1994
Moses in the Committee Room:
A Passover Haggadah

By John Kador

Inspired by The Breakfast Club

Welcome

Candle-Lighting

ALL: Baruch ata adonai, eh-lo-hay-noo mel-lech ha-alom, asher kid-sha-anoo be-mittzvo-tav, ve-tzee-va-noo le-had-leek nayr shel Yom tov.

Blessed are You, our God, Giver of Light, who sanctified us with the commandanement to light the holiday lights.

Kiddush: The First Cup of Wine

ALL: Baruch ata adonai, eh-lo-hay-noo mel-lech ha-alom, bo-ray pree hagafen.

Blessed are Thou, Lord our God,

Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

ALL: Baruch ata adonai, eh-lo-hay-noo mel-lech ha-alom, sheh-he-chech-ya-noo ve-kee-ye-ma-noo ve-hee-gee-a- noo la-z’man ha-zeh.

Blessed are Thou, Lord our God,

Ruler of the Universe, who has kept us alive and who has sustained us so that we may reach this day.

The Haggadah

TIME: Long ago

PLACE: A municipal meeting room in Heaven

ADULT 1: Whoa, check out the time. The Big Guy’s not gonna be happy. How come I have to do everything around here? [Looks around at everyone] The jury’s here. ADULT , you ready?

ADULT : [With world-weary cynicsm]: Yeah, but we have to wait for the new guy. I hate this job. Every time someone dies on earth, we have to figure out if they deserve to get into heaven.

ADULT 1: Hey, it beats cloud sweeping. But you’re right. It’s a big waste of time. When was the last time we let one of them humans in?

ADULT : You remember Noah, don’t you?. He’s the guy with the rain coat at the lunch counter every day. Always carries an umbrella.

ADULT 1: Oh, yeah. A real loser. I don’t know why He makes us go through this routine. We waste all day and get bupkes.

ADULT [Impatient]: Where’s that new guy? I gotta get my wings waxed before the afternoon rush.

ADULT 1 [Whispers]: Psst! Before the new guy gets here. You know how eager beaver new guys are. Let’s let him do all the work and we can hit the tracks. Here he comes.

ADULT 2: Hey, listen guys, sorry I’m late. Traffic was murder. And my first time on the admissions committee. Have I told you what a deep honor it is . . . .

ADULT 1 [Interrupting the flattery]: . . . No problemo! You got the file?

ADULT 2: Yes, it’s right here. I’ve had a chance to look at it, and, um, I gotta tell you, we never covered this in training.

ADULT 1 [Unimpressed]: Yeah, yeah. Save it for your memoirs. Let’s get this show on the road. Name?

ADULT 2: [Proudly] Angel-in-Training Virgil.

ADULT 1: Not your name, schmuck! The dead guy!

ADULT 2:. Right. Let’s see. [Shuffling papers] Yep, here it is: Moses.

ADULT : [Bored] What kind of name is Moses? Never mind. [back to the paperwork] Male or female?

ADULT 2: Male.

ADULT 1: Marital status?

ADULT 2: Married.

ADULT 1: Age?

ADULT 2: One hundred and twenty.

ADULT 1 [Silence]: Give me a break. Age?

ADULT 2 [Perplexed]: That’s what it says right here. Moses, 120 years old.

ADULT [Suddenly realizing]: Oh, Oh! It’s another one of those. Remember the Abraham file? Guy busted our chops. We were here for weeks.

ADULT 1: Okay, pisher, here it is, plain and simple. Moses is gonna be up here in a few minutes, if the alter kocker can make it.

ADULT : So listen to his story and fill out the form just like they taught you downtown. Don’t be creative. The jury will listen and vote. ADULT 1 and I are going to, um, do some research and we’ll catch you back at the office. Here he comes now.

ADULT 1 [As Moses enters the room]: Hey, bubeleh, glad you could make it. Don’t take any wooden tablets. [Slowly, loudly, like talking to an old man] Virgil here will take good care of you.

