~ Share The Seder ~

The first two nights of Passover
Come, share the Seder plate with us
'Zeroah', the shank bone is the lamb
Sacrificed the eve of exodus

'Perach Samech'
'Karpas' the roots of vegetable
Washed in salt water, tears
Of work, but then, redemption's hope
Release from bondage, fear.



"Al achilat Maror."
'Charoset', the paste of apples,
Cinnamon and nuts and wine
Which speak of mortar bricks
The mud to make the lime.

"Shulchan Orech"
Symbolizing life, the 'Bitzah' egg
Of life that never ends
Bitter herbs, 'Maror', for how our fathers
Bore cruel slavery of men



'Afikoman'
'Matzoh', our unleavened bread
Is placed in napkin folds
The dough will never rise, hide one,
For freedom is our goal

"Kadesh" - the Benediction
Four cups of joyous wine we pour
Our fourfold promise set
Our Hebrew names remain
In moral loyalty we rest



"Yachatz"
We break the 'Matzoh' bread in two
As God split wide the sea
The 'Haggadah', we tell the child
Of how from Egypt we are free

"Mah nish-tah-na hah-laila-ha-zeh me-kol hah leilot?'



We let the children know what's true
And why this night we dine
We break the bread between two Matzah,
"Kein asah Hillel..." in freedom eat, recline.

"Al achilat Matzah."
We sing and praise, say grace and drink
The last two cups of wine
Recite our thanks to God above
Lord of the universe, divine



"Leshanah haba'ah bee-rushalayim -- Next year, Jerusalem."

"Passover Blessings To You"

Soft Whispers from
Derry's Heart Poems © August 2009
heartwhispers@iinet.net.au
Poetry From The Heart

1. On all other nights we eat all kinds of breads and crackers.
Why do we eat only matzoh on Pesach?
Matzoh reminds us that when the Jews left the slavery of Egypt
they had no time to bake their bread. They took the raw dough
on their journey and baked it in the hot desert sun
into hard crackers called matzoh.

2. On all other nights we eat many kinds of vegetables and herbs.
Why do we eat bitter herbs, maror, at our Seder?
Maror reminds us of the bitter and cruel way the Pharaoh
treated the Jewish people when they were slaves in Egypt.

3. On all other nights we don't usually dip one food into another.
At Seder we dip parsley in salt water and bitter herbs in Charoset.
Why do we dip our foods twice tonight?
We dip bitter herbs into Charoset to remind us
how hard the Jewish slaves worked in Egypt. The chopped apples
and nuts look like the clay used to make the bricks
used in building the Pharaoh's buildings.
We dip parsley into salt water. The parsley reminds us that spring
is here and new life will grow. The salt water reminds us
of the tears of the Jewish slaves.

4. On all other nights we eat sitting up straight.
Why do we lean on a pillow tonight?
We lean on a pillow to remind us that once
we were slaves, but now we are free,
only free people can be at rest.