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A Passover Poem
Contributed by Sofia Silverglass

  • TOP HAGGADAHS FOR 2023

In the land of old Egypt, centuries ago,

our people, the Hebrews, were slaves to Pharaoh.

Oy! How he worked us, from morning 'til night,

building garrison cities of towering height.

Although we were slaves, how this Egyptian king feared us.

"What if war came, and with all the fuss

the Hebrews rebelled, and our enemies win?

There are too many slaves! I'll kill off their sons!"

Yochleved, a slave mother, hid her new baby

for three months until there was no time for "Maybe..."

Desperate, she floated her son in the Nile

in a basket that bobbed close to the shore. Meanwhile,

Miriam, sister of the poor baby boy,

hid in the reeds and saw, with great joy,

that Pharaoh's own daughter had come to the river.

The cool lapping tide was about to deliver

The dear little sailor to royalty's feet!

Her maids fetched the basket. She cried out "How sweet!"

"This must be a Hebrew slave baby," she said,

"By my father's command, this child should be dead.

But I will adopt him and raise him as mine."

She saw Miriam. "Girl, do you think you can find

a nurse for this baby?" "I sure can!" Miriam said,

and ran for her mother, who came fast and fed

Her hungry slave baby, who now would be free --

a member of Egyptian nobility!

"His name shall be Moses," said Pharaoh's kind daughter.

('Moses,' some say, means 'pulled from the water.')

So Moses grew up in the palace but knew

from his nurse that his people were slaves, the Hebrews.

He must have felt guilty, living so high,

while the rest of his folks just barely got by.

One day, as a grown-up, he went for a walk

to visit his people. Moses was shocked

when he saw an Egyptian guard beating a slave.

His guilt and his anger rose in a great wave

And he killed that Egyptian, and buried him there

in the sand. Then he realized, "I'd better not dare

go back to the palace! When Pharaoh gets wind

of the fact that I did this, he'll have my skin!"

So Moses ran off to a neighboring land

where he worked as a shepherd, and asked for the hand

of Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro. They married.

Until he was 80 years old, Moses tarried

There, far from the palace, far from the cries

of his people, the Hebrews, and their bitter lives.

One day, as he herded his sheep on a mountain,

he saw a weird sight -- it was really astounding!

A bush was aflame. The fire burned high,

yet the bush did not burn, its leaves did not die.

How could this happen? Moses drew near,

and then a great Voice made him tremble with fear.

"I AM THE GOD WHOM YOUR ANCESTORS KNEW

AND NOW THERE IS SOMETHING I NEED YOU TO DO.

GO BACK TO OLD EGYPT, AND TELL THE PHARAOH

THAT GOD HAS COMMANDED HIM: LET THE SLAVES GO!"

Moses was nervous, he feared for his life.

"Please," he said, "I've got two kids and a wife.

I lisp something awful, and I'm really quite old.

Can't you find someone else?" But the Voice hollered, "NO!"

"I'LL SUPPLY WORDS AND MAGICAL STRENGTH.

PHARAOH IS STUBBORN. HE'LL GO TO GREAT LENGTHS

TO IGNORE MY COMMAND AND HOLD ONTO HIS SLAVES,

BUT WE WILL DEFEAT HIM WITH HORRIBLE PLAGUES!"

So Moses, quite bravely, went back to the land

and stood before Pharaoh to make this demand:

"Let the slaves go!" "Go jump in the mud."

"Then you're cursed! The Nile will run red with blood!"

The river turned bloody, and all the fish died.

The people of Egypt were thirsty. They cried

out for water. Their king gave them shovels instead,

to dig wells. While to Moses, he just said "drop dead!"

Soon after, Moses came back with a warning:

"You'd better start listening or frogs will start swarming

all over the place! Let my people go free!"

Pharaoh just sneered at him, "Try and make me!"

Frogs on the table! Frogs on the floor!

Frogs in the homes of the rich and the poor.

Frogs in their shoes! Frogs in their beds!

Frogs in their underwear! Frogs on their heads!

Then lice, flies, and illness! Boils, hail, and locusts!

And darkness no thick that no one could focus!

All Egypt was suffering, but mean old Pharaoh

kept changing his mind about letting the slaves go!

The last plague was the worst: death of the child

born first in each family, Egypt went wild

with sadness and grief as they buried their kids.

Even Pharaoh's sone died -- and the king flipped his lid.

"Get out!" he commanded the slaves, "Get out now!

Don't even pack up! Just leave now, and how!"

Well, the Hebrew slaves found Pharaoh's words so surprising

that the bread they were baking had no time for rising.

Which is why matzah sits on the Passover plate.

Hmm... matzah... but wait!

Why's it called Passover? And how come the slaves

didn't lose their kids too? How come they were saved?

The story is that God gave instruction

for homes marked with lamb's blood to see no destruction.

The Angle of Death knew which homes to spare.

To "pass over" -- it showed that God cared.

They fled to the sea. Meanwhile, Pharaoh rued

his decision to set the slaves free, and pursued

them with chariots right to the edge of the water.

One one side, the sea -- on the other side, slaughter!

Moses took his staff and plunged it into the sea.

"We're not going back! We're going to be free!"

Then the ocean split open! A bridge of dry ground!

The Hebrews ran through and the army stormed down.

As soon as the freed slaves were safely across,

the waters crashed down upon chariot and horse!

It's another "pass-over," what a tale!

Is it true or just make-believe? How can you fail

to believe in a God who makes miracles like these?

And why talk about it if we don't believe?

The question that counts, in the end,

is not whether Passover's just and invention,

but why we choose to celebrate redemption!

Nobody knows if we were ever slaves.

Nobody knows if there were ever plagues.

But year in and year out, we take this occasion

to talk about how we can seek liberation.

And now that the who story has been told

let's eat before the matzah grows mold!

We can finish up later with a little singing.

This story should have got you all thinking —

How is this night different from all other nights?
haggadah Section: Maggid - Beginning
Source: Jewish Currents, Adapted by Joy Silverstein

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