ADULT 2 [On the spot and unsure of what to do]: Umm, so, Moses, is it? Can I call you Moe? No? Well, as you know, I’ve been asked to help determine whether you are fit to enter Heaven. To do that, I’ll be asking you a number of questions about your activities on earth. Just talk to the jury. Then we’ll make a recommendation and let you know by Friday. You have any questions?

MOSES [as Moses]: Can I smoke? I got such a case spilkes!

ADULT 2 [Even more nervous, desperately trying to remember his training]: Not in this life. Can I offer you a nosh? Maybe a piece kugel?

MOSES: Pass. Better you should ask your questions.

ADULT 2: Um, all right. I’m just gonna read from this list of questions here and you just answer them in your own words, okay? Any time you want to take a break, just let me know, okay?

MOSES [Considerable pause]: Talcum powder!

ADULT 2 [Completely at a loss]: What?

MOSES [Patiently, but it’s not easy]: You want to know how I lived to be 120, right? Lots of talcum powder.

ADULT 2: Uh, thanks. I’ll keep it in mind. Actually, I had a different question.

MOSES: It’s your show, boychick. But I can hear you chaffing from here.

ADULT 2 [Trying to assert himself]: Yes. If you’re quite ready. [looks at form] "What was your major achievement on earth?"

MOSES: Passover.

ADULT 2: "Passover?" Never heard of it.

MOSES: Passover is the account of how the Children of Israel, after years of slavery in Egypt, became free.

ADULT 2: Using non-technical language, can you tell the jury more about this Passover?

MOSES [Looks around the room]: Rather than telling you about it, I have a better idea. We will make like a play. I ask each member of the jury to take a part and relive the events, the whole megillah, just as they happened.

[We are now in Pharaoh’s court where advisors are meeting with Pharaoh]

ADULT [as Pharaoh’s advisor]: What worries the great Pharaoh?

ADULT : The Hebrew slaves are good workers.

CHILD 4: The bricks the women make are strong.

ADULT : The pyramids are ahead of schedule.

ADULT : We’ve nailed the Total Quality Management indexes.

ADULT 4 [As an upset Pharaoh]: What worries me? I’ll tell you what worries me. It is written that a great Hebrew leader will emerge and lead the children of Israel into freedom.

CHILD: Hey! Why don’t you throw every Jewish baby boy into the river Nile!

ADULT 4 [Exaggerated]: Hey, is this guy great, or what? No boys, no leader, no problem! Who is this guy?

CHILD: His name is Tut, Your Tan-ness. He’s an intern from Babylonia.

CHILD: [Challenging]: Great Pharaoh, have you considered that the great Hebrew leader might be a girl?

ADULT 4: [Dismisses the possibility]: Nah! Let the word go forth: every male Hebrew baby must be drowned.

ADULT 6: We go to the Jewish quarter where, Yocheved and Amram come up with a desperate plan to keep their newborn little boy alive.

CHILD: Baby boy Moses must live. Let’s hide him in a basket and float him down the river Nile.

ADULT : Good-bye, my son. God will look after you.

[Scene shifts downriver, where the Pharaoh’s sister and her maids are bathing]

CHILD [Surprised]: What do we have here?

CHILD: Look, princess, a baby!

CHILD: This must be a sign. This boy will be as my own child. Let no one speak of this moment. Moses, you are now Egypt’s.

[In the court, 18 years later]

CHILD: Happy birthday, Moses. Eighteen years old already. I can’t believe it. Only yesterday it seems that you came to court. Since then, I have put you before my own son, for I have seen in you the fire of leadership

MOSES: Father, I love thee as I love Egypt. Yet I feel I don’t belong here.

CHILD [Hostile]: Why don’t you take a long walk in the Red Sea?

CHILD [Not happy to apologize for Tut again]: You remember Tut, your Tan-ness? Looks like we’ll have to increase his medication.

ADULT : Moses, can you put words to what is in your heart?

