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A S(w)inging Seder

Kal Winer
INTRODUCTION
Pesach-time
Tell Me Why We Meet Tonight
Where Have Our Haggadahs Gone?
Fifty Ways to Lead Your Seder
This Seder's Made for You and Me

KADDESH: SANCTIFICATION
First Cup of Wine

KARPAS: SPRING VEGETABLE


Eating Parsley

YACHATZ: BREAK MIDDLE MATZAH


Break Break Break Your Matzah

MAGGID: TELL THE STORY


If I Had Four Questions
Comin' on This Night
Four Kinds of Children
Moses Prophet
Phar-aoh
The Poor Old Egyptians
The Plagues Are Unleashed
Second Cup of Wine

RACHTZAH: WASH
Wash Wash Wash Your Hands

MOTZI/MATZAH: BLESSING THE MATZAH


Ancestors Would
Oh What A Beautiful Matzah

MAROR: BITTER HERB


Horseradish Club March

KORECH: HILLEL SANDWICH


Does Your Matzah Lie Flat?

SHULCHAN ORECH: FESTIVE MEAL


Home in the Spring

TZAFUN: EAT THE AFIKOMEN


Find Find Find Dessert
Afikomen Is Found to Be Missing
Afikomen Chorus

BARECH: BLESS THE MEAL


Third Cup of Wine
Prophet Elijah

HALLEL: PRAISE
Fourth Cup of Wine
Manischewitz Medley

NIRTZAH: CLOSING
Next Year, Next Year
Jerusalem This Year
S-E-D-E-R
Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com
About This Seder

I love the Passover Seder, and I am always on the lookout for new pieces to
include that will expand the joy and richness of the celebration. Years ago, I started
writing Passover lyrics to well-known tunes; I wanted to add humor and freshness, to
keep everyone—young and old—more involved and awake, and to give us all more time
to bond together by singing together. Eventually, I had enough songs to cover every
Seder ritual. Some rituals have several songs so you get to choose which ones best fit
your Seder.

You can use a few songs each year to spice up your Seder, or you can insert a
song when the group energy starts to flag. Adventurous Seder makers can use A
S(w)inging Seder as the sole (or main) Haggadah for the evening. If you try this, I
suggest mixing up the sound by using solos, duets, and small groups for different songs
to vary the texture. Some songs (for example, “The Plagues Are Coming”) can be sung
with different small groups taking turns singing different verses.

I could never have gotten this done without the extraordinary help of my wife,
Linda, who typed the lyrics and wrestled our computer into submission; and the support
of Rabbi Alissa Wise, who encouraged me to do it and helped me avoid wandering in
the technology desert for forty years.

Kal Winer
Burkettville, Maine
2011

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


INTRODUCTION

Pesach-time
To: Summertime

Pesach-time
There’s no bread on the table
Guests arriving’
And the feelings run high

Oh our tradition’s rich


And our bubbe’s good cookin’
So let’s start our Seder
Hearts will fly

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Tell Me Why We Meet Tonight
To: Tell Me Why (the old summer camp song)

Tell me why we meet tonight


Why do we recall our peoples’ great flight?
Why must we get restless before we’re through?
What is the meaning for me and for you?

Tell me why it took so long


From slaves in Egypt ‘til we got strong
Tell me why freedom takes time
Tonight we will taste of our peoples’ hard climb.

Lost in the desert for forty years


Life was too hard, we shed many tears
We walked for whole lifetimes, we felt real tired
Now we recall it, so we’ll get inspired.

Tell me why our Seder’s long


Read all the words and sing all the songs
Tell me why we can’t just eat
‘Cuz life’s sometimes bitter, before it gets sweet.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Where Have Our Haggadahs Gone?
To: Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Where have our Haggadahs gone?


