Uncle Eli's Haggadah -Introduction

{ "clip_details": { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "uncle-elis-haggadah-introduction", "title": "Uncle Eli's Haggadah -Introduction", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "Uncle Eli's Special-for-Kids Most Fun Ever Under-the-Table Passover Haggadah Calgary 1995 / 5755 (c) 1986, 1990, 1995 by...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "Uncle Eli's Special-for-Kids\n\nMost Fun Ever Under-the-Table Passover Haggadah\n\n\n\nCalgary 1995 / 5755\n\n(c) 1986, 1990, 1995 by Eliezer Lorne Segal,\n\n16-310 Brookmere Rd. SW, Calgary Alberta\n\n---------------------\n\n\n\nA Present from Uncle Eli\n\n\n\nThe house had gone crazy, all turned upside-down,\n\nwith everyone busily running around.\n\nMommy was screaming \"Get out of the way!\n\nYou can't keep on lying around here all day!\n\nTomorrow is Passover. You don't look ready.\n\nWe have to remove everything that is bready.\n\nPack up the old dishes and pull out the new.\n\nPrepare for the seder! There's too much to do!\"\n\n\n\nI just stuffed up my ears, 'cause I'm that kind of kid.\n\nI didn't much care what the rest of them did.\n\nI thought it was stupid; I felt it was dumb\n\nto get so excited about one or two crumbs\n\nwhen under my bed, under careful protection,\n\nI keep the world's largest stale bread-crumb collection!\n\nI hate cleaning up. I prefer a good mess.\n\nI'm lazy and mean -- kind of nasty, I guess.\n\nI don't like the seder. It bores me to tears.\n\nI sit making faces and noises and sneers.\n\nI'd rather be out breaking windows with balls,\n\nor digging up flower-beds, or drawing on walls.\n\nAnything! Anywhere!\n\nRather than be at the Passoverseder with my family.\n\nWe mean little kids should be all sent away.\n\nWe don't want to celebrate dumb holidays.\n\n\n\nWell, those were the thoughts spinning inside my head.\n\nMy ears were exploding, my nose had turned red.\n\nI was very upset at my Mom and my Dad\n\n-- disgusted, disgruntled -- in short, I was mad!\n\n\n\nWhen...right there behind me I heard a soft sound.\n\nI perked up my ears and I turned my head 'round.\n\nAnd right there before me, as plain as could be\n\nwas the weirdest old man that you ever will see.\n\n\"Weird\" did I say? He was weirder than weird!\n\nYou hardly could see him because of his beard.\n\nIt flowed down his body and covered his feet,\n\nall curly and snaggly, distinctly un-neat.\n\nAside from that beard-- well, you couldn't see lots,\n\njust two twinkly eyes that peeked out 'tween the knots,\n\nand the hint of a grin that made everything bright\n\nand sometimes turned into a laughing white light.\n\n\n\nI stared at this strange little man for a while\n\nas he kept standing there full of laughter and smiles.\n\nThe door to the room was still shut up quite tight,\n\nand I didn't know how he had gotten inside.\n\n\n\nI finally got up the nerve to speak out:\n\n\"You are a strange fellow, without any doubt.\n\nPlease tell me who are you? And why are you here?\n\nAnd why do you look so fantastically queer?\"\n\n\n\nHe lit up his smile and began to reply:\n\n\"I'm your old friend, Uncle Eli am I!\n\nAnd I, Uncle Eli, am just the right one\n\nto make sure that this year you will have lots of fun.\n\nInstead of just sitting there twiddling your hands\n\nwhile the grown-ups read words that you don't understand,\n\nI've brought you a special Haggadah to read.\n\nIt'll keep you in stitches! It's just what you need!\n\nI wrote it for children like you and your friends,\n\nwho hardly can wait for the seder to end.\n\nIt's just the right thing for a silly young boy--\n\na Haggadah you'll learn to adore and enjoy.\"\n\n\n\nThen, waving his finger and wiggling his ears,\n\nhe stuck his right hand in his tangled white beard\n\nand from somewhere down deep in that jungle of hair\n\nhe pulled out a book, which he held in the air.\n\nIt's the same fun Haggadah you're reading today.\n\nDon't let your folks see it! They'll take it away.\n\nYou might want to hide it where no one can see,\n\nunder the table, on top of your knee.\n\nIt'll be our own secret. They won't understand\n\nwhy you cover your mouth with the back of your hand\n\nto stifle the laughs that burst out all the time.\n\n--It's your own special secret, and Eli's...and mine!\n\n---------------------\n\n Bedikat Hametz\n\n\n\nWe have to get rid of the Hametz today--\n\nWe have to destroy it. We can't let it stay.\n\n\n\nWe'll punch it and crunch it and bury it deep,\n\nor leave it to rot on Mount Zeepleep-the-Steep.\n\nWe'll pump on it, jump on it, grind it to dust.\n\nErode it, corrode it-- We have to! We must!\n\nWe'll feed it to ravenous rampaging rhinos--\n\nor trample it all on our dizzy old dinosaur.\n\nCut it to pieces, burn it to ash!\n\nBash it and smash it and dash it to hash.\n\nThen send it by rocket to the Forests of Queet,\n\nwhere fire-breathing Goo-bahs will turn on the heat.\n\nWe'll sink it way down to the floor of the ocean\n\nand finish it off with a mighty explosion.\n\n\n\nWe have to get rid of the Hametz today--\n\nWe have to destroy it. We can't let it stay.\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Introduction", "slug": "introduction" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 248, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Uncle Eli's Haggadah -Introduction | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/uncle-elis-haggadah-introduction", "og:title": "Uncle Eli's Haggadah -Introduction | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, "contributed_by": { "author": "Julie Bolsom", "handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "total_books": 0, "total_clips": 20, "total_followers": 0, "is_following": 0 }, "user_book": null, "clips_by_author": [ { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "ballad-4-sons-0", "title": "Ballad of the 4 sons", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "-- Four Children", "slug": "four-children" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 225, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Ballad of the 4 sons | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/ballad-4-sons-0", "og:title": "Ballad of the 4 sons | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "ballad-4-sons-1", "title": "Ballad of the 4 sons", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "The Ballad of the Four Sons For the Passover Seder (to the tune of Clementine) © Ben Aronin, first published in his comm...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "The Ballad of the Four Sons\n\nFor the Passover Seder\n\n(to the tune of Clementine)\n\n© Ben Aronin, first published in his community haggadah, 1954, used with permission\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaid the father to the children \n\"At the Seder you will dine, \nYou will eat your fill of matzoh, \nYou will drink four cups of wine.\"\n\nNow this father had no daughters, \nBut his sons they numbered four, \nOne was wise, and one was wicked, \nOne was simple and a bore.\n\nAnd the fourth was sweet and winsome, \nHe was young and he was small, \nWhile his brothers asked the questions, \nHe could scarcely speak at all.\n\nSaid the wise one to his father \n\"Would you please explain the laws. \nOf the customs of the Seder \nWill you please explain the cause?\"\n\nAnd the father proudly answered \n\"As our fathers ate in speed, \nAte the Pascal lamb 'ere midnight, \nAnd from slavery were freed\"\n\n\"So we follow their example, \nAnd 'ere midnight must complete, \nAll the Seder, and we should not \nAfter twelve remain to eat.\"\n\nThen did sneer the son so wicked, \n\"What does all this mean to you?\" \nAnd the father's voice was bitter \nAs his grief and anger grew.\n\n\"If yourself you don't consider, \nAs a son of Israel \nThen for you this has no meaning, \nYou could be a slave as well!\"\n\nThen the simple son said softly, \n\"What is this?\" and quietly \nThe good father told his offspring \n\"We were freed from slavery.\"\n\nBut the youngest son was silent, \nFor he could not speak at all, \nHis bright eyes were bright with wonder \nAs his father told him all.\n\nNow, dear people, heed the lesson \nAnd remember evermore, \nWhat the father told his children \nTold his sons who numbered four!\n\nfrom the April 1998 - Passover Edition Edition of the Jewish Magazine\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/8mag/ballad/ballad.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "-- Four Children", "slug": "four-children" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 269, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Ballad of the 4 sons | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/ballad-4-sons-1", "og:title": "Ballad of the 4 sons | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "now-we-left-egypt-may-jew-now-live-egypt", "title": "Now that we left Egypt, may a Jew now live in Egypt?", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "May a Jew live in Egypt? By Meir Loewenberg When we sit at the Seder, we celebrate our redemption from Egyptian slavery....", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "May a Jew live in Egypt? By Meir Loewenberg When we sit at the Seder, we celebrate our redemption from Egyptian slavery. The Haggadah tells us that everyone must look at himself as if he himself had departed from Egypt. And if the Almighty had not liberated us from Egypt we and our children and our grandchildren would still be slaves to Pharaoh. But the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt! In the Torah the exodus-story ends with the Lord telling us, You shall not return that way any more. (Deut 17:16). A simple reading of the text suggests that Jews are prohibited from returning to Egypt. Prohibition to live in Egypt Actually, the Mechilta (Exodus 14:13) lists three different Torah verses that warn against returning to Egypt. The first verse is the one already cited. The second verse is ... for as you have seen Egypt today, you shall never see them again (Exodus 14:13). The third verse states, And the Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships, through the way about which I had said to you, You will never see it again. (Deuteronomy 28:68). Maimonides formulated this prohibition of livinf in Egypt in a way that seems to leave no way of ignoring it. He said (Mishneh Torah, H. Melachim 5.7): It is permitted to dwell anywhere in the entire world with the exception of the land of Egypt. Its territory includes a square of 400 parsah by 400 parsah from the Mediterranean Sea proceeding westward, bordering on the land of Kush and the desert. [This area includes not only today's Egypt but the entire north-eastern corner of the African continent, including Sudan, Ethiopia, and part of the Sahara Desert.] It is forbidden to dwell in this entire territory.. Alexandria is included in this prohibition. Almost every Sage followed Maimonides in accepting the prohibition as a d'oraita (Torah-origin) prohibition. For example, the Sefer Hachinuch lists it as Commandment 500. A contemporary halachic authority, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, the former Sefardic chief rabbi of Israel (who himself lived in Egypt for two years in 1947-1949), stated that there is no doubt that the prohibition of living in Egypt is of Torah-origin. Yet Maimonides himself lived the last 38 years of his life in Egypt! Nor was Maimonides the only Torah scholar who made his residence in Egypt. As a matter of fact, there is a long history of Jewish settlements in Egypt, from earliest times until the 1950's when former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser persecuted the Egyptian Jews who numbered more than eighty thousand at that time and ultimately expelled them from Egypt. A brief history of Egyptian Jewry The prophet Isaiah, who lived in the 8th century BCE, several hundred years before the destruction of the First Temple, acknowledged (or prophetically predicted) the presence of a Jewish community in Egypt and prophesied its return to Jerusalem in the days of the Messiah (27:13): And it shall come to pass on that day, that a great shofar shall be sounded, . and those exiled in the land of Egypt shall come and they shall prostrate themselves before the Lord on the holy mount in Jerusalem. About a century after Isaiah, in 650 BCE, there was a community of Jewish soldiers who were stationed in Elephantine as part of a frontier garrison, protecting the Egyptian Achaemenid Empire. This Jewish community in Egypt existed fir more than two hundred years. The Elephantine papyri, a caches of legal documents and letters found in Elephantine, come from the years 495 to 399 BCE and document the lives of Jewish residents of this community during those years. After the destruction of the Judean Kingdom in 597 BCE a large number of Jews took refuge in Egypt and settled there. (2 Kings 25.22-24, Jeremiah 40.6-8, 44.1). During the Ptolemaic era (332-30 BCE) a many Jewish immigrants settled in Egypt, especially in Alexandria. Josephus wrote that after Ptelomy I captured Judea he forced more than 120,000 Jewish captives to settle in Egypt. Alexandrian Jews date their history to 332BCE, the date when their city was founded by Alexander the Great. Jews made up a large part of the city's population and were assigned two of the city's five districts. The Alexandrian Jewish community was virtually wiped out in 68 CE during a major pogrom. The Talmudic rabbis (TB Sukka 51b) described the beauties of the Alexandria synagogue. It was so vast that is could hold \"twice the number of people that went forth from Egypt (= 1,200,000)\". However, they also note that the community was wiped out \"because they transgressed the verse: Ye shall henceforth return no more that way (Deut. XVII, 16) and they did return.