like the handmaidens are dressed in white gowns, carry stars on sticks and have tall paper cones on their heads. The Christmas elves bring up the rear, carrying small lanterns."