MOSES: I know it’s strange, but I feel my place is out there somewhere.

CHILD: Nonsense, there is no there there. Your place is here with us.

[A short while later]

CHILD: What’s Moses doing?

CHILD 4: All day long, he wanders among the Jews in the mud pits.

CHILD: What is he looking for?

ADULT : Who is that Egyptian and why does he look at me so strangely?

ADULT [Excited, announcing a newspaper]: Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Moses slays Overseer!

ADULT 6 [In a newscaster’s voice]: In a startling development, Moses, the nephew of the Pharaoh, killed an Egyptian overseer in the mudpits today, further adding to the shaky relationship between Egyptians and their Hebrew slaves. Film at Eleven.

ADULT : This is ADULT Fleisher at the mudpits. Six hours after the bizarre incident in which Moses killed the overseer, the facts of the situation are just starting to emerge. I have with me an eyewitness to the attack.

ADULT : It was like this overseer was beating this slave, see? No big deal, right? All of a sudden, this guy I never saw before jumps into the pit and kills the overseer.

ADULT 6: Reaction to the incident at the Court was immediate. For more on this, we go to ADULT Cash at the Palace. ADULT , what’s the mood there now?

ADULT : Robert, the mood at the Palace is tense. The Pharaoh is in seclusion. A statement was issued earlier that called for calm and order.

ADULT : "The Pharaoh has full confidence in Moses. No doubt when all the circumstances are known, this regrettable situation can be put into appropriate context. In the meantime, it is asked that Moses turn himself in."

MOSES: Stick around? Shtick around! Mine face is on "Egypt’s Most Wanted." Everybody wants a piece of the reward. What you thinking for I want to stick around Egypt. Mama put me in the Nile to go down, not up the river!

CHILD 4: Flash, Moses applies for political asylum in Midian.

[Scene shifts to Midian]

ADULT [as Jethro]: You are welcome here, Moses. Are you not safe in my tent? Have I not given you my first daughter Zipporah? Are you not content in Midian?

MOSES: I am indebted to you, Jethro. I tend your flocks and I raise my family. Surely no man could be more content. Yet I am a stranger in a strange land.

ADULT [as Zipporah]: Your work in Egypt is not finished, my husband. Your calling will be soon revealed.

[While looking for a lost lamb, Moses encounters a burning bush]

ADULT 6 [with great authority] : I have come to you in a burning bush. Struggle no more against your destiny. Moses, phone home! The children of Israel need you. Embrace your people and lead them from the days of fear.

MOSES: Listen, next time you want sending a message, try Western Union! Invest in someone else. I’m not worthy! I am filled with doubt. Anyway, a burning bush is pretty low tech, already!

CHILD 4: Low tech? Check out the graphics. Notice how the bush burns but is unconsumed?

ADULT 6: [Whispers, like a TV golf announcer]: This is a sign that although the Jewish people might be consumed in flames, it would continue to live and resist, like the thorns in the bush.

MOSES: All right, already! Zipporah, pack my bags! Don’t forget the sandals with the prescription arches and the talcum. The desert is murder for chaffing.

[Back to Egypt]

CHILD: Flash, Moses returns to Egypt.

CHILD: Jews strike against Pharaoh.

CHILD: Pharaoh Denies Straw to Slaves.

CHILD: Who cares about straw?

CHILD 4: Nudnik! We use straw to make bricks.

CHILD: The thing is, now we have to make just as many bricks without straw.

CHILD: If we don’t, we are whipped.

ADULT [newscaster voice, sound of whipping]: This is the sound of Jews being whipped today in the mudpits. Good evening. In the wake of the failed strike led by Moses, Pharaoh clamps down on the Jews.

ADULT : [As angry slave]: Fellow Jews, it’s all Moses’ fault. If it wasn’t for Moses, you would have all the straw you need and your backs would not be bleeding.