\" In the second century BCE Onias IV, the son of Shimon Ha-Tzadik, built a temple in Alexandria (or Leontopolis) that is known as the Temple of Onias. The Talmud (TB Menachos 109b), after bringing two versions of how this temple came to be built, notes that it was built as a replica of the Beit ha'Mikdash in Jerusalem and that sacrifices were regularly offered in it. This temple continued to exist after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, but was closed in 73 CE by order of Roman Emperor Vespasian. According to Josephus this temple was in existence for 343 years. There are few records of the fate of Egyptian Jews during the next thousand years although there is little doubt that there was a large and vibrant Jewish community in Egypt during all of these years. The Cairo Geniza, which covers documents from approximately 870 CE to as late as 1880, gives ample evidence of this. Rabbi Sa'adyah Ga'on, one of the last and most famous Gaonim, was born in Egypt in 882. He spent his decisive years in Babylon and died there in 942. We know that Yehudah Halevi visited Alexandria in 1141. Benjamin of Tudela who visited Egypt about 1160 gave an account of the Jewish communities he found there. He reported that there were 2,000 Jews in Cairo and 3,000 in Alexandria. In 1166 Maimonides settled in Fostat (near Cairo); he became the physician for the families of Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt, and of his vizier al-Qadi al-Fadil|?a?i al-Fa?il al-Baisami, Saladin's successors. It was here that he wrote his most important books, Mishne Torah (1180) and More Nevuchim (The Guide for the Perplexed). He died in Fustat on December 12, 1204 (20th of Tevet 4965) but was later buried in Tiberias. Rabbi Ishtori Haparchi (1280-1366), wrote in his encyclopedic work Kaftor v'Ferah, (ch. 5) that he met one of the Rambam's grandsons in Egypt who told him that his grandfather would sign his letters, \"Moshe ben Maimon, who transgresses three prohibitions each day\" - this is a reference to the three Torah verses that prohibit settlement in Egypt, as quoted above. However, no manuscripts have been discovered that include this signature phrase. Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn (Abi) Zimra, known as the Radbaz (1479-1573), though born in Spain was chief rabbi of Egypt for forty years before moving to Jerusalem and Safed at the age of 90. After the expulsion from Spain in 1498, many Jews made their way to Egypt. With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the prospects for a tremendous growth of trade many more Jews from all over Europe were attracted to Egypt so that by 1898 there were 25,200 Jews living in Egypt among a total population of 9,734,405. An invitation to return As noted above, Jewish life in Egypt came to a sudden end during the 1950s when as a result of Nasser's persecutions almost all Jews left Egypt, about half to Israel and the others to various countries in Europe and the Americas. A few weeks ago Dr. Essam al-Erian, a senior Muslim Brotherhood official and [until recently] an advisor to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi called in a TV interview on the Egyptian Jews who had immigrated to Israel to return home. \"I hope that, God willing, the Jews will return to their homeland . I am calling on them and telling them: Egypt is your land. Why should you go on living under an oppressive and racist regime, a regime of occupation?\" His colleagues in the Egyptian political establishment lashed out against him and he was forced to resign his official position. At the same time, Israelis of Egyptian origin greeted this invitation with skepticism. No one expects former Egyptian Jews to return. Nevertheless, one should ask what the halacha says about Jews living once again in Egypt. Why did Jews, among them great sages, live in Egypt in the past if the Torah prohibits this? What is the halachic explanation for the large and vibrant Jewish communities that were in Egypt until the 1950s? Rabbi Obadiah Yosef noted in the same t'shuva cited earlier (Yechaveh Da'at 3.82) that even though the prohibition of living in Egypt is of Biblical origin, at all times rabbis were forced to find ways to permit this because so many Jews do live in Egypt. There are a number of different ways in which this question was approached, including the following: The prohibition to live in Egypt applied only in biblical times, so that nowadays such a prohibition does not exist (Rabenu Bechai on Deuteronomy 17:16, S'mag Lo Ta'aseh 227). Today's Egyptians are no longer the Egyptians among whom we are not allowed to live; but Minchat Chinuch (500) holds that the prohibition is a geographical one, regardless of who lives there today. The prohibition applies only to those Jews who depart from Eretz Israel to Egypt; this means that Jews who come to Egypt from any other country are allowed to settle there (Sefer Yere'im #309). The Ritva and the Kaftorv'Ferach add that this journey is forbidden only if it goes through the desert, along the path that the Jews traveled when they left Egypt. Since the Biblical prohibition is phrased in the plural, it does not apply to an individual; what is prohibited is a mass immigration, but individual settlement is allowed. Since Maimonides and other restrict the prohibition to \"settling,\" coming to Egypt for any other purpose, such as trade or study, is permissible - and once there changing one's status from temporary to permanent resident is allowed. Thus Radvaz (Hilchos Melachim 5:7) wrote that a person who is already in Egypt, having arrived there in a permitted way such as for business, does not transgress the Biblical prohibition if he chooses to stay there. The rabbis were lenient and did not apply their prohibition once a person is already settled in the place because it is difficult to find a livelihood elsewhere The prohibition of living in Egypt is in force only when the Jewish people are settled in their own nation. When Eretz Israel is ruled by another people, it is not different than any other part of the world since Jews are in a state of Galut. In this case Jews may live in Egypt just as in any other country (Ritva on TB Yoma 38a). This reason, of course, no longer applies in our days. Note however that none of these explanations are consistent with the words of the Rambam cited earlier. He ruled that the prohibition applies today unconditionally, regardless of where a person comes from or what path he takes to get to Egypt. They write that living there is forbidden, and not merely the act of going there. If so, why did the Rambam not follow his own decision and live in Egypt? from the March 2013 Edition of the Jewish Magazine\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Commentary / Readings", "slug": "commentary-readings" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 250, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Now that we left Egypt, may a Jew now live in Egypt? | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/now-we-left-egypt-may-jew-now-live-egypt", "og:title": "Now that we left Egypt, may a Jew now live in Egypt? | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "immigrant-soviet-union-celebrates-her-first-passover", "title": "An immigrant from the Soviet Union Celebrates Her First Passover", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "Our First Passover By Natalia Nikova It was April 1980. My mother, my teenage daughter, and I were flying from Rome to N...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "Our First Passover By Natalia Nikova\n\n\n\nIt was April 1980. My mother, my teenage daughter, and I were flying from Rome to New York City. Our journey started two months earlier in Leningrad, where after a long waiting period we were allowed to emigrate. We stayed a week in Vienna and a month and a half in Rome. Our documents were thoroughly checked, fingerprints were taken, and finally we got permission to settle in the United States.\n\nLooking out the window as the airplane was descending toward Kennedy Airport, my heart was pounding with uncertainty and anticipation. My future will be here, in this city, I was thinking. At that moment, I saw my life as an endless corridor with many doors. Behind each door something was waiting: a challenge, a problem, maybe a solution.\n\nMy distant relatives, who were recent immigrants themselves, met us in the airport. We would stay with them in their Brooklyn apartment, where we were surrounded with love and attention and received plenty of advice. That was a kind of honeymoon. However, after two months we moved into our own place. My daughter, who already spoke excellent English, went to a local Public School. My mother got a monthly government check and food stamps. Meanwhile, I needed to find a job, and fast. Learning English was certainly a priority. But as a musician I could start giving piano lessons right away. The only thing was, I didn't have a piano. Buying an instrument was out of the question but I hoped to find somebody who could give one to me. I pinned a note on a bulletin board at our local Jewish Community Center, and waited.\n\nSoon thereafter, I got a call from a man who introduced himself as Joe Brodsky. He said that his neighbor had an upright piano to give away. I was eager to see it, and Joe offered to drive me there. The next afternoon I was waiting outside of my building when a big convertible pulled up. Joe was a short wiry looking man with a big nose, hollow cheeks, and bright blue eyes. He wore a black suit, a white shirt, a black tie, and a black fedora hat. While he was driving, Joe mentioned that he belongs to a community of Lubavitcher Jews where he lives with his wife, a daughter, and a son.\n\nAfter short ride we arrived at a street with neat rows of houses and identical small lawns. We stopped in front of one, got out and rang the doorbell. A woman opened the door and welcomed us into her living room. She wore a headscarf and a calico dress. There was a clamor of children's voices in the background and our hostess left us immediately. The piano was standing against a wall, tightly squeezed between a monumental mahogany chest of drawers and a couch. I approached with anticipation and pressed one of its keys. But there was no sound. I opened the top and looked inside. The piano was filled with toys, and it had just a few strings here and there.\n\nOn the way back, Joe told me that his family came from Poland. During the Second World War, they were transferred to Siberia. Russian anti-Semitism hadn't yet spread that far, so the families of Jews dressed in strange outfits and with different beliefs were still warmly received. Joe's family was thriving there. Joe hinted that he had had a lot of fun with Siberian girls. In short, Joe loved Russians and was eager to help us. This is how, unbeknownst to us, we were temporarily adopted in the Lubavitcher community.\n\nThe following Thursday, when we were all sitting in our kitchen, we heard a buzz. I went to open the door. Joe was standing on the threshold, smiling and holding a big cardboard box. I invited him in. Inside the box was a carton of milk, a bag of potatoes, a case of eggs, a jar of gefilte fish, and a chicken. My mother and I were not used to handouts and were very embarrassed by the offering, but Joe explained that it's not from him but from his community. He said that the Lubavitchers have a tradition to share their wealth with those less fortunate. So finally, we accepted the gift. Since then, every Thursday for a year Joe delivered us the box. The food never varied. One thing was peculiar. We never got a whole bird. The chicken always lacked either a wing or a leg. I guess we were also sharing our chicken with somebody else. Frankly, after a while, we were not looking forward for yet another jar of a gefilte fish, but we were always grateful.