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On the first night of seder
The wind was howling outside,
The children fell into their seats
The youngest tried to hide.
She's the one given the task
Of posing the four questions,
Like why this night we eat the matzah
So hard on the digestion.
Blessings said, the seder leader
Called her name out loud,
We checked beneath the tablecloth
She was nowhere to be found.
We sat and sat, stared at each other
By the minute we grew old,
We better find her pretty soon
Or the story will never get told.
A search party was organized
To scour each room and closet,
They didn't miss a single corner
Like they were looking for chometz.
Outside the wind blew stronger
Freezing rain thickly coated the trees,
Branches bent from the icy weight
And snapped into the streets.
Cars were crushed, roads were blocked
And powerlines were cut,
Plunging us all into darkness
And Bubbie cried, Now what?
Got in himmel it's as if the plagues
Are happening for real,
It's not enough to tell the story
He wants us to know how it feels.
I reached over to my eldest child
And hugged her just in her case,
The signs and wonders we read about
Were visiting this place.
Just then we heard a knock at the door
And someone called for the messiah,
We all stood up, our legs atremble
Because we knew it was Elijah.
The seder leader went to the door
Taking with him a lit candle,
Saying a prayer to the Almighty
He twisted and pulled the handle.
There stood the youngest, wet and cold
We gasped, like we'd witnessed an omen,
In her hand she held half a matzah
And said, 'See, I found the Afikoman'.
[based on true events, Montreal, April 6, 2023]
2 comments:
Yes, we heard about the power outages in Montreal ... I guess it wound up adding another dimension to your seder!
I love some of the rhymes and near rhymes in this poem! "Closet/Chometz" is a beaut! As is "Omen/Afikoman"!
My friend David Jacobs has a tradition of poetry recital at his family seders. Everyone is told ahead of time what the chosen poetry style is for that year (e.g., sonnet, haiku, free verse, etc.) and everyone writes a poem in that style and recites it at the seder.
We were actually fortunate to have power at our house, but many many didn’t. Traditionally in my family we organize a big seder, rent a hall and have it catered for between 70-90 cousins. I’m the Seder leader. Because the event had been put on hold for the pandemic my cousins were excited for this year, many out of towners planned to attend. Travel arrangements were made and hotel rooms were booked, only to have it scuttled at the last minute. The room we reserved canceled because they had no power. Many cousins had flights delayed and cancelled. As they say, Mensch tracht un Got tracht.
I’ve heard the idea of themed Seders before. My wife’s uncle and his family dress up in costume for their Seder based on a theme. It goes from biblical to pop culture. As for adding readings, that wouldn’t fly in my household. The script is already long enough.
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