What’s this new one?
Where have our Haggadahs gone?
I want to know.
Where have our Haggadahs gone?
Can’t tell our Story anymore.
How will our children learn? (2x)

What’s with this? It’s just some songs


How to lead it?
‘Least it won’t take very long
Then we’ll be free.
Should we try it anyways?
That old book was way too dry
Let’s see what we can learn (2x).

This new one just might be fun


Let’s all sing it.
It’s a journey we can take
See where it goes.
Where have our Haggadahs gone?
It’s our Story, not our book
To which we now return (2x).

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Fifty Ways to Lead Your Seder
To: 50 ways to leave your lover

“The problem’s all inside your head,” Zayde said to me


“The answer’s easy if you don’t do it slavishly.
I’d like to help you tell our struggle to be free.
There must be 50 ways to lead your Seder.”

Bubbe adds, “It’s really not just about the food.


Passover, and its meaning, can’t be lost or misconstrued.
What’s at the center is creating the right mood.
There must be 50 ways to lead your Seder.”

You can go slow, Moe


Add something new, Sue
Write a fun song, Don
Just get the Jews free.

Act out the story, Maury


Read poems that speak Truth, Ruth
Make the plagues key, Lee
And get yourself free.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


This Seder’s Made for You and Me
To: This Land Is Your Land

CHORUS: This Seder’s your tale, this Seder’s my tale


From slaves in Egypt, to the Milk and Honey Trail
We got our Freedom, but it wasn’t easy
This Seder’s made for you and me.

When you eat matzah, remember leaving


The haste of going, no time for grieving
The taste of flat bread, low expectations
This Seder’s made for you and me.

CHORUS

We crossed the desert, the sands were burning


For a place of safety, we all were yearning
Our throats were parched dry, our patience tested
This Seder’s made for you and me.

CHORUS

We feared the unknown, our faith was feeble


We roamed and rambled, we became a People
G-d gave Commandments, for us to follow
This Seder’s made for you and me.

CHORUS

Each year we retell the ancient story


The point of which is not for glory
We’re meant to stand up for one another
This Seder’s made for you and me.

CHORUS

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


KADDESH: SANCTIFICATION

First Cup of Wine


To: There Were 12 Constipated Men in the Bible

We drink four different cups of wine


at the Seder, at the Seder
We drink four different cups of wine
at the Seder, at the Seder

There’s the first, which stands for “BRING YOU OUT” (3X)
from old Egypt, from old Egypt.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


KARPAS: SPRING VEGETABLE

Eating Parsley
To: Scotland’s Burning (a round)

Eating parsley, eating parsley


Fresh greens, fresh greens
Spring! Spring! Spring! Spring!
In salt water, in salt water.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


YACHATZ: BREAK MIDDLE MATZAH

Break Break Break Your Matzah


To: Row Row Row Your Boat

Break, break, break your matzah


Big half’s set aside
Forget about it, forget about it, forget about it, forget about it
‘Til it’s time to hide

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


MAGGID: TELL THE STORY

If I Had Four Questions


To: If I Had a Hammer

If I had four questions,


I’d ask them at the Seder
I’d ask them at the Seder
In a little song.
I’d sing “Mah Nishtanah?”
“Why is this night different?”
Why do so many gather to ask all their questions
All over this world?

We ask why we’re leaning,


We ask about dipping,
We ask about unleavened bread
And the bitter herb.
The youngest will sing it
To pass on tradition
We all sing four questions, but then we ask others
All over this world.

If I knew the answers,


I’d tell them at the Seder
I’d tell them to my children
So they understand.
I’d tell the whole story
Of slaves down in Egypt
Becoming a people that searched for their freedom
All over this world.

Well, I’ve got some questions


And I’ve got some answers
And I’ve got this song to sing
All over this world.
It’s a question of justice
It’s an answer of freedom
It’s this song about hope for our brothers and our sisters
All over this world.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Comin’ on this Night
To: Blowin’ in the Wind

How many wine cups must a slave drink


Before he knows he’s a man?
Yes, ‘n’ how much slavery can a man take
Before he’ll cross desert sands?
Yes, ‘n’ how many flat breads must people bake
Before they’ll leave in a band?
The answer, my friend, is comin’ on this Night
The answer is comin’ on this Night.

