“For the Miracles” according to a Cairo Geniza Fragment

[We thank you] for the miracles, the mighty deeds, the acts of salvation, the battles, the redemption and the rescue that you performed for us and for our forefathers on these days. In the days of Mattathias, the High Priest, the Hasmonean, and his sons, when the kingdom of Yavam arose against your people with the aim of making them forget your…

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This prayer, added to the Amidah and Grace after Meals during Hanukkah, and to other Hanukkah texts, is preserved on a twelfth-century bifolium in the Cairo Geniza. The first part presents passages from Targum Onkelos on Numbers 7, a part of the Torah read during Hanukkah. This version of Al ha-nisim combines both Egyptian and Eastern traditions. The text closes with instructions in Judeo-Arabic. The copyist of this manuscript was not particularly skilled and had to correct several areas. It has been suggested that this text was for personal use.

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