\n\nAmid the strenuous effort to adjust to our new life, we didn't notice that a year had passed, and another spring had wheeled in. One Thursday Joe arrived with his usual package and invited us to his house for a Seder. We said our thanks, and the day and time were set.\n\nWe were deeply touched by yet another act of Mitzvah from these wonderful people, but we were apprehensive, at the same time. My Jewish mother and my Russian father were non-religious. We had never celebrated Passover, Easter or Christmas. In fact, nobody I knew did so in Leningrad. All religions and religious observances were strongly discouraged by the Soviet state. My mother recalled, however, that before the Bolshevik Revolution, when her family lived in Crimea, they celebrated Passover. But she only remembered that her mother cooked for several days and that a lot of neighbors were invited to their house, including a priest from the nearby Russian church. My mother's recollections were not really helpful. So we went to the Seder unprepared, hoping that our smiles and good manners would guide us through.\n\nJoe's house looked very much like the house of the woman with the broken piano. The earthy, timeless mood prevailed: somber colors, sturdy mahogany wood furniture, heavy drapery on the windows. Joe's wife Sarah, his daughter Miriam, and his son Sol were waiting for us and invited us to sit on the ample couch in their living room. Sarah was a tall, plump woman about fifty whose round face exuded calm kindness. My mother bravely started to talk to her in her very limited Yiddish and soon they both disappeared into the kitchen. Miriam, a very bright talkative girl about seventeen, was very eager to share with me her love for classical music, especially Mahler. Her brother Sol, a pale and sickly looking teenager about fifteen, didn't say a word. Neither did my daughter Sasha. She was only fourteen at the time but much taller then Sol. Her main of curly brown hair covered her shoulders and made her look older and even taller. Her face gave the impression of someone that just awoke in an unfamiliar place and was not quite sure what to do. Soon Sarah and my mother joined us and we were ushered to the table.\n\nJoe positioned himself between my mother and me. My daughter was on my other side. There were beautiful plates, silverware, and ornate little glasses in front of each person. In the middle of the table were several platters with small samples of unfamiliar food. My daughter was perplexed. She was used to the traditional Russian zakuska-appetizer table, almost every inch of which is occupied by Russian salads, pickled herring, mushrooms, pies, and so on. \"Where is the food?\" she whispered in my ear. Joe probably overheard it. He didn't realize the level of our ignorance and started hastily to explain the symbolic meaning of the Passover Seder, its reminders of the bitterness of slavery and hopes of renewal.\n\nMeanwhile, Sarah left and soon came back, carefully leading arm-in-arm a very old man who shuffled laboriously. He was seated at the head of the table. That was Joe's father, Yeshua. He wore a black suit, a black yarmulke and big round glasses. He had a very long white beard and looked so fragile and so far away in his thoughts that he acknowledged our presence only with a slight nod. Sarah covered his head and shoulders with an embroidered scarf and placed the Haggadah in his hands. We each had a copy of it in front of us too. The old man opened the book and started to mumble softly in Hebrew.\n\nHis reading soon sounded like the distant hum of a radio. Meanwhile, my attention was completely absorbed by the action around the table. I had a feeling that I was driving a car for the first time. Joe was my driving instructor but I still had to watch closely for signs on the road. My family cooperated diligently. We chewed bitter herbs, we dipped the egg into salt water, we ate \"Charoset\" (It looked like cement but was very tasty), and we sang discordantly. I was quite fascinated by the wine ritual. First, we had to dip our fingers slightly into the glass. Then there was a little mishap. I didn't know that the next round I only had to touch the rim of the glass without drinking, but Joe intercepted gently. He stopped my hand just in time and a road accident was averted. A special glass of wine was left for Elijah, who mysteriously appeared in spirit. An hour passed, reading continued.\n\nFinally the old man closed the book and produced a faint but satisfying smile. Everybody came to life as though after a long dream. Even somber Sol beamed with happiness. Sarah and Miriam went to the kitchen and food started to come to the table. We ate voraciously. The matzah ball soup was divine. It followed by the even tastier chicken dish. Then came our favorite potato pancakes and of course (oh, not again!) gefilte fish. I have to say that fish was excellent, much better than our out-of-jar variety.\n\nSomehow, the dessert has faded from my memory but I am sure there was one. It was time to go. Joe drove us home. It was a beautiful spring evening, fragrant with first blooms. Joe lowered the roof of his convertible and drove slowly through his neighborhood. His face radiated almost divine happiness. We were also happy. The light was fading, and I was wondering what was awaiting me behind the next door.\n\n\n\nfrom the March 2013 Edition of the Jewish Magazine\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": { "title": "Jews Around the World", "slug": "jews-around-world", "author": "Haggadot" }, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Commentary / Readings", "slug": "commentary-readings" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 428, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "An immigrant from the Soviet Union Celebrates Her First Passover | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/immigrant-soviet-union-celebrates-her-first-passover", "og:title": "An immigrant from the Soviet Union Celebrates Her First Passover | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "how-many-cups", "title": "How many cups", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "How Many Cups Of Wine Do You Drink At The Seder? 3,4, or 5? By Meir Loewenberg Ask anyone, even a first-grader, how many...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "How Many Cups Of Wine Do You Drink At The Seder? 3,4, or 5?\n\nBy Meir Loewenberg\n\nAsk anyone, even a first-grader, how many cups of wine we drink at the seder and the answer will always be: FOUR. This is what we do, what our parents did and what their parents did. And this is the halacha ( Shulchan Aruch, OC 472.8).\n\nThe usual explanation for drinking these four cups of wine at the Seder cites the four expressions of redemption found in God's promise to Moses (Exodus 6.6-7). God says [1] ve-hotzeiti - I will remove you from the burdens of Egypt; [2] ve-hitzalti - I will save you from their bondage; [3] ve-ga'alti - I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great judgments; and [4] ve-lakachti - I will take you to be my people and I will be your God. A perusal of the source literature reveals that there are many additional explanations for drinking Four Cups on this night, including the following:\n\n2) four cups of wine that were mentioned by Joseph and the chief butler (Genesis 40: 11-13);\n\n3) they recall the four cups of punishment from which the wicked nations of the world will be given to drink (Jeremiah 25:15, 51:7; Ps. 75:9, 11:6);\n\n4) they symbolize the four letters of God's name;\n\n5) they remind us of our four fore-mothers; this explanation was mentioned already by the Maharal (R. Yehudah Loewe ben Betzalel, 1526-1609) and the Sh'la (R. Yeshayah Hurwitz, 1560-1630);\n\n6) they symbolize four major events in Jewish history: selection of the Jewish people in Abraham's days, the exodus from Egypt, our present galut, and the future redemption;\n\n7) they symbolize four events in the history of the Exodus: release from slavery (which occurred six months before the Exodus), exodus from Egypt, executing judgment on the Egyptian idol, and giving of the Torah at Sinai;\n\n8) they recall the four nations that exiled the Jewish people: Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome; R. Yohanan (in the Jerusalem Talmud, Pes.7.10) changed this reason to read that they recall four different redemptions: from Egypt, Babylon, the Greeks in the days of the Macabees, and the final redemption from \"Rome\" in the future.\n\n9) they symbolize the four cups of consolation that God will serve the Israelites [Jer.Pes.10.31; Ber.R. 85.5];\n\n10) they remind us of the four reasons for Israel's redemption from Egypt: they did not change their names, they did not change their language, they did not speak evil, and they did not engage in immorality [Songs R. 4.1.12; Maharal, Gevurot Hashem, ch.43];\n\n11) they accompany the four parts of the Seder: Kiddush, Haggadah, Grace after the meal, and Hallel [Meiri on Pes.99b];\n\n12) In antiquity \"even\" numbers were considered dangerous, but since this is the Night of Watchin, we dare to use the most dangerous of all even numbers: 2 x 2.\n\nFrequently, when the origin of a custom is justified by many different explanations, the real reason has been forgotten or is unknown. Before we will suggest another reason, perhaps the \"real\" reason, we want to review briefly the significance of certain numbers in the Haggadah. The number \"4\" plays a very important part on this night. Here are a number of examples of \"4\" in the Haggadah , in addition to the four cups of wine that we have already mentioned:\n\n4 questions that the child asks in Ma nishtana \n\n4 foods that are eaten: Paschal lamb, matzah, maror, haroset \n\n4 verses from the midrash that form the basis for maggid \n\n4 times that we eat a k'zayit of matzah \n\n4 sages who visited R. Akiba in B'nei B'rak\n\n4 sons\n\n4 characteristics of the wise person :\n\n4 phrases starting with baruch \n\n4 days before Pessach the Pascal lamb was set aside (in Egypt)\n\n4 commands in the Torah to higgad'ta=you shall tell the Exodus story (Exodus 12.24, 13.8, 13.14 and Deut. 10.20)\n\nThree cups\n\nA careful reading of the Haggadah will reveal another number that plays a crucial role - the number \"3\", which occurs in the following:\n\n3 matzot on the Seder-plate\n\n3 questions that the child asks, as recorded in the mishnah in the Jerusalem Talmud (TJ Pesahim 10.4)\n\n3 sons ask questions; the fourth does not ask\n\n3 sons receive an answer that deals with the Exodus; the wise son receives a halahic answer that at first glance has little connection with the story of the Exodus\n\n3 concepts, Pesach - Matzah-Maror, that R. Gamliel requires everyone not only to eat, but also to elaborate their symbolic significance in order to fulfill the requirements for this night\n\n3 groups participated in the offering of the Paschal lamb (TB Pesahim 64a).\n\nAnd there is one more \"3\" that is particularly important in connection with our review of the number of cups. When the Mishnah talks about the first three cups, it uses the formula mazgu lo kos rishon/sheni/shlishi (we pour the first/second/third cup), but when it comes to the fourth cup it merely says rivi'i gomer alav et hallel (we complete the recitation of Hallel over the fourth cup)! [Mishnah Pessahim 10.2-4-7]\n\nThe late Professor Gilad deduced from this change in wording that originally only three cups of wine were drunk at the Seder ! Only later, when Hallel was added, was a fourth cup added because it was felt that Hallel should be said over a cup of wine.\n\nSome have suggested that the change from \"three\" to \"four\" may have been part of a much more general change, a change from highlighting \"three\" (such as three forefathers, three matzot , etc.) to putting the emphasis on \"four\" (such as four sons, four species in the lulav, etc.). This change may epitomize the Sages's reaction to the rise of Christianity, a religion which sanctified the trinity. In the beginning, when the Judeo-Christians still observed the Seder, the Sages must have thought it particularly important to differentiate the Jewish Seder from their Seder. Consequently, the Jews made every effort to deemphasize the number \"three\". Later on, because of problems with the Church's censors it was not politic to discuss the reason for the change - hence the many different explanations!\n\nThe fifth cup\n\nSome have urged the drinking of a fifth cup of wine on the Seder night. The reasons advanced for a fifth cup include:\n\n1) the use of a fifth expression ( heveti ) in Exodus 6.8;\n\n2) a fifth cup of Pharaoh, mentioned in Genesis 40.21;\n\n3) in honor of the Final Redemption.