ADULT 6: Good evening. The Jews continue their internal power struggle, with many Jews blaming Moses and each other for their difficulties. Pharaoh’s strategy for turning Jew against Jew seems to be working.

ADULT 4[as Pharaoh]: Pretty effective, huh? Divide and conquer.

ADULT [Angrily]: It’s all your fault, Moses. You should have stayed in Midian.

CHILD: Go back, Moses! We don’t need you.

CHILD: We don’t trust you.

CHILD: Get a life.

CHILD: Don’t make waves. We’ll lose what little we have!

CHILD: At last a righteous Jew stood up.

ADULT : Quit your kvetching. Have we so forgotten the taste of freedom, that we are content to fight for the crumbs of bondage? What are we fighting to preserve? A life of slavery in the mudpits. Let Moses go to Pharaoh and speak the justice of our cause.

ADULT 4[as Pharaoh]: So, Moses, it’s you. I turn my back on your words. Your people are doomed and you are powerless.

MOSES [wearily]: I am an old man, only a vessel for the right and mighty. The Lord speaks through me. If you don’t let the children of Israel go, the Lord will visit ten plagues upon the people of Egypt, each more terrible than the last.

CHILD: Your Lord’s threats mean nothing to us. Bring on the plagues.

ADULT 6. [Ted Koppel voice]: This is Egypt Held Hostage: Day Ten. Good Evening. This is Nightline and I’m ADULT 6adar reporting from Washington. For the past ten days, the world has watched Egypt deal with one plague after another. For more on this story, here is Nightline Middle East correspondent, CHILD Wolski, on the scene in , um, CHILD.

CHILD: Robert, for the past nine days, just as Hebrew leader Moses warned, Egyptians have suffered plague after plague. But those nine plagues combined do not begin to describe the horror of last night. The tenth plague must surely make Pharaoh give up the slaves.

ADULT 6: Nightline correspondent ADULT Lehr is in Cairo for a look at how the plagues have impacted a typical Egyptian family. ADULT ?

ADULT : Robert, life will never be the same for the Mubarek family, Abdul and Emiralda, and their eight-year-old daughter, Jasmine. They are in grief and shock at the sudden death of their son, Anwar. After all the pain, Emiralda, a training supervisor in the mudpits, is ready to see the Hebrew slaves go.

ADULT [as Emiralda, typical Egyptian mother]: We beg of you, Pharaoh, Egyptian mothers tremble for our nation that the Hebrew God is just. Let the slaves go.

ADULT [still in newscaster mode]: Professor Salman Mohammed, Professor of Egyptian Studies at Cairo University, has a theory about the plagues:

ADULT [as the professor, with academic condescension]: It is a little known but indisputable fact that the God of the Hebrew’s regrets all suffering, even that of oppressor’s. For that reason, generations hence who tell of the suffering of the people of Egypt spill a drop of wine--symbolizing the blood of the Egyptians--when each plague is mentioned.

[As each plague is read, we dip a finger into our wine or juice glasses and transfer a drop to our plates]

CHILD: On the first day, water turned to blood.

CHILD 4: On the second day, everywhere we looked: frogs! Millions of them.

CHILD: On the third day, we couldn’t open our mouths without gnats flying in.

CHILD: On the fourth day, if we opened our mouths to let the gnats out, flies flew in.

CHILD: The fifth day left every in udder shock. All our cows died.

CHILD: On the sixth day, every one broke out in horrible boils.

CHILD: On the seventh day, hail destroyed our crops.

CHILD: On the eighth day, locusts came by the millions to eat everything that wasn’t covered up.

CHILD 4: On the ninth day, the light abandoned us and we were sent into darkness.

ADULT: But even after nine plagues, each worse than the last, did Pharaoh let the slaves go?

ADULT 4[as Pharaoh]: My father, the Pharaoh, had slaves. His father, the Pharaoh, had slaves. I will not be the first Pharaoh who abandons our sacred traditions. Look, this must be a test of our resolve. We survived all the plagues. What more can happen?

