Holocaust
FROM THE ROSENBERG HOLOCAUST HAGGADAH BY RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG
The Torah explains the meaning of Passover in four different ways, according to the questions put by four different types of children. And so now we sing the ,"Ballad of the Four Sons," written by Ben Aronin.
THE BALLAD OF THE FOUR SONS
Said the father to his children,
At the Seder you will dine,
You will eat your fill of Matzoh,
You will drink four cups of wine.
Now this father had no daughters,
But his sons they numbered four:
One was wise and one was wicked,
One was simple and a bore.
And the fourth was sweet and winsome,
He was young and he was small,
While his brothers asked the questions,
He could scarcely speak at all,
Said the wise son to his father,
Would you please explain the laws
And the customs of the Seder. .
Will you please explain the cause?
And the father proudly answered,
As our fathers ate in speed,
Ate the Paschal lamb ere midnight
And from slavery were freed.
So we follow their example
And ere midnight must complete
All the Seder, and we should not After 12 remain to eat.
Then did sneer the son so wicked
What does all this mean to you?
And the father's voice was bitter
As his grief and anger grew.
If yourself you don't consider
As a son of Israel,
Then for you this has no meaning
You could be a slave as well.
Then the simple son said simply,
'What is this? and quietly,
The good father told his offspring,
We were freed from slavery.
But the youngest son was silent,
For he could not ask at all,
His bright eyes were bright with wonder
As his father told him all.
Now dear children,
heed the lesson and remember evermore
What the father told his children,
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