~ To the tune of “Clementine” ~

Said the father to his children

At the seder you will dine

You will eat your fill of matzah

You will drink four cups of wine

Now this father had no daughters

But his sons they numbered four

One was wise and one was wicked

One was simple and a bore

And the fourth was sweet and winsome

He was young and he was small

While his brother asked the questions

He could scarcely speak at all

Said the wise one to his father

“Would you please explain the laws?

Of the customs of the seder

Will you please explain the cause”

And the father proudly answered

“As our fathers ate in speed,

Ate the paschal lamb ‘ere midnight

And from slavery we were freed

“So we follow their example

And ‘ere midnight must complete

All the seder and we should not

After 12 remain to eat”

Then did sneer the son so wicked

“What does all this mean to you?”

And his father’s voice was bitter

As his grief and anger grew


“If yourself you don’t consider

As a son of Israel,

Then for you this has no meaning

You could be a slave as well.”

Then the simple son said simply

“What is this,” and quietly

The good father told his offspring

“We were freed from slavery”

But the youngest son was silent

For he could not ask at all

His eyes were bright with wonder

As his father told him all

My dear children, heed the lesson

And remember evermore

What the father told his children

Told his sons that numbered four


haggadah Section: Songs