How many times must a man look around


Before he knows he too will die?
Yes, ‘n’ how much pain must one man feel
Before he can hear himself cry?
Yes, ‘n’ how many years will a people be slaves
Before they will reach out and try?
The answer, my friend, is comin’ on this Night
The answer is comin’ on this Night.

How many years after they were all slaves


Before they really felt free?
Yes, ‘n’ how many ways are we too like slaves
In ways we can’t even see?
Yes, ‘n’ what must we do to throw off our chains
And dump them into the sea?
The answer, my friend, you can think about this Night
The answer you can think about this Night.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Four Kinds of Children
To: Havah Nageela

Four kinds of children (3x)


In each of us.
(Repeat)

We all have highs and lows


Times we don’t want to know
We all are sometimes bored
We’re all the same.

Sometimes we just feel shy


Sometimes we want to cry
Sometimes feel trapped and lie
Nothing to say.

We all are curious


We all get furious
We get imperious
It’s humans’ way.

We’re all
We’re all a mix
We’re a mix of many children (4x)
We’re a mix (2x)
Of many different kinds of kids.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Moses Prophet
To: Davy Crockett

CHORUS: Moses, Moses Prophet


King of the Wandering Jews

Born to Jewish slaves down by the Nile


They hoped to save him from the Pharoah’s bile
In a basket in the river he drifted for awhile
‘Til the princess heard him crying from over a mile.

CHORUS

Grew up in the palace as a favorite son


‘Til he saw slaves beaten just for the fun
So he killed him an Egyptian in a fight he wouldn’t shun
But then from his good life he had to run.

CHORUS

Out in the desert saw a bush that burned


Talked with God, and his whole life turned
Got a big mission: “Free the Jews” he learned
“Lead them to their own land,” for which they yearned.

CHORUS

Went back to Pharoah to set the Jews free


Cast ten Plagues to bring Egypt to its knee
Trapped by the water as they tried to flee
Opened up dry land and crossed the Red Sea.

CHORUS

Crossing the desert took forty years


Brought 10 Commandments to the peoples’ cheers
Struggled with hardships, with doubts and with fears
But kept from the Promised Land—a pain that brought him tears.

CHORUS

Tonight we have Seder, and to celebrate this man


When we see injustice, we should do what we can
Gaining freedom for all folks is a holy plan
Here’s to you, Moses Prophet—in your club I’m a fan.

CHORUS

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Phar-aoh
To: Day-O

Pharaoh, Phar-ar-ar-oh
Pharaoh says we cannot go home
Fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair
It’s not fair, it’s not fair-air-air-o
Pharaoh says we cannot go home

Work all day, his buildings to make


Pharaoh says we cannot go home
All our male babies he tried to take
Pharaoh says we cannot go home

Come, Mister Freedom Man, lead us to our homeland


Pharaoh says “I won’t let you go”
Moses, help free us, and take us to our own land
Pharaoh says we cannot go home

Took one year, ten years, forty years, FREE


‘Til we could reach that Promised Land
Slaves to someone we must never BE
Now we have reached that Promised Land

Fair, now it’s fair-air-air-oh


Tho’ Pharaoh said we couldn’t go
Fair, now it’s fair, now it’s fair, now it’s fair
Pharaoh’s gone, and we have gone home

This beautiful freedom feels right and just


Pharaoh said we could not go home
It’s not some place but deep inside us
Daylight comes and we’ve all come home

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


The Poor Old Egyptians
To: The Poor Old Slave

The Jews, our slaves, have gone away


To find their promised land
A trip they’ll take for forty years
We’ll miss their low-cost hands

Our poor old slaves have left a mess


We groan that they are free
Outsourcing jobs leaves budget pains
Red ink makes red dead sea