\n\nThe Sages of the Talmud (TB Pesachim 118a) already discussed whether or not to drink a fifth cup because of the fifth expression heveiti (I brought you to the Land of Israel. Exod.6.8). This \"fifth expression\" is problematic since God did not bring those who left Egypt into the Land of Israel. Only their children entered the Land. Perhaps this is the reason for our custom of drinking only four cups -- we commemorate only the four expressions that actually materialized for those who left Egypt. Thus, Torah Temimah, an early 20th century commentator on the Torah wrote that the reason for not drinking a fifth cup is that nowadays we are still in exile and Eretz Yisrael is still ruled by foreign powers. If this was the reason in his days, then those of us who are now living in Israel should certainly drink the fifth cup. And my rabbi, R. Shlomo Riskin of Efrat, does drink a fifth cup.\n\nHowever, as noted in the previous paragraph, the question of drinking the fifth cup was already discussed by the Talmudic Sages. Many in the subsequent rabbinic literature also discussed the question of the fifth cup. For example, R. Zerachya Halevi (1125-1186, Spain), the Ba'al Ha-ma'or, noted that R. Tarfon in the beraita of Pesachim 118a considered five cups mandatory, in contrast to the accepted opinion which obligates only four cups. R. Avraham b. Davi (1120-1197), the Ravad, one of the leading Torah scholars of the 12th century, also suggested that there is a mitzva to add a fifth cup for reciting Hallel Hagadol. R. Asher ben Jehiel (1250-1327), the Rosh, included in his abstract of Talmudic law R. Tarfon's opinion that the fifth cup is mandatory (Pesachim 118a, # 33, D.H. Kos chamishi ).\n\nSo the discussion of four or five cups continues through the ages until our own days. Since the rabbis were unable to resolve this question, they left the decision in abeyance \"until the Messiah comes\" - the Messiah, whose coming will be announced by Eliyahu, the Prophet. Thus, the fifth cup has become \"The cup of Eliyahu.\"\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Commentary / Readings", "slug": "commentary-readings" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 184, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "How many cups | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/how-many-cups", "og:title": "How many cups | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "women-seder", "title": "Women at the Seder", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "Women at the Passover Seder Taking an active part in the Passover Seder is an important mitzvah for women, si...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": " Women at the Passover Seder \n\nTaking an active part in the Passover Seder is an important mitzvah for women, since the Exodus from Egypt took place “in the merit of the righteous women…” ( Babylonian Talmud, Sota 11b ). Perhaps an additional reason why we read most of the Hagadah before the meal, is to keep the women at the table, free from their kitchen chores for a few more hours. Women are obligated to drink the Four Cups of wine during the Seder, and to take an active part in all the rest of the matters that pertain to the Seder . The famed Maharal (Judah Loew ben Bezalel 1520 - 1609, creator of the famed Golem) explains that whereas Passover Matzah and Maror are in the merit of the Fathers, the Four Cups correspond respectively to our four holy mothers ( Maharal Gevurat HaShem 48).\n\n Why are the Four Cups linked to Our Four Mothers? \n\nJust as the grapevine cannot be grafted with any other tree, and is a modest tree in the recesses of the house, likewise the mothers were modest (Ibid. 60). We open the Seder with the First Cup of Kiddush . Likewise, women are the initiators who bring holiness into their homes. The fact that drinking the Four Cups of wine also continues after the meal symbolizes the long lasting effect of women’s wisdom. Wine alludes to the inner dimensions as it states, “When wine enters the secret emerges” ( Babylonian Talmud, Iruvin 55a ). Women’s spiritual connection with inner dimensions of the Torah mirrors their physical hidden dimensions.\n\n The First Cup Corresponds to Sarah \n\nThe First Cup corresponds to the first of the four languages of redemption: “ I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt” ( Shemot 6:6-7).This promise comprises physical liberation. When we drink the First Cup it is good to meditate and pray for removing our physical suffering such as pain, illness, anti-Semitism, terrorism etc. Sarah was the first woman who integrated the pure faith of G-d into the very fiber of her body. In this way she created the spiritual genetics from which the Jewish People would issue. The First Cup is the cup of Kiddush which elevates and separates the holiday from the mundane days of the week. Likewise, Sarah, was the first woman to become separate from all other people in the world. May we learn from Sarah to strengthen our belief even if it goes against the grain of the world, and may we be able to integrate our belief into our daily chores in the physical world!\n\n The Second Cup Corresponds to Rivkah \n\nThe Second Cup corresponds to the second of the four languages of redemption : I will deliver you out of their bondage. This promise includes delivery from both physical and spiritual enslavement. We may not be aware, but many of our actions derive from various unconscious scripts imprinted in our psyche from childhood wounds and traumas, which cause fears, jealousy, and anger. Although Rivkah came from a severely dysfunctional family, she was able to heal her childhood wounds by attaching herself to holiness. Even at a tender young age, she was not afraid to detach herself from her family, and familiar environment, in order to follow a strange man to an un-known place. When we drink the Second Cup, it is good to meditate and pray for removing all our attachments and addictions. This cup also has the ability to free us from the confinement of performing the mitzvot only out of rote because we are expected to, without conviction and excitement. Rivkah was totally in touch with her soul , and all her actions were permeated with her spirit of enthusiasm. The Second Cup corresponds to the reading of the Hagadah . Just as the Hagadah begins with disgrace but concludes with praise ( Babylonian Talmud, Passoverim 116a ), so did Rivkah emanate from the thorns of her cradle, yet became an everlasting rose ( Vayikra Rabah 23:1 ). May we learn from Rivkah to detach ourselves from all the negative influence of our past!\n\n The Third Cup Corresponds to Rachel \n\nThe Third Cup corresponds to the third of the four languages of redemption : I will redeem you with an outstretched arm. G-d promised to bring our redemption in the merit of our mother Rachel’s ultimate love of the Jewish people. In her selfless mercy, she overcame her jealousy and allowed her sister to marry her beloved, in order to avoid embarrassing her ( Eicha Rabah Introduction 24 ). Likewise, Israel will merit redemption, when we overcome the conflicts and jealousies among our people, and learn to truly unite. When we drink the Third Cup, it is good to meditate and pray for removing gaps between different segments of our people through tolerance and acceptance, so that we may repair the schism between the children of Rachel and Leah. The Third Cup is for Grace after Meals. The redemption is to reveal G-d’s kingdom within the physical world manifesting sustenance to the world. This revelation can only take place when there is unity among us. Rachel’s son, Joseph, was able to bring sustenance to the world because he did not keep a grudge, but forgave his brothers for what they had done to him. Moreover, Rachel was the mainstay of her home, and the blessing of sustenance in the house comes in the merit of the wife ( Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia 59a ), who causes shalom to reside in her home. May we learn from Rachel to go beyond ourselves for the sake of the Jewish People – gathering of the dispersed segments of Israel, and engender true Love of the Jewish people !\n\n The Fourth Cup Corresponds to Leah \n\nThe Fourth Cup corresponds to the fourth and last language of redemption : I will take you to me for a people. After having removed our physical, emotional and spiritual blocks by means of the three previous cups, we are now ready to actualize our relationship with G-d and communicate directly with Him through praise and prayer. The Fourth Cup concludes the Hallel (prayer of praise) at the end of the Seder . Leah is the first person to truly thank/praise G-d, when at the birth of her fourth son Yehuda she exclaimed, “ This time I will thank G-d” (Bereishit 29:35), ( Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 7b ). Rav Arosh explains that although others from Adam to Abraham surely thanked G-d before Leah, no-one thanked Him with her level of conscious intensity. Leah’s new idea was to truly thank G-d even for all the hardships she had encountered. With the birth of Yehuda she realized that it was necessary and worthwhile to experience all her previous suffering for the sake of giving birth to Yehuda, the father of King David and Messiah.\n\nWhen we drink the Fourth Cup, it is good to meditate and pray for strengthening our relationship with G-d, that we may experience the connection with Him during both prayer, and in everyday life. May we learn from Leah to always recognize, thank and praise G-d for bestowing us with His continuous blessing!\n\n Women, Let Your Voices be Heard \n\nThe inherent connection between our Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah and the Four Cups of Wine at the Seder teaches us how each of the four steps of redemption is in the merit of one of our holy Mothers. The Midrash teaches us how G-d redeemed us in the merit of both our Fathers and Mothers as it states, ( Michah 6:1) “ Arise, contend before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. ” Whereas the fathers correspond to the mountains, the hills represent the mothers Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah. We learn this from the feminine form of the verb “to hear” used in the verse ( Batei Midrashot 2, Midrash alfa Beita, Mesechta 315 ). The Sefer Hachinuch states that both men and women are obligated to tell about the Exodus from Egypt on this night (Mitzvah 21).　It is specifically the mother who is called to answer the son who does not know how to ask, as it states: You open [the conversation] for him” According to Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, the feminine form of “you” alludes to the women’s obligation to tell the story about our Exodus from Egypt ( Otzar Meforshei Ha-Hagadah ). Therefore, women, remember during the Seder night that G-d wants to hear your voice!\n\nChana Bracha Siegelbaum, is Founder and Director of<a href=\"http://www.berotbatayin.org./\">Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin</a>: Holistic Torah Study for Women. She is a Torah teacher and mentor for decades and recently published her first book <a href=\"http://www.berotbatayin.org/WomenattheCrossroads.htm\">Women at the Crossroads: A Woman's Perspective on the Weekly Torah Portion</a>. For more information visit her blog<a href=\"http://rebbetzinchanabracha.blogspot.com/\">http://rebbetzinchanabracha.blogspot.com/</a> or email her at:<a href=\"mailto:[email protected]\">[email protected]</a>.\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Commentary / Readings", "slug": "commentary-readings" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 253, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Women at the Seder | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/women-seder", "og:title": "Women at the Seder | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "matzah-15", "title": "Matzah", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "Matzah By Avi Lazerson Matzah has a special taste, but this is not due to any special ingredients. Just the opposite, th...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "Matzah\n\nBy Avi Lazerson\n\nMatzah has a special taste, but this is not due to any special ingredients. Just the opposite, the matza that we eat at the Seder has no ingredients in it other than flour and water. There is no oil, no sugar, chemicals, food additives or colors. It is simply flour and water mixed together and baked in a manner that precludes it from rising.\n\nPerhaps the reason we enjoy it so at the Seder is because we are either very hungry since we refrain from eating much on the day before the Seder or perhaps because we have not eaten it for a very long time. Some Jews have the custom not to eat matzo from the being of the month of Nissan, others thirty days before the Seder, and others just chose not to eat matzo during the year. Nonetheless, this simple and lowly bread form forms the center piece of the Seder and of the holiday of Passover.