Maggid - The Four Qustions (with apologies to Dr. Seuss)
Why is it only
on Passover night
we never know how
to do anything right?
We don't eat our meals
in the regular ways,
the ways that we eat them
on all other days.
`Cause on all other nights
we might possibly eat
all kinds of wonderful
good bready treats.
Like big purple pizzas
that taste like a pickle,
crumbly snack crackers
and pink pumpernickel.
Sassafras sandwich
and tiger on rye,
falafels in pita
that might be fresh-fried.
Dripping with marshmallow
and tangerine sauce
spread upside and down-side
and then-side across!
Toasted whole-wheat bread
with liver and ducks,
and crumpets and dumplings,
and bagels and lox.
Doughnuts with one hole
and doughnuts with four,
cake with six layers
of frosting and s'mores.
Yes--
on all other nights
we eat all kinds of bread,
but tonight of all nights
we munch matzah instead.
And on all other nights
we consume and devour
vegetables, green things,
roots, herbs...even flowers.
Lettuce that's leafy
and candy-striped spinach,
fresh crunchy celery
(Have more when you're finished!).
Daisies and roses
and inside-out grass
and artichoke hearts
that are simply first class!
Cabbage that's purple
that's red and that's green
the most tasty cabbage
that you've ever seen.
Sixty asparagus tips
served in glasses
with anchovy sauce
and some sticky molasses.
But on Passover night
you would never consider
eating an herb
that wasn't all bitter.
And on all other nights
you would probably flip
if anyone asked you
how often you dip.
On some days I only dip
one Bup-Bup egg
in a teaspoon of vinegar
mixed with nutmeg.
But on others we take
more than ten thousand tails
of the Yakkity-birds
that are hunted in Wales,
and dip them in vats
full of Fifflefat juice.
Then we feed them to Harold,
our six-legged moose.
Or we don't dip at all!
Sometimes that just feels nice.
So why on this night
do we have to dip twice?
And on all other nights
we can sit as we please,
on our heads, on our backs,
our elbows or our knees.
We can hang by our toes
from the top of a camel
or a sloth or a slurth
(any big hairy mammal!).
Our nose in the air
or our nose on the floor
with one ear out the window
and one by the door.
Doing somersaults
over the greasy k'nishes
or dancing a jig
without breaking the dishes.
Yes--
on all other nights
you sit nicely when dining--
So why on this night
must we all be reclining?
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Passover Guide
Hosting your first Passover Seder? Not sure what food to serve? Curious to
know more about the holiday? Explore our Passover 101 Guide for answers
to all of your questions.