Cheap help is gone, and so’s our rest


We must get off our tush
Perhaps they’ll stop and come right back
When see that burning Bush

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


The Plagues Are Unleashed
To: The Ants Go Marching

The plagues are unleashed, one by one


Oh no, oh no
The gods of Egypt are undone
Just go, just go
The Nile River is turned to blood
Egypt has nothing to drink but mud
But old Pharaoh won’t say, “You now are free
to go out of this land.”
Doom Doom Doom Doom
Here come more plagues…

The plagues are unleashed, number two


Oh no, oh no
The gods of Egypt are so through
Just go, just go
Now frogs are jumping everywhere
Get in their food and get in their hair
But old Pharaoh won’t say, “You now are free
to go out of this land.”
Doom Doom Doom Doom
Here come more plagues…

The plagues are unleashed, number three


Oh no, oh no
The gods of Egypt start to plea
Just go, just go
Each piece of dust becomes a gnat
that bites the people wherever they’re at
But old Pharaoh won’t say, “You now are free
to go out of this land.”
Doom Doom Doom Doom
Here come more plagues…

The plagues are unleashed, number four


Oh no, oh no
Egypt’s gods can’t take any more
Just go, just go
Huge swarms of flies now fill the air
Bringing all Egypt to dark despair
But old Pharaoh won’t say, you now are free
to go out of this land.”
Doom Doom Doom Doom
Here come more plagues…

—continued—

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


The plagues are unleashed, number five
Oh no, oh no
The gods of Egypt can’t survive
Just go, just go
Cows, sheep, and horses, camels too
All fall down dead, there’s nothing to do
But old Pharaoh won’t say, “You now are free
to go out of this land.”
Doom Doom Doom Doom
Here come more plagues…

The plagues are unleashed, number six


Oh no, oh no
All Egypt’s gods can’t find a fix
Just go, just go
Infected skin, inflamed with pus
Covers their bodies and makes them cuss
But old Pharaoh won’t say, “You now are free
to go out of this land.”
Doom Doom Doom Doom
Here come more plagues…

The plagues keep coming, here is seven


Oh no, oh no
For Egypt’s gods, there’s no more heaven
Just go, just go
Huge hail and lightning break all crops
All standing trees are smashed ‘til they drop
But old Pharaoh won’t say, “You now are free
to go out of this land.”
Doom Doom Doom Doom
Here come more plagues…

The plagues are unleashed, number eight


Oh no, oh no
Egypt’s gods are no longer great
Just go, just go
Then locusts fill the sky with dark
What hail has left, they eat like a shark
But old Pharaoh won’t say, “You now are free
to go out of this land.”
Doom Doom Doom Doom
Here come more plagues…

—continued—

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


The plagues are unleashed, number nine
Oh no, oh no
Egypt’s sun god has just gone blind
Just go, just go
All is darkness, flames shed no light
The stars go dim that once were bright
But old Pharaoh won’t say, “You now are free
to go out of this land.”
Doom Doom Doom Doom
Here come more plagues…

Last of the plagues is number ten


Oh no, oh no
Egypt’s gods are weak as men
Just go, just go
First-born children suddenly die
All Egyptians shriek and cry
Old Pharaoh breaks down and sets them all free:
“Just get out of this land.”
And away they go
Zoom Zoom Zoom Zoom

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Second Cup of Wine
To: There Were 12 Constipated Men in the Bible

We drink four different cups of wine


at the Seder, at the Seder
We drink four different cups of wine
at the Seder, at the Seder

Second cup is for “DELIVER YOU” (3X)


from your bondage, from your bondage.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


RACHTZAH: WASH

Wash Wash Wash Your Hands


To: Row Row Row Your Boat

Wash, wash, wash your hands


Just before the meal
Purify, purify, purify, purify
‘Tis the time to steal.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


MOTZI/MATZAH: BLESSING THE MATZAH

Ancestors Would
To: Norwegian Wood

I beheld that plate


Or should I say
It beheld me.