\n\nThe Torah calls matzah \" lechem oni \", the bread of poverty or the bread of our affliction. This is because it is a very simple food with nothing other than the two basic ingredients, four and water; not even salt may be added. Because of this, matza has the appearance of being flat, both in appearance and also taste. Yet the festival is referred to as \" chag ha-matza \", the festival of the matza.\n\nThe Zohar, the ancient source book of Jewish mysticism, refers to matza as the bread of faith.\n\nWhat is the connection between matza and faith?\n\nWhen the Jews finally left Egypt, they were driven out in a great hurry. They had no time to prepare provisions for the journey. Instead they baked their bread as flat, round unleavened cakes. Not one of them complained to Moses saying that they do not have provisions for the travel. Instead everyone picked up and quickly left. This reflected a tremendous faith in Moses and in G-d that they were ready to trust the provisions for the journey to them.\n\nMatzah represents the trust that we have in G-d that we need not worry, but rather trust that He will fulfill His obligations to us as He promised to our ancestors. But there is a second side to this trust. We must make certain that we fulfill our side of the agreement. We must obey Him and do as He bid us to do. If we do so, we keep our side of the agreement; we can rest assured that He will keep His side.\n\nFaith – (Hebrew: Emunah ), as the rabbis understood it, is an inner feeling which is not based on intellectual ingredients. Reason and knowledge are not prerequisites for believing and trusting in G-d. Faith begins where knowledge and reason end. Perhaps even more so, faith is the beginning of knowledge. Faith is the beginning of knowledge of G-d. When we realize that no human being, however wise, can properly comprehend or really understand G-d and His workings, yet when we know that His being and wisdom are infinitely greater than ours, we establish our roots in firm belief and commence the road to understanding of Him.\n\nThe basic attribute of a person who has faith in G-d is that he is humble and accepting of a higher force which guides and directs this world. Humility comes from the realization of our tremendous lacking in both intellectual, physical, and emotional achievements. It comes about from realizing that without G-d's help, we are powerless to achieve anything. Everything that we have comes from Him through his infinite kindness. It is when we give ourselves over to His control that we truly become humble and accepting.\n\nThe matza in a simple food, it is the humblest amongst breads. It possesses neither the fine taste, nor the delicious aroma, not the texture of the many different types of delicious breads that are available in the market place. Matzoh's purpose is simply to sustain life, not to provide indulgence in epicurean delicacies and pleasures of this world.\n\nThe spiritual counterpart of matzoth is emunah, belief in G-d's benevolent grace. Emunah is a spiritual food that sustains mankind throughout his wanderings on this planet. It provides us with the independence that will allow us to be liberated from the worldly desires and bonds that flourish to trap people into believing that they are experiencing great pleasure, when in reality they are slowly slipping into the quicksand of materialism.\n\nThis is the very message that Moses told Pharaoh, \"Set My people free that they may serve Me!\" The first step to becoming a spiritual person, to rise about the gross materialism of this world is to realize that we must be free from those elements that try to bind us to the physicality of the world and blind us to the spiritual.\n\nWe must put our faith in G-d and He will deliver just as He delivered our forefathers from Egypt, He will deliver us from our enemies. To reach a level of trust in G-d that will grant us a peaceful life, we can not rely on our own logic and reasoning. G-d is infinite and beyond our abilities to understand His ways.\n\nWe first start simply by eating the matzah, the humblest of foods. As we eat it, we realize that had G-d not taken our forefathers out from Egypt, we and our children would still be slaves. He has guided us through a difficult two thousand year exile and brought us as a free people to our own land. In spite of all of the enemies that surround us and threaten us with extinction, we are secure in our knowledge that they will never be successful. How we will be saved from them, we may not now know, but know we do, that He will never abandon us, for we are Israel, His first born.\n\nThis is the message of the matza. If we learned only this, it is enough.\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Motzi-Matzah", "slug": "motzi-matzah" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 202, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Matzah | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/matzah-15", "og:title": "Matzah | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "4-sons-6", "title": "The 4 sons", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "The Four Sons of the Passover Hagaddah By Nachum Mohl By now the four sons that are mentioned in the Haggada have achiev...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "The Four Sons of the Passover Hagaddah\n\nBy Nachum Mohl\n\nBy now the four sons that are mentioned in the Haggada have achieved some measure of fame. But the commentators on the Haggada ask a question on the manner in which they are listed:\n\n 'The Torah speaks in regard to four sons: A wise son, A wicked son, a simple son and a son who does not know even to ask.\" \n\nIn reality, if we were to analyze this listing we may have several interesting observations. First, if a wicked son is listed, then the counterpart of a wicked son, a righteous son, should also be mentioned. Secondly, as most people have observed, if the wise son was so wise, then why did he have to ask: \"what is the meaning of the statutes and laws that G-d has commanded you to do?\" If he were a wise son, shouldn't he know them!?\n\nTo really understand what is behind this listing of the four sons, we must first explain that the Haggada is based on the fact that the son must see changes at the table from those of every other night, be it week night or holiday night. The reason is that the sages wanted the son to ask a question.\n\nFor this reason, we make many changes in our festive meal to arouse a question with in him.\n\nThe average child is the one who because of the changes asks basically what is going on! He sees these changes and we respond by satisfying his curiosity explaining to him all of the signs and wonders that G-d did for us. This is the simple son. He would not think to ask a question unless there was something to arouse his curiosity. These changes we have made are for him.\n\nThe child that does not respond to stimulation of change; we must open his eyes and point out to him the changes. In this manner he will ask a question. Once he asks a question, we can proceed with the answer, but an answer with out a question does not occupy the importance in the mind of a child. Therefore we must arouse him.\n\nWe generally equate wisdom with knowing all of the answers. This may be true because we view the Wise Man in his state after he acquired his wisdom. But what caused him to become a Wise Man? It was his desire to know more than just the most superficial answers. He wanted to learn down to the depth that was possible with his intellect.\n\nTherefore the wise son, who has not yet become the Wise Man, asks : \"what is the meaning of the statutes and laws that G-d has commanded you to do ?\" He wants to know. So he must learn from you. You must supply him with the answers in depth.\n\nThe wicked son, on the other hand, says differently. \" What is this service to you ?\" He sees that there is a change in the festive meal. He realizes that it is of some great importance, but he sees that there is much effort to do this. Therefore he asks, \" What is this service to you ? Do you really think that it is worth the effort ? \"\n\nHe is really looking to find the easy life. He is certainly no less intelligent than the wise son is. But he is seeking to relieve himself of any obligatory service which would take him away from enjoyment and pursuit of worldly pleasures. Therefore it is necessary for us to chastise him and tell him that with his attitude, had he been in Egypt, G-d would not have taken him out of slavery to give him the Torah.\n\nA person who is seeking only the earthly pleasures and comforts is still a slave to his desires. A wicked person deserves to be a slave. Perhaps our chastisement will awaken in his soul or intellect a desire to change.\n\nThis is the reason that the Torah enumerates for us the four sons. May it be our fortune that we only have wise children who choose the path of service to G-d and study of the Holy Torah.\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "-- Four Children", "slug": "four-children" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 151, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "The 4 sons | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/4-sons-6", "og:title": "The 4 sons | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "enchanted-matza", "title": "The Enchanted Matza", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "The Enchanted Matzoh By Arthur R. Pell The matzos, all freshly baked, were packed neatly in their box, waiting for the s...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "The Enchanted Matzoh\n\nBy Arthur R. Pell\n\nThe matzos, all freshly baked, were packed neatly in their box, waiting for the seder. Most of them were quietly awaiting their fate. They didn't mind being eaten because they were baked especially for that purpose and it never entered their minds to expect anything else.\n\nBut one little matzoh was different, perhaps the baker had made a mistake when he mixed the dough or perhaps this matzoh was enchanted. He didn't want to be eaten.\n\n\"I'm going to run away,\" he told the others in his box.\n\n\"Nonsense,\" said his friend. \"You have no legs so you cannot run. and anyway you were made to be eaten. We should be happy that we are part of the great feast of Passover.\"\n\n\"Not I,\" said the enchanted matzoh, \"I want to see the world.\"\n\nJust then the box was removed from the shelf. A voice that sounded like thunder to the matzos said, \"Let's open the box of matzos now.\"\n\nIt was Mom getting everything ready for the big night. The children were helping. Brother lifted the box off the shelf and carefully opened it.\n\nThe matzos all blinked when the light hit them, but no one said a word. Matzos know better than to talk when humans are around.\n\n\"Let me pick the three for the seder plate,\" said Sister.\n\nShe picked three matzos and wrapped them tidily in the matzoh cover, but what she didn't know was that the one in the middle was the enchanted matzoh.\n\nLater when grandma and grandpa, the aunts, uncles and cousins arrived, they all sat down at the dining room table to partake in the Seder.\n\nJust then, Pup came barking into the room. He wanted to share the Seder too.\n\nDad laughed, but told Pup that this was a serious feast and there was no place for a dog in it. Brother picked up Pup and put him out in the back yard.\n\nNow the Seder began. Dad sang the Kiddush and made the blessing over the matzos. He then took the middle matzoh, wrapped it carefully in a napkin, and went into another room to hide it. This was the afikomen. The children tried hard not to peek. They knew that the one who found it later in the evening would get a nice prize.\n\nDad had hidden the enchanted matzoh on the bedroom windowsill behind the venetian blind. In his rush to hide it and get back to the table, he hadn't noticed that the window behind the blind was open.\n\nThe enchanted matzoh noticed it and said, \"Good, here is my chance to run away and see the world.\" \nHe slowly inched along the windowsill, pushed himself closer and closer to the edge. He held his breath---- and jumped.\n\nHe fell down and down and down. \"Oh my,\" he cried. I'm going to break into a million pieces.\"\n\nSuddenly he stopped falling. Luckily the ground under the window was soft and covered with grass. That, plus the protection of the napkin in which he was wrapped, prevented him from being broken.\n\nThe matzoh looked around. All he could see was the darkness of the night. \"The world is not so nice,\" he thought.\n\nHe tried to move, but as he had no legs, he could only push himself along very slowly. Suddenly he felt himself being sniffed and pushed by a wet nose.\n\n\"What is this?\" he cried. \"Am I to be eaten after all by this beast?\"\n\nMeanwhile the Seder was coming slowly to the end of the meal.\n\n\"Now,\" said Dad, \"the children will look for the afikomen. The child who finds it will win a big box of chocolate matzos.\n\nBrother and Sister and all the cousins left the table and swarmed all over the house looking for the hidden matzoh. Soon they all returned to the table disappointed.