ADULT [As reporter]: Well, Robert, all Egypt now knows the answer to Pharaoh’s question. In the darkest night of Egypt’s history, on the tenth day, the oldest male child of each family in Egypt died.

ADULT 6: CHILD, we’re getting preliminary reports that only Egyptian children died. The children of Jews seem to be unhurt. What do we know about this?

CHILD: Robert, we know that Moses told all the Hebrews to take lamb’s blood and make a mark on their front doors. It’s as if the angel of death that took the first born of each household passed over the houses marked with blood.

ADULT 2 [as Angel-in-training Virgil]: Hey, that’s what you mean by "Passover."

MOSES: Bingo. But the story’s not over yet.

ADULT [as a member of the jury, taking advantage of this interruption]:
Moses, Jews, I believe, are people chosen by God. Why would God choose Jews to be victims?

MOSES: Even if our lot has often been that of victim, we thank God for not having made us like our oppressors. If we can continue.

[back to the story]

ADULT 4[as Pharaoh]: My country’s in ruins. My mishpokhe turn against me. My own son, dead. I am damned. The children of Israel are free if they can handle it.

ADULT 6 [as newscaster]: We are interrupting our regular programming to bring you a special bulletin. The Pharaoh has just decreed that all Hebrew slaves are free and must leave Egypt. If you are a Hebrew, you must leave immediately. You must bake your bread right now. You do not, repeat do not, have time to let your bread rise.

ADULT 2 [as Angel-in-training Virgil] : What do you mean they couldn’t let the bread rise?

MOSES [losing patience]: Hey, you interrupt the story one more time and I’ll make matzo meal out of you. The Jews had to am-scray! They were busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest. They didn’t have time for the dough to rise so whenever Jews recreate Passover, we eat only matzo, never bread.

ADULT : [TV announcer voice] We’ll return to "The Passover Story" after a word from our sponsor.

CHILD: [Voice from drive-through loudspeaker]: Welcome to Matzo King. Can I take your order?

ADULT : Uh, yeah. Gimme a matzo burger, hold the horseradish, large fries, and a medium Shav.

CHILD: You want some Karpas on that?

ADULT : Yeah, sure, and give me an order of matzo ball nuggets.

CHILD: We’re having a special today. Order our deep dish Maror, and you get our haroset sampler. Anything else?

CHILD: Mom, can I get a Matzo Meal? I need the burning bush figure for my collection.

ADULT [Announcer voice, fast]: Come to Matzo King and try our seder special. Free copy of the Jerusalem Post with each order. Open for Pesach, both nights.

[back to the story]

CHILD: Okay, Jews, listen up. We’re at the Red Sea, the border of Egypt. Over there is the Promised Land. Now, how we going to get across?

CHILD: We’d better think fast. Here comes the Egyptian army. Looks like three days of making your own bricks is enough equality.

EVERYONE: Moses, what are you going to do? We’re trapped.

MOSES: [Raises his arms] I raised my arms to get some quiet so I could think. [Pause] This is what I know. [Takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly] I felt the Lord’s power working through me.

ADULT : Look, everyone. The Red Sea is parting. Moses did it!

CHILD: Now we can run.

ADULT : Flash. The entire Egyptian army was destroyed this afternoon when it attempted to follow the fleeing slaves of Egypt through the parted waters of the Red Sea.

ADULT 6: Preliminary reports indicate that when the army got to the deepest part of the Red Sea, the parted waters came together, drowning the Egyptian army.

[the story is winding down]

ADULT : There is nothing now between us and freedom.

CHILD: We wandered around the desert for 40 years.

CHILD 4: The Lord gave us the Ten Commandments.

CHILD: Eventually the Jews got to the Promised Land and established a nation of freedom.

MOSES [Pleased with himself]: And that’s the story of Passover!

ADULT 2 [As Angel-in-training Virgil, unimpressed]: Nice. We’ll get back to you. By the way, how was the Promised Land? Lots of milk and honey?

