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Here we are with the holidays upon us and Christmas music, generally secular, surrounds us as we shop, entertain, and attend the obligatory office party. This year, Hanukkah also begins on December 25th, but except for Adam Sandler’s ‘The Chanukah Song,’ we rarely hear any selections from the Festival of Lights, although there are many from which to choose: Ma’oz Tzur, Oh Hanukkah, and a personal favorite of mine from Peter, Paul and Mary, ‘Light One Candle.’

If I had to choose a favorite Jewish composer of holiday music, I suppose I’d have to say French-born Adolphe Adam because besides writing operas, including Giselle, in 1847, he wrote the music to accompany the lyrics created four years earlier by Placide Cappeau, resulting in the hauntingly beautiful ‘O, Holy Night.’

It’s funny how a song— or a book, painting, or any other creative endeavor— can survive the test of time and persevere despite the odds. Even when the odds come with distinctly unChristian intolerance.

‘O, Holy Night’ was received warmly and sung in Christmas services throughout France as soon as it debuted during that very first midnight mass. Originally titled ‘Cantique de Noel’ (‘Christmas Carol’) the hymn proved enormously popular— even without the assistance of a Mariah Carey or The Three Tenors—but its use came to a screeching halt for two decades when the French Catholic Church leaders discovered that Cappeau was a socialist and Adam was believed to be a Jew. Despite the church banning the hymn, the people of France recognized beauty when they heard it and continued to sing it outside the church.

The trail to its emergence in America began in 1855 when minister and writer John Sullivan Dwight discovered ‘O, Holy Night’ and published the English translation in his magazine, Dwight’s Journal of Music. An abolitionist, Dwight was struck by the third verse which, in his translation, read, “Truly, he taught us to love one another; his law is love, and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother; and in his name all oppression shall cease.” The hymn further gained popularity as it resonated with fellow abolitionists during the Civil War, particularly in the North.

And interestingly, ‘O Holy Night’ was the first piece of music to be broadcast live over radio, years later in 1906, granting further exposure to its glory.

It almost seems that regardless of interference by mortal man, Providence will always create the perfect choreography to open wide unseeing eyes. ‘O, Holy Night’ will always rejoice in this divine love.