\n\nNobody had found the afikomen.\n\nDad was puzzled, but as it was getting late, he suggested that the Seder continue and the children could look again after the service ended.\n\nNow it was time for Elijah's visit. An extra cup of wine is always placed on the Seder table for the prophet, Elijah. After the Seder meal, the door of the house is opened to welcome Elijah's spirit.\n\nSister went to the door and opened it. As she returned to her seat, Dad told the story of Elijah. As he said the words, \"We now welcome Elijah,\" in through the door walked Pup and in his mouth was the missing matzoh.\n\nPup dropped it in front of Dad and wagged his tail. Dad laughed and said. \"Yes, Pup, you found the afikomen so you win the prize. But as chocolate matzos are not good for you, we'll give you a nice bone and all the children will share the candy.\"\n\nWhen the service ended the children ate the chocolate matzos for dessert.\n\nIn the excitement everybody forgot about the enchanted matzoh. Nobody ate it. When Mom found it in its napkin, she put it aside. \"There's something special about this matzoh,\" she said. It's best we keep it for good luck.\"\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": { "title": "Our Favorites For Families", "slug": "our-favorites-families", "author": "Haggadot" }, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Songs", "slug": "songs" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 331, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "The Enchanted Matza | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/enchanted-matza", "og:title": "The Enchanted Matza | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "night-pesach", "title": "The Night of Pesach", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "The night of Pesach By Michael Druck © 1992 It was the night of Pesach And all through the house You couldn't find bre...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "The night of Pesach\n\n \nBy Michael Druck © 1992\n\n \nIt was the night of Pesach \nAnd all through the house \nYou couldn't find bread \nIn anyone's mouth \nThe table was set with karpas and fish \nAnd maror and wine \nAnd potato knish \nWith Daddy and Mommy \nAnd poor Uncle Lou \nGrandma and Grandpa \nAnd Sammy and Sue \nA place was set where nobody sat \nFor Elijah the Prophet and a cup that was fat \nWith wine and cheer \nFor all that came by \nTo see our set table \nAnd thank G-d with a sigh \nHow lucky we were to be all at home \nAnd none of us should feel ever left all alone\n\n \nFirst we made kiddush \nThen the washing of hands \nKarpas is next \nPassed 'round the table to Sam \nDividing the matzoh and telling the tale \nOf the Jews leaving Egypt for Israel \nWe passed the maror \nAnd ate our fish \nAnd hid the matzoh away with a dish \nAnd Grandpa stood up and said with a tear \n\"We should all be together for Pesach next year!\" \nHave a wonderful Pesach \nWith joy in your home \nAnd from me to you \nI will say a SHALOM! \n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Songs", "slug": "songs" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 223, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "The Night of Pesach | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/night-pesach", "og:title": "The Night of Pesach | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "use-internet-pesach", "title": "Use of the Internet on Pesach", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "Pesach and Use of the Web From Der Internetter Rebbe Recently, it has come to my attention that the Jewish community may...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "Pesach and Use of the Web From Der Internetter Rebbe Recently, it has come to my attention that the Jewish community may, chas veshalom, be making numerous violations of chometz and other prohibitions via their use of the internet both before and during Pesach. The following, therefore, is a compilation of some of the more important laws compiled from the Great Sefer Reshet Keshet, a sefer dealing specifically with the proper use of the internet in Jewish law, written by mor Harav URieL Halevi Spam. URLs -------- Access to all web sites consist of URLs. According to the Zohar, the letters URL are an abbreviation for the word UnReLiable. Since we do not know the true source or creator of a given web site, we cannot be sure of the Kosher status of any web site we go to unless we know that it has a reliable Kosher hechsher. As a matter of fact, we can verify with full certainty that any site ending in .com is certainly prohibited. The reason is that .com is pronounced dot com which sounds much like the Hebrew dat kam meaning the religious stand up. This, in itself, is a contradiction of true Torah values, for only the Torah itself dictates the establishment of one's religious observance and how religious he is, not the downloading of a home web page. Therefore, because there may, chas veshalom, potentially be a confusion that the Hebrew term dat kam may be confused with .com, one is best if he avoids use of the internet altogether, especially during Passover, and between Passover and Shavuot which marks the period when we established our faith as a nation. TCP / IP ---------- This abbreviation is also misunderstood. It is shameful that so many Jews assume that when they use the internet, they use the TCP / IP protocol without understanding its ramifications. TCP / IP stands for: The Chometz Before Pesach / It's Pesach. Notice the slash used to separate these two terms. This was done intentionally to mark the distinction between use of the internet before Pesach which is clearly chometzdik and the complete abolution of internet use during Pesach itself. Only one who is absolutely machmir and shomer mitzvot will take heed and understand this prohibition. If one MUST use the internet, he must find a different method other than TCP / IP. Cookies --------- Nearly every web site places cookies into your computer. Cookies are chametz mamash, and they must be thoroughly cleaned out of your computers in your home and at work prior to the sixth hour of Erev Pesach. If they are not eliminated, one's computer remains chametz throughout Pesach, and one is prohibited from using his computer ever again even after Pesach, as your computer would be classified as chametz she'Tavar alav Hapesach. Obviously, one would probably not want to eliminate all his cookies, since this would make most web sites unusable. Therefore, one should be extremely careful to sell his computers and laptops to a goy. Since the goy owns the computer during Pesach, one must be certain that the goy has free unlimited access to all accounts on his computer throughout Pesach. This includes releasing to the goy all passwords to both the computer itself as well as all log-in passwords to any network and internet accounts one has. Without doing this, the sale would be improper. Of particular importance, one should be careful to include release of all passwords to any online credit and bank accounts one has, as all such secured bank accounts place cookies into your computer. In short, the goy must have unimpeded free access to all cookies existing in your computer, lest, chas veshalom, the sale be invalidated. The goy may also choose to keep the computer after Pesach with all the cookies that may be present. If he chooses to do so, he must reimburse you for the cost of the cookies, but is not required to reimburse his use on your AOL account to access such cookies. Summary ----------- The above is a mere compilation of about 100 different laws. I recommend purchasing this sefer at your local bookstore. I would offer it on-line, but that would be contradictory to the whole point I'm making here, wouldn't it? I hope that every internet user will take heed and be extremely careful with the internet both before and after Pesach. As a matter of fact, if you are reading this now, you're already in trouble, because you have one more cookie to clean up. Shalom from, Der Interneter rebbe -- Eliyahu Rooff www.geocities.com/Area51/Underworld/8096/HomePage.htm\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jr.co.il/humor/pass24.txt", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Commentary / Readings", "slug": "commentary-readings" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 259, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Use of the Internet on Pesach | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/use-internet-pesach", "og:title": "Use of the Internet on Pesach | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "uncle-elis-haggadah-4-cups", "title": "Uncle Eli's Haggadah - 4 cups", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": " The Four Cups Jacky the juggler is four inches small, but he'll juggle the four cups and not one will fall. Each cup...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": " The Four Cups\n\n\n\n Jacky the juggler is four inches small,\n\n but he'll juggle the four cups and not one will fall.\n\n Each cup is filled up with red wine to its top.\n\n They dance through the air but he won't spill a drop.\n\n\n\n Sari is trying to tickle his toes,\n\n and she's wiggling a feather right under his nose.\n\n But Jacky keeps juggling. His eyes are now closed.\n\n His feet in the air and one hand on the ground,\n\n the four cups keep spinning around and around.\n\n He sings through the Kiddush. He reads the Haggadah.\n\n He's balancing now on the top of a ladder.\n\n He's saying the Grace that we say after meals.\n\n The cups are still spinning like wobbly wheels.\n\n He's finished the Hallel, he's started to snore,\n\n but he still keeps on juggling, asleep on the floor.\n\n They're dancing like ducklings, they're spinning like tops--\n\n I don't think that Jacky-boy ever will stop.\n\n ---------------------\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Kadesh", "slug": "kadesh" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 224, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Uncle Eli's Haggadah - 4 cups | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/uncle-elis-haggadah-4-cups", "og:title": "Uncle Eli's Haggadah - 4 cups | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "uncle-eli-ha-lachma", "title": "Uncle Eli Ha Lachma", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "Ha Lachma This is the poorest, the driest of bread. It crinkles and crumbles all over our beds. This is the matzah th...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "Ha Lachma\n\n\n\n This is the poorest, the driest of bread.\n\n It crinkles and crumbles all over our beds.\n\n This is the matzah that Grand-Daddy ate\n\n when he zoomed out of Egypt, afraid he'd be late.\n\n\n\n You're welcome to join us-- Come one or come many!\n\n I'll give you my matzah. I sure don't want any.\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Maggid - Beginning", "slug": "maggid-beginning" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 215, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Uncle Eli Ha Lachma | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/uncle-eli-ha-lachma", "og:title": "Uncle Eli Ha Lachma | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "uncle-eli-4-questions", "title": "Uncle Eli - 4 questions", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "--------------------- The Four Questions Why is it only on Passover night we never know how to do anything right? We...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "---------------------\n\n The Four Questions\n\n\n\n Why is it only on Passover night\n\n we never know how to do anything right?\n\n We don't eat our meals in the regular ways,\n\n the ways that we do on all other days.\n\n\n\n 'Cause on all other nights\n\n we may eat all kinds of wonderful good bready treats,\n\n like big purple pizza that tastes like a pickle,\n\n crumbly crackers and pink pumpernickel,\n\n sassafras sandwich and tiger on rye,\n\n fifty felafels in pita, fresh-fried,\n\n with peanut-butter and tangerine sauce spread\n\n onto each side up-and-down,\n\n then across, and toasted whole-wheat bread\n\n with liver and ducks,\n\n and crumpets and dumplings,\n\n and bagels and lox,\n\n and doughnuts with one hole\n\n and doughnuts with four,\n\n and cake with six layers\n\n and windows and doors.\n\n Yes-- on all other nights\n\n we eat all kinds of bread,\n\n but tonight of all nights\n\n we munch matzah instead.\n\n\n\n And on all other nights\n\n we devour vegetables, green things,\n\n and bushes and flowers, lettuce that's leafy\n\n and candy-striped spinach, fresh silly celery\n\n (Have more when you're finished!) cabbage that's flown\n\n from the jungles of Glome by a polka-dot bird\n\n who can't find his way home,\n\n daisies and roses and inside-out grass\n\n and artichoke hearts that are simply first class!