George Frideric Handel (February 23, 1685)

Handel's Oratorio Judah Maccabee was first performed in England in 1746. Handel dedicated this magnificent treatment of the Macabee story to a military victory by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, celebrating his triumph over the recent Jacobite rebellion. England at the time had a very small Jewish community, but they were active patrons of the arts, and quickly made this work a favorite of theirs, and commissioned more Handel works. So why not continue to consider Handel a hero to Jewish music lovers?