These symbols so strange


Know them I should;
Ancestors would.

I stared at that bone, then it told me, “I came from a lamb,


I sacrificed life to help slaves gain their freedoms again.”

I peered at those greens


Vibrance of spring
Salt water clings.
“Fresh hope dipped in tears,”
parsley then said,
“Joy and sad wed.”

I looked at charoset, it made sounds I struggled to hear.


“I’m thick paste for forming the bricks that the slaves made with fear.”

I then heard that egg


“Roasted and charred,
I’m sacrifice barred
from Temple now gone,
Symbol of praise
For all your days.”

I stared at horseradish, it scared me, then started to laugh,


“I’m bitter, like slav’ry, caused tears til they chose freedom’s path.”

And when I awoke


Matzah did say,
“It’s plain as day.
Feed hungry we should,
Do the world good,
Ancestors would.”

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Oh What a Beautiful Matzah
To: Oh What a Beautiful Morning

All the food at the Seder has meaning (2x)


The story we tell, people living in hell
So we put on horseradish to make ourselves yell.

CHORUS:
Oh what a beautiful matzah
Oh what a flat piece of bread
Its whole life it’s never risen
Reminds us that slavery’s not dead.

Make a sandwich like Hillel has ordered (2x)


Pile sweet stuff and hot, on the matzah we’re taught
The freedom to remember, it cannot be bought.

CHORUS

‘Round the world there are people a’strugglin’ (2x)


And Pharaohs abound, keep folks down on the ground
‘Til a brave one like Moses to lead them is found.

CHORUS

Yes, this matzah’s the bread of affliction (2x)


When we eat it tonight, we remember our flight
We all must be Moses to fight for what’s right.

CHORUS

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


MAROR: BITTER HERB

Horseradish Club March


To: Mickey Mouse Club March

What’s that bitter on the plate


That could kill you and me?
H-O-R-S-E-R-A-D-I-S-H
Take care! Beware! Kids stare!
It’s as tasty as can be
H-O-R-S-E-R-A-D-I-S-H

Horseradish (lots of luck!)


Horseradish (don’t say “yuck”)
Forever let us eat the bitter
Herb! Herb! Herb! Herb!

Come along and sing a song


And tell our history!
H-O-R-S-E-R-A-D-I-S-H

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


KORECH: HILLEL SANDWICH

Does Your Matzah Lie Flat?


To: Do Your Ears Hang Low?

Does your matzah lie flat, or is it puffed and fat?


Will it hold charoset well, make horseradish taste real swell?
Can you fry it into brei that will make your bubbe sigh?
Does your matzah lie flat?

Is your horseradish hot, does it loosen up your snot?


Does it make your eyes sting and cause your ears to ring?
Does it make you think of slavery, and of our people’s bravery?
Is your horseradish hot?

Does your charoset taste sweet and give your mouth a treat?
Does it make you want to sing, does it make you want to eat?
Do you slather it on matzah just to drive yourself nuts-ah?
Does your charoset taste sweet?

Can you put ‘em all together, cuz old Hillel says it’s better?
Mix the sweet and the bitter, make his sandwich to the letter?
Now eat the whole creation, is its taste abomination?
McHillel to go.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


SHULCHAN ORECH: FESTIVE MEAL

Home in the Spring


To: Home on the Range

Oh give me that meal, where the menu’s ideal


Where the matzah balls float in the bowl
Where seldom is heard an unhappy slurp
And the food fills both body and soul

Home, home in the spring


for the Seder and matzah ball soup
Where we sing every song, though it takes way too long
It’s a journey we make with a group

So whatever the date, I will not be late


For my mother’s charoset so sweet
Dad’s horseradish so hot, my taste buds are shot
And it tingles right down to my feet

Home, home in the spring


For the Seder and all that it means
Where we read every prayer, to skip one is rare
And the memories are more than routine

The Haggadah we read, it tells of the deeds


That Moses with G-d’s help performed
And Pharaoh so cruel, his power overrruled
A free people from slavery transformed.