MOSES: I don’t know. I never made it that far.

ADULT 1: No? Why not?

MOSES: The Shekhinah considered me a shlepper. I wasn’t worthy to enter the Promised Land. I had too much doubt in my heart.

ADULT 1 [testing]: If you weren’t good enough for the promised land, what makes you think you’re good enough for Heaven, a place populated by scholars all engrossed in the study of the Talmud?

MOSES: Forgive me. You have the mistaken idea that these scholars are in heaven. Actually, heaven is in the scholars.

ADULT : Moses, the jury thanks you. Now, just a few more questions. You believe Passover is the greatest achievement of your life?

MOSES: With all my heart, I do. And I’m honored that every year at this time, when the world awakens from Winter, Jews from all over the world hold a seder to remember Passover.

ADULT 6: Nor are we content merely to retell the story.

ADULT : We relive it, as if each one of us are slaves.

ADULT : As if each one of us made the Passover journey personally.

ADULT : We make the journey together.

CHILD: We get young people involved.

CHILD: How?

CHILD: By having the children ask the four important questions.

CHILD: Such as?

CHILD: Why is this night different from all other nights?

CHILD 4: Why is it that on all other nights we eat bread, but on this night we eat only matzo?

CHILD: Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables, but on this night we must eat bitter herbs?

CHILD: Why is it that on all other nights we might not dip one food into another even once, but on this night we dip different foods twice?

CHILD: Why is it that on all other nights we may sit or recline, but on this night we all eat in a reclining position?

ADULT : Another way we make the journey together is by preparing and eating special foods that remind us of the Passover story.

ADULT : See the seder plate? It has five foods on it--a roasted bone, an egg, and bitter herbs in the form of parsley and horseradish.

ADULT 1: There is also a mixture of chopped nuts, apples, and wine called haroset.

CHILD: The roasted bone reminds us of the lamb that we thankfully ate at the Temple in Jerusalem.

ADULT : The bitter herbs remind us how bitter it was to live the life of a slave.

ADULT : The haroset looks like the clay out of which we toiled to make the bricks for Pharaoh.

CHILD 4: The egg and the parsley remind us of the new life that comes each Spring.

CHILD: By eating the greens that come to life each Spring, we celebrate a season of rebirth and renewal, where all things are possible.

CHILD: The salt water reminds us of the tears our people shed when we were slaves in Egypt.

(Everyone dips some greens and eggs in salt water and says)

ALL: Blessed art Thou, Lord our God,
Ruler of the Universe,
Creator of the fruits of Spring.

ADULT 1: On the seder table, there is a plate with three pieces of matzo. One small piece we will hide. This piece is called the afikoman, which we will hide.

ADULT 6: This is an important piece of matzo. We cannot finish the seder without it. So later, the children will hunt for it and the child who finds it will get a surprise.

CHILD: Let us taste the haste of our ancestors. [Takes a piece of matzo, breaks off some and passes the rest along. We eat]

[Pour a second cup of wine or juice]

ALL: Baruch ata adonai, eh-lo-hay-noo mel-lech ha-alom, bo-ray pree hagafen.
Blessed are Thou, Lord our God,
Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

ADULT 1: So that the bitterness of slavery is never forgotten, we taste the horseradish and matzo. This is called maror. [The bottom matzo is broken and distributed.]

ALL: Baruch ata adonai, eh-lo-hay-noo mel-lech ha-alom, asher kid-sha-noo be-mitzvo-tav, ve-tzee-va-noo al achee-lat maror.
Blessed are You, our God, Creator of the Universe, who sanctified us with the Torah and commanded us to eat the bitter herb.

ADULT : To remember the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, we break the bottom matzo, and put maror and haroset between the two pieces.

ADULT : This sandwhich we eat in memory of our sgae, Hillel, who ate matzo and maror together. In time of freedom, we must never forget the bittnerss of slavery.

ADULT : In time of slavery we must keep alive the hope of freedom.