\n\n Sixty asparagus tips served in glasses with anchovy sauce\n\n and some sticky molasses--\n\n But on Passover night you would never consider eating an herb\n\n that wasn't all bitter.\n\n\n\n And on all other nights you would probably flip\n\n if anyone asked you how often you dip.\n\n On some days I only dip one Bup-Bup egg\n\n in a teaspoon of vinegar mixed with nutmeg,\n\n but sometimes we take more than ten thousand tails\n\n of the Yakkity-birds that are hunted in Wales,\n\n and dip them in vats full of Mumbegum juice.\n\n Then we feed them to Harold, our six-legged moose.\n\n Or we don't dip at all! We don't ask your advice.\n\n So why on this night do we have to dip twice?\n\n\n\n And on all other nights we can sit as we please,\n\n on our heads, on our elbows, our backs or our knees,\n\n or hang by our toes from the tail of a Glump,\n\n or on top of a camel with one or two humps,\n\n with our foot on the table, our nose on the floor,\n\n with one ear in the window and one out the door,\n\n doing somersaults over the greasy k'nishes\n\n or dancing a jig without breaking the dishes.\n\n Yes-- on all other nights you sit nicely when dining--\n\n So why on this night must it all be reclining?\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "-- Four Questions", "slug": "four-questions" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 234, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Uncle Eli - 4 questions | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/uncle-eli-4-questions", "og:title": "Uncle Eli - 4 questions | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "uncle-eli-avadim-hayinu", "title": "Uncle Eli Avadim Hayinu", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": " Avadim Hayinu We were slaves to King Pharaoh, that terrible king, and he made us do all kinds of difficult things. L...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": " Avadim Hayinu\n\n\n\n We were slaves to King Pharaoh, that terrible king,\n\n and he made us do all kinds of difficult things.\n\n Like building a pyramid of chocolate ice cream\n\n when the sun was so hot that the Nile turned to steam,\n\n and digging a ditch with a spade of soft cotton.\n\n That Pharaoh was wicked and nasty and rotten!\n\n\n\n He made us prepare him a big birthday cake\n\n and buy fancy presents for Pharaoh to take,\n\n and he kept us awake with a terrible noise,\n\n but he never allowed us to play with his toys.\n\n\n\n It's a good thing that God took us out of that place\n\n and gave evil old Pharaoh a slap in the face.\n\n Because if he hadn't, we'd all be in trouble,\n\n still slaving away in the dust and the rubble,\n\n cleaning up the king's mess and still folding his clothes\n\n and arranging his torn socks in eighty-four rows,\n\n and balancing eggs on the tips of our toes.\n\n\n\n Yes, even if we were as smart as my mother,\n\n as wise as my best friend Dov's four-month-old brother,\n\n if we'd read all the books in the public library\n\n or watched as much TV as old Auntie Mary--\n\n We still should keep telling this wonderful story\n\n of how we got out in a huff and a hurry.\n\n ---------------------\n\n Ma'aseh Be-Rabbi Eliezer...\n\n\n\n Once Rabbi Akiva and some of his friends\n\n talked all night and forgot that the seder should end.\n\n All the mice started snoring,\n\n they found it so boring.\n\n The hoot-owls were hooting,\n\n the shooting-stars shooting--\n\n But Rabbi Akiva kept talking away\n\n till his pupils said, \"Rabbi, it's not yesterday!\n\n You act like the Drush-Drush\n\n who sleeps while it's light,\n\n and talks of the Exodus all through the night!\"\n\n ---------------------\n\n Amar Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah...\n\n\n\n Is there anyone sorrier than Eleazar ben Azariah?\n\n He thought it was right\n\n to tell stories all night.\n\n But Ben Zoma was worse--\n\n He could quote from a verse.\n\n Now Eleazar looks seventy,\n\n though he's not even twenty\n\n (Now I think that's plenty).\n\n ---------------------\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "-- Four Questions", "slug": "four-questions" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 228, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Uncle Eli Avadim Hayinu | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/uncle-eli-avadim-hayinu", "og:title": "Uncle Eli Avadim Hayinu | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "uncle-eli-4-sons", "title": "Uncle Eli - 4 sons", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": " The Four Sons To our seder last year came a strange-looking man with four sons: Smarty, Nasty, and Simple, and Sam....", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": " The Four Sons\n\n\n\n To our seder last year\n\n came a strange-looking man with four sons:\n\n Smarty, Nasty, and Simple, and Sam.\n\n\n\n Now Smarty was smart--\n\n yes, so clever and wise,\n\n he could do the whole seder while closing his eyes.\n\n From beginning to end, from the end to the start,\n\n he recited it over and over by heart.\n\n In Hebrew and Hindu, in Snufic and Roman,\n\n from the first Ha Lachma to the last Afikoman.\n\n\n\n But Nasty refused to take part in the seder.\n\n He just sat there and smiled with his pet alligator\n\n as he pulled people's hair and he poked people's eyes\n\n and sprinkled their matzah with beetles and flies.\n\n What he needs is a thwack on the back of the hands,\n\n and a slap in the face and a kick in the pants.\n\n\n\n Away in the corner sits sweet brother Simple.\n\n Whenever he smiles his face breaks out in dimples.\n\n He only asks about simple facts\n\n like \"What's a matzah?\"\n\n and \"Tell me how tall is a Gloogasaurus Zax?\"\n\n\n\n And Sam doesn't even know what to say.\n\n He just sits in his box till the end of the day,\n\n till his Dad packs him up and takes him away.\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "-- Four Children", "slug": "four-children" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 221, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Uncle Eli - 4 sons | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/uncle-eli-4-sons", "og:title": "Uncle Eli - 4 sons | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "uncle-eli-matza-maror-korech", "title": "Uncle Eli - matza maror korech", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": " --------------------- Rabban Gamaliel Omer... Shh-h... Rabban Gamaliel has something to tell, so we'd better all lis...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": " ---------------------\n\n Rabban Gamaliel Omer...\n\n\n\nShh-h...\n\n\n\n Rabban Gamaliel has something to tell,\n\n so we'd better all listen to him very well.\n\n\n\n He says that each person must mention these three\n\n if he wants his whole seder to go perfectly.\n\n Tonight these three things might be found in your parlor--\n\n They are: Pesah and Matzah and Maror.\n\n\n\n Pesah, the lamb that the Jews would prepare\n\n at the time that the Temple was still standing there,\n\n to remind us of how our ancestors were saved,\n\n how they marched out of Egypt and stopped being slaves.\n\n It wasn't a soup and it wasn't a stew.\n\n It was more like roast lamb in a big Bar-B-Q.\n\n We try to remember that lamb, if we're able,\n\n by keeping a bone of some sort on the table.\n\n\n\n Matzah, this strange flat and hard, crunchy bread\n\n was the food that our forefathers ate when they fled.\n\n They didn't have time to make something more tasty\n\n like chocolate cake or cherry-cream pastry,\n\n because their departure was ever so hasty.\n\n The trip out of Egypt was all so haphazard,\n\n they left mountains of matzah-crumbs all through the desert.\n\n Manny, our matzah-dog, eats it by tons.\n\n He'll have two hundred matzahs before the night's done.\n\n\n\n The third thing is Maror. These herbs are so bitter!\n\n Let's give some to Marvin, our mean baby-sitter!\n\n ---------------------\n\n Zekher La-Mikdash Ke-Hillel...\n\n\n\nHillel, while the Temple stood,\n\n made sandwiches he thought were good.\n\n They had no jam of mozzarelly, tuna-fish or vermicelli--\n\n just matzah, maror and some meat.\n\n\n\n He thought they were a super treat\n\n (but there are lots of things I'd rather eat).\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Koreich", "slug": "koreich" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 230, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Uncle Eli - matza maror korech | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/uncle-eli-matza-maror-korech", "og:title": "Uncle Eli - matza maror korech | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "uncle-eli-afikoman", "title": "Uncle Eli Afikoman", "author": "Julie Bolsom", "author_handle": "julie-bolsom", "author_initials": "JB", "covertext": "Afikoman Do you know who I am? Have you heard of my name? Once you have met me, you won't be the same. I show up eac...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": "Afikoman\n\n\n\n Do you know who I am?\n\n Have you heard of my name?\n\n Once you have met me, you won't be the same.\n\n I show up each year towards the end of the seder.\n\n My eye see like telescopes, ears work like radar.\n\n\n\n You can't ever fool me, you can't ever hide.\n\n Your matzah's not safe in the house or outside.\n\n I'm famous, fantastic! I'll tell you, in brief--\n\n I'm Abie, the Afikoman-thief!\n\n\n\n Whenever you think that it's hidden away,\n\n locked up in a safe, covered over in clay,\n\n in the ear of a rabbit, in the mouth of a whale--\n\n I'll find it as quick as a wag of your tail.\n\n Don't bother with watchers and guarders and catchers.\n\n I'm Abie, the great Afikoman-snatcher!\n\n\n\n I find Afikomans, no matter what size.\n\n And I won't bring them back till you give me a prize.\n\n I'm quick and I'm clever, I'm smart and I'm sly.\n\n I hunt Afikomans wherever they lie.\n\n In the trunk of a tree, in the nose of a rocket,\n\n in the depths of a five-year-old boy's messy pocket.\n\n You don't stand a chance. I'm beyond all belief.\n\n I'm Abie the Afikoman-thief!\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 0, "featuredIn": { "title": "Our Favorites For Families", "slug": "our-favorites-families", "author": "Haggadot" }, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Tzafun", "slug": "tzafun" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 311, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Uncle Eli Afikoman | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. 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Go open the door!\" I...", "user_image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/conversions/profile10153250396174382-thumb.jpg", "user_image_original": "https://assets.haggadot.com/users/114126/profile10153250396174382", "body": " Opening the Door\n\n\n\n As the seder stretched on and I started to snore,\n\n my Mommy said: \"Quick, now! Go open the door!\"\n\n I didn't know who could be coming right now,\n\n but I stifled a yawn and I stood up somehow.\n\n I walked to the door and I opened it wide,\n\n and who do you think I saw standing outside?\n\n My friend Uncle Eli with his beard to the floor\n\n was waiting there quietly next to the door!\n\n His eyes were still twinkling. His smile still shone bright.\n\n He asked: \"Are you having a good time tonight?\"\n\n\n\n I wanted to tell him about all the fun I'd been having\n\n since this special night had begun.\n\n But just as I opened my mouth to reply,\n\n he was gone, disappeared, in the wink of an eye!\n\n And I heard my Mom calling: \"Come back in right now!\n\n We already have welcomed in Eliyahu--\n\n \"Eliyahu shows up at our seder tonight\n\n to make sure that everything's going all right.\n\n He'll answer the questions we can't figure out.\n\n He\"ll solve all our problems and settle our doubts.\n\n He also will taste from the wine in his cup,\n\n and we hope that this year he will cheer us all up\n\n by bringing us happy and wonderful news\n\n of a year full of freedom in store for the Jews.\"\n\n\n", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": "http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm", "featured": 1, "featuredIn": { "title": "Our Favorites For Families", "slug": "our-favorites-families", "author": "Haggadot" }, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Bareich", "slug": "bareich" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 334, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "Uncle Eli - Opening the Door | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. 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Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/uncle-elis-haggadah-introduction", "og:title": "Uncle Eli's Haggadah -Introduction | Passover haggadah by Julie Bolsom", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } }

Haggadah Section: Introduction

Uncle Eli's Special-for-Kids

Most Fun Ever Under-the-Table Passover Haggadah

Calgary 1995 / 5755

16-310 Brookmere Rd. SW, Calgary Alberta

---------------------

A Present from Uncle Eli

The house had gone crazy, all turned upside-down,

with everyone busily running around.

Mommy was screaming "Get out of the way!

You can't keep on lying around here all day!

Tomorrow is Passover. You don't look ready.

We have to remove everything that is bready.

Pack up the old dishes and pull out the new.

Prepare for the seder! There's too much to do!"

I just stuffed up my ears, 'cause I'm that kind of kid.

I didn't much care what the rest of them did.

I thought it was stupid; I felt it was dumb

to get so excited about one or two crumbs

when under my bed, under careful protection,

I keep the world's largest stale bread-crumb collection!

I hate cleaning up. I prefer a good mess.

I'm lazy and mean -- kind of nasty, I guess.

I don't like the seder. It bores me to tears.

I sit making faces and noises and sneers.

I'd rather be out breaking windows with balls,

or digging up flower-beds, or drawing on walls.

Anything! Anywhere!

Rather than be at the Passoverseder with my family.

We mean little kids should be all sent away.

We don't want to celebrate dumb holidays.

Well, those were the thoughts spinning inside my head.

My ears were exploding, my nose had turned red.

I was very upset at my Mom and my Dad

-- disgusted, disgruntled -- in short, I was mad!

When...right there behind me I heard a soft sound.

I perked up my ears and I turned my head 'round.

And right there before me, as plain as could be

was the weirdest old man that you ever will see.

"Weird" did I say? He was weirder than weird!

You hardly could see him because of his beard.

It flowed down his body and covered his feet,

all curly and snaggly, distinctly un-neat.

Aside from that beard-- well, you couldn't see lots,

just two twinkly eyes that peeked out 'tween the knots,

and the hint of a grin that made everything bright

and sometimes turned into a laughing white light.

I stared at this strange little man for a while

as he kept standing there full of laughter and smiles.

The door to the room was still shut up quite tight,

and I didn't know how he had gotten inside.

I finally got up the nerve to speak out:

"You are a strange fellow, without any doubt.

Please tell me who are you? And why are you here?

And why do you look so fantastically queer?"

He lit up his smile and began to reply:

"I'm your old friend, Uncle Eli am I!

And I, Uncle Eli, am just the right one

to make sure that this year you will have lots of fun.

Instead of just sitting there twiddling your hands

while the grown-ups read words that you don't understand,

I've brought you a special Haggadah to read.

It'll keep you in stitches! It's just what you need!

I wrote it for children like you and your friends,

who hardly can wait for the seder to end.

It's just the right thing for a silly young boy--

a Haggadah you'll learn to adore and enjoy."

Then, waving his finger and wiggling his ears,

he stuck his right hand in his tangled white beard

and from somewhere down deep in that jungle of hair

he pulled out a book, which he held in the air.

It's the same fun Haggadah you're reading today.

Don't let your folks see it! They'll take it away.

You might want to hide it where no one can see,

under the table, on top of your knee.

It'll be our own secret. They won't understand

why you cover your mouth with the back of your hand

to stifle the laughs that burst out all the time.

--It's your own special secret, and Eli's...and mine!

---------------------

Bedikat Hametz

We have to get rid of the Hametz today--

We have to destroy it. We can't let it stay.

We'll punch it and crunch it and bury it deep,

or leave it to rot on Mount Zeepleep-the-Steep.

We'll pump on it, jump on it, grind it to dust.

Erode it, corrode it-- We have to! We must!

We'll feed it to ravenous rampaging rhinos--

or trample it all on our dizzy old dinosaur.

Cut it to pieces, burn it to ash!

Bash it and smash it and dash it to hash.

Then send it by rocket to the Forests of Queet,

where fire-breathing Goo-bahs will turn on the heat.

We'll sink it way down to the floor of the ocean

and finish it off with a mighty explosion.

We have to get rid of the Hametz today--

We have to destroy it. We can't let it stay.

Source:

http://www.jewishmag.com/jimmenu/passover.htm

Contributed byJulie Bolsom 20 Clips

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OUR TOP CONTRIBUTORS

Esther Kustanowitz

JQ International

MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger

18Doors

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American Jewish World Service

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HIAS

Be'chol Lashon

PJ Library

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The Blue Dove Foundation

ReformJudaism.org

Jewish Emergent Network

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Inspired to create
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