Home, home in the spring


Like our ancestors moved toward that Land
We swim up the stream, like salmon with dreams
Home’s a Promise to hold in our hands.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


TZAFUN: EAT THE AFIKOMEN

Find Find Find Dessert


to: Row Row Row Your Boat

Find, find, find dessert


Finish off the meal
Gotta look, gotta look, gotta look, gotta look
Can we make a deal?

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Afikomen Is Found to Be Missing
To: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

Afikomen is found to be missing


Our “dee-zert” is not to be found
How can we continue this Seder?
Now we must all look around

CHORUS: Come back, come back,


Come back, Afikomen, to me, to me (repeat)

Can’t we pass over this roadblock?


This Seder’s as long as King Kong
How can we get on with this Seder
While we are still singing this song?

CHORUS

This mystery is meant for the children


To keep them in line all night long
It’d work best if it were a website
Would a virtual matzah be wrong?

CHORUS

Online we could search “Afikomen”


A million or more hits abound
We’d think then the Seder could Move On
‘Til it crashed, and we lost all we’d found.

CHORUS

If a virus ate our Afikomen


End of Seder we’d all have to sweat
Our server would serve just a zero
And we would eat nothing but ‘Net.

CHORUS

Let’s hope someone finds that darn matzah


Let’s pray it turns up pretty soon
If no one finds our Afikomen
Then we’ll be here sitting ‘til noon.

CHORUS

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Afikomen Chorus
To: Hallelujah Chorus

Where’s that damn matzah hid?


I can’t find it.
Ah-fee-ko-men, Ah-fee-ko-men

Those kids have gone too far


It’s just NOT fair.
Ah-fee-ko-men, Ah-fee-ko-men

CHORUS: And we shall search for ever and ever


For ever and ever, forever and ever

All just to keep them still


What a dumb plan!
Ah-fee-ko-men, Ah-fee-ko-men

Soothes kids but riles their folks


I can’t stand it.
Ah-fee-ko-men, Ah-fee-ko-men

CHORUS: And we shall search for ever and ever


For ever and ever, forever and ever

Hey, what’s that sticking out?


I just FOUND it.
Ah-fee-ko-men, Ah-fee-ko-men

Now we can finish up


And drink more wine.
Manischewitz, Manischewitz

CHORUS: And we’ll drink wine for ever and ever


For ever and ever, forever and ever.

Note: obviously this is written for families where the ritual is for the kids to hide the
Afikomen and for the adults to try to find it. For those families who do it the other way
around, they need their own version.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


BARECH: BLESS THE MEAL

Third Cup of Wine


To: There Were 12 Constipated Men in the Bible

We drink four different cups of wine


at the Seder, at the Seder
We drink four different cups of wine
at the Seder, at the Seder

Number three means “WILL REDEEM YOU” (3X)


with outstretched arm, with outstretched arm.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Prophet Elijah
To: Eleanor Rigby

Ah, look at all the hope-filled people (2x)

Prophet Elijah rode on a whirlwind to heaven, each spring he comes ‘round


We sing his song
Wait by our windows, look for the face that’d bring change to our lives so profound
New hope is found.

Doors for you we open


We open up our homes
Please come drink from your cup
This is your night to roam

Prophet Elijah enters the homes where the Seders stretch into the night
It’s like a dream.
Brings us his message: “Kids, open hearts to your parents, parents be kind.
Live without strife.”

“Doors for me you open


Now open up your hearts
Whatever comes can teach you
Of life, it’s all a part.”

Prophet Elijah, conscience of Jews who returns to mark peace in the world
“It’s up to you.
Actions can do it, you can make peace in your homes, and your work, and your school.
Don’t live like fools.”