ADULT : Legend has it that in days of old, kings and queens drank no less that three cups of wine or juice at meals.

CHILD: But tonight we are so happy that we drink four cups.

[third cup of wine]

ALL: Baruch ata adonai, eh-lo-hay-noo mel-lech ha-alom, bo-ray pree hagafen.
Blessed are Thou, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

The Meal is Served

The Afikoman

(After the meal, the young people hunt for the afikoman. The winner receives a gift to redeem the afikoman. Pieces of this, the sweetest piece, can now be passed around.)

Elijah's Cup

[The door is opened and the extra cup is filled]

ADULT 2: There is a story that Elijah, a great teacher who lived many years ago, visits every Seder to wish us a year of peace and freedom.

ADULT 1: We open the door and invite Elijah to come in and join us.

CHILD 4: Watch his cup to see if he enjoys any of the wine.

ADULT : The door is open to welcome Elijah

ADULT : It is a sign of our determination to fulfill his hope of a world where there is freedom for all.

[Back to the meeting room in Heaven. Will Moses get into Heaven?]

ADULT 1: Moses, it is the unanimous recommendation of the comittee that you be admitted to Heaven.

ADULT : Your merit is obvious, Moses, but one thing above all made our decision easy.

MOSES: So tell me, already. I’m not getting younger.

CHILD: That the name Moses appears not even once in the traditional telling of the Passover story. This can only mean that God, indeed, spoke through a man of merit.

Blessing Over the Fourth Cup

ALL: Baruch ata adonai, eh-lo-hay-noo mel-lech ha-alom, bo-ray pree hagafen.

Blessed are Thou, Lord our God,

Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

Di E-nu, Di E-nu

ADULT 1: We are indeed blessed. We remember this with a song that asks, "What is enough?" The song allows us to mention all the wonderful things we have and then to gloat "but we have even more!"

ADULT : For example, one verse goes, "Had God helped us forty years in the desert and not fed us manna, it would have been enough." So we sing,

HEBREW VERSE: I-lu hot-zi, hot-zi an-nu
Hot-zi a-nu, mi-mitz-ray-im
Hot-zi a-nu, mi-mitz-ray-im

Di E-nu

CHORUS: Di, Di E-nu

Di, Di E-nu
Di, Di E-nu
Di E-nu, Di E-nu

ENGLISH VERSE: If God brought us out of Egypt,
Brought us out of Pharaoh’s bondage,
That alone would have sufficed us

Di-E-nu

CHORUS: Di, Di E-nu

HEBREW VERSE: I-lu natan, nattan I-lu
nattan I-lu, et ha-Torah,
nattan I-lu, et ha-Torah,

Di E-nu

CHORUS: Di, Di E-nu

ENGLISH VERSE: If God gave us all the Torah,
Gave us the Five Books of Moses
That alone would have sufficed us

Di-E-nu

CHORUS: Di, Di E-nu

HEBREW VERSE: I-lu natan, nattan I-lu
nattan I-lu, et ha-Shabbat,
nattan I-lu, et ha-Shabbat,

Di E-nu

CHORUS: Di, Di E-nu

ENGLISH VERSE: If God gave us all the Sabbath,
To rest up from six day’s labor,
That alone would have sufficed us

Di-E-nu

CHORUS: Di, Di E-nu

ENGLISH

VERSE: If God brought us into Israel
To a land of milk and honey,
That alone would have sufficed us

Di-E-nu

CHORUS: Di, Di E-nu

24. Nirtzah: Acceptance

ADULT 2: The commemoration service of the Passover is now accomplished according to its order.

ADULT 1: May this service be acceptable before those who cherish freedom. Shalom.

Child Centered Passover Hagaddot 1992: Scenes From An Egyptian Family 1993: The Verse is Yet to Come 1994: Moses in the Committee Room 1995: The Ghosts of Passover 1997: Passover in Hollywood 1998: The Children of Israel in Detention 1999: Passover of the Plagues

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