The Story
We Are Jews Because We Choose
They say Jewish people like to schmooze
We share a lot about our views
That we argue isn’t news
We’d rather win than ever lose.
Whose view is true, you can get confused
We are Jews because we choose.
We all observe Pesech in similar ways
Passing on lessons to the children we raise.
We say the prayers repeating each phrase
Year after year we keep singing God’s praise
We begin with the candles, lighting the blaze
And end with a pot roast we carefully Braise
In a manner that doesn’t remove all its taste
With a service run, quickly but never a race.
We build the Pyramids all 200 layers
For Pharaohs sons and all his heirs
It was awfully hard work and not very fair
When we complained they just didn’t care
Pharaoh’s heart hardened to and fro
First he said stay and then he said go
As God brought down curses, disasters and boils
Red tide, Wild beasts and blood on the soil
nsects and and frogs mice (they were voiles)
When Moses said lets hit the road
Permission to leave has been bestowed
There wasn’t the time to put yeast in the dough
They had to move fast they couldn’t go slow
There were some who refused and they declined
Slavery was bad but they didn’t mind
Compared to running with Pharaoh behind
They preferred the daily grind
Their fear of the desert the heat privation
Made them give up and leave our nation
We who left were the ones who chose
A future of freedom with all its woes
That’s not to say they were predisposed
To suffering but lets just propose
It was hard as could be when they made their choice
Tonight we remember and hear their voice
Calling to us to give us cues
We are Jews because we choose
Its what we repeat year after year
Saying it often so all will hear
They ran away and crossed the red sea
So we could live, be safe, be free
Of course they never did foresee
That we’d become the bourgeoisie
And send our kids to Gymboree
But lets go on and not digress
Before we eat we have to bless
The matzos wine and the watercress
We tell this story to all our kids
And teach them what our religion forbids
But what’s important are the clues
We give to them knowledge they wont loose
Because choosing is what makes us Jews
We are Jews because we choose
We teach them commandments (not one but ten)
And how to treat their fellow men
Year after year we repeat our History
And in so doing life becomes less a mystery
We teach our Children the Exodus story
Not so they’ll feel Guilty or sorry
Or even to give them a sense of glory
We do it because, we have found
It keeps our feet upon the ground
One thing we know from History
Jews often lived on the periphery
As societies developed we thrived and grew
Jews became famous albeit a few
(Inordinately in the public’s view)
Merchants selling dyes and Glue
Officers dressed in Prussian blue
Jazz musicians playing the Blues
Newspapermen reported the news
When enemies rose through election or coup
Our ancestors knew to say adieu
And sailed across the ocean blue
To start their lives in a country new
We are here because they left
A land of hardship pain and death
Hearts beating loudly inside their chest
Escaping oppression unlawful arrest
Welcoming a new life as they traveled west
Facing the future with vigor and zest
Passing each obstacle challenge and test
Valuing freedom over what they possessed
Opinions they had could be freely expressed
We began as a people who were oppressed
Still we refused to acquiesce,
And worship their gods or later confess
To Priests of the church in Poland or France
Or follow the mystics lost in a trance
There were those who chose to stay behind
The millions to whom we are no longer entwined
Those who, became disenchanted
And chose to follow Buddah, Jesus, Mohammed
The question we ask is why are we Jews?
Through out the Hagadda there will be lots of clues
We are Jews because we choose
We live in the cold and also hot weather
Some Jews pray wrapped up in leather
What is our link ? Really what is our tether?
What is it that makes us all come together?
We can come from here or there
Black and brown and golden hair
Jews eat Latkes, cheese and soup
Vegetables, noodles, every food group
Tuna fish, sometimes Bonita
Every bread from rye to pita
Peas and beans and pears and yams
Chicken, beef and sometimes lamb
Spices hot and sweet and savory
But it’s our memory of bondage pain and slavery
So it isn’t because of what we cook
It has nothing to do with how we look
Is the answer in a book?
Lets say it again its not really news
We are Jews because we choose.
Our ancestors were smart and chose to run
From Pharaoh’s whip and Russian gun
But chose to stand in many cases
And fought their battles in important places
Great Grandfathers fought in Normandy
On Battleships in the Coral Sea
As a gunner on a Boeing Bomber 29 B
Their fathers also fought in France
As Privates Sergeants and Corporal (Lance)
Refusing to budge from burning huts
When offered surrender they replied only “Nuts”
Their courage and their refusal to lose
When asked to back down we must refuse
And accept the battle blood and bruise
We are Jews because we chose
We need to remember from where we came
It’s as important as our name
We don't do it to place the blame
Or fan old hatreds or inflame
A sense of pride at our people’s fame
But as things change they stay the same
History doesn't repeat but there is a pattern
As we study its like light coming out of a lantern
We were slaves in the land of Egypt
Everyone knows that's not a secret
Our history’s more than pedantry
To be Jewish isn’t a pedigree
Our future’s not our heredity
We have to choose our destiny
Pass on our own legacy
Make our mark indelibly
And focus fundamentally
On what’s important essentially
We need to always remember to practice empathy
For all people deserve their dignity
And struggle for their equality
To treat all people respectfully
No one’s a nonentity
Always practice Honesty
Pursue justice with intensity
Stand up to every enemy
Never act recklessly
Avoid all forms of jealousy
And value upright integrity
Always behaving conscientiously
Avoiding pride’s inflexibility
Accepting life’s complexity
Yet keep a focused simplicity
Our mandate is live ethically
Tonight we practice solemnity
And enjoy every amenity
Gained from our ascendency
But we dare not believe or presume
As we sit here in our dining room
That any of us are truly free
When any people suffer indignity
Its time to end this poem now
I know its time just don't know how
Once you start its hard to conclude
Hearing the plates and smelling the food
Watching our hungry, impatient brood
And the wine drinking adults getting stewed
Convince me to end before I am screwed.
There is one more thing I’d like to include
Before I get hooted booted and booed
I like to ask once more why are we Jews
And hear you say it again before you all snooze
We are Jews because we choose
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