“Doors are meant to open


Let in whatever comes.
Be doors, not walls, be open
And then my task is done.”

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


HALLEL: PRAISE

Fourth Cup of Wine


To: There Were 12 Constipated Men in the Bible

We drink four different cups of wine


at the Seder, at the Seder
We drink four different cups of wine
at the Seder, at the Seder

The fourth cup is “I WILL TAKE YOU” (3X)


for my people, for my people.

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Manischewitz Medley
To: We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder
We are singing of Manischewitz (3x)
Wine that Jews -–adore
—abhor (Choose one)
To tune of “Alouette”
Manischewitz, pouring Manischewitz
Manischewitz—just drink another cup.
First a cup for liberty,
Next one’s just for puberty.
Oh….oh
Manischewitz, sweet old Manischewitz
Manischewitz, drink more if you dare.
To tune of “Dayenu”
We are drinking Manischewitz
It’s the wine the Bible credits
Made the Pesach story happen
Let’s review:
CHORUS: Man-is-chewitz, Man-is-chewitz
Man-is-chewitz; believe me, it’s all true.
When the Jews were leaving Egypt
Thought they’d really end their slavery
Dumped their wine in to the water
Sea so blue.
CHORUS
Then the water changed its color
Turned the Dead Sea into Red Sea
Wine so dry it made a pathway
They walked through.
CHORUS
When they hungered in the desert
God sent food down from the heavens
Called it by its nickname “Manna…”
What a brew!
CHORUS
So if you celebrate their journey
Don’t forget this wine is holy—
Wholly sweet and wholly horrid,
Now they’ll sue.
CHORUS

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


NIRTZAH: CLOSING

Next Year, Next Year


To: Tzena, Tzena

Next year
Next year
Next year
Next year
In Jerusalem
We’ll gather
Seder
Once again

Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
In Jerusalem
To gather
Seder
Once again

Freedom
Freedom
To be free’s a blessing
We’re all free to meet again

REPEAT LAST VERSE

Optional: REPEAT WHOLE SONG, FASTER

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


Jerusalem This Year
To: Yellow Submarine

Now we’ve told our story old


And we’ve learned its lessons well:
We must fight what makes us slaves;
To be free, we must rebel.

As we near our Seder’s end,


To the future our thoughts turn—
We can share our dreams and goals,
Tell of things we hope to learn.

CHORUS: May each one live a life that’s free this year
Life that’s free this year, life that’s free this year
May each one build their Jerusalem this year
Jerusalem this year, Jerusalem this year

If we make a world that’s free (a world that’s free)


Every one of us (every one of us)
Has what we need (has what we need)
Live a life (live a life) that’s not routine (not routine)
With a chance (with a chance) to be serene (be serene).

CHORUS

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com


S–E–D–E–R
To: B-I-N-G-O
(NOTE: * means clap one time for each *)

When full moon glows, folks share a meal


And talk of times so painful
S – E – D – E – R (3x)
We’re Seder-matzochistic

They break flat bread, spill drops of wine


Scream at grated maror
* - E – D – E – R (3x)
We’re Seder-matzochistic

They’re plagued by plagues, the night’s so long


Multiple Food Course Disorder
* - * - D – E – R (3x)
We’re Seder-matzochistic

For forty prayers, they wander ‘round


The end it does elude them
* - * - * - E – R (3x)
We’re Seder-matzochistic

Through eight whole days, they’ll eat no bread


Strict limits do remind them
* - * - * - * - R (3x)
We’re Seder-matzochistic

We’ve drunk too much, reclined like kings


Commemorated freedom
- * - * - * - * (3x)
We’re Seder-matzochistic
We’re celebration-istic
We’re going quite ballistic
We’re expialidocious
Pesach’s a psychosis
You get it through osmosis
This Seder’s matzochistic
This Seder’s matzochistic

Kal Winer • swingingseder@gmail.com

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