Sing-a-long Seder

Sing-a-long Seder
Teddy Klaus

There are many seasonal melodies we utilize in the synagogue to herald the arrival of Pesach and the other Festivals. But, it is the music of the Seder in our homes that binds us together – from one side of the table to the other; from one side of the street to the other; from one city to another, and indeed across the globe. We Jews are interconnected by the common narrative of the journey from slavery to freedom. This narrative is codified in the Haggadah – the libretto of the story we tell in order to actually experience redemption. We tell the story so that we should never forget that “Once we were slaves; now we are free.” If the Haggadah is the libretto, then the music we sing is a sacred opera of Passover. Unlike most operas, this is one of communal singing. Singing together is how we share the power of the story. It is how we transmit the message from generation to generation. It is the social capital that builds the network of our community.
The following paragraphs offer sound files that are designed to enhance and enable communal singing. All of the arrangements were played on a Yamaha PSR-740 keyboard. You may wish to set a laptop on the table and use the following files at your Seder this year. Or you may want to use the files to brush up on some of the more familiar tunes. The texts are found in most Haggadot. The page numbers here refer to A Passover Haggadah, with drawings by Leonard Baskin, first published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis in 1974. Many of the tunes are published in the back of the book, beginning on p. 97.
The first melody, Kadeish Ur’chatz, p.97, is Babylonian in origin. It declares the order of the Seder, word by word. At our Seder, we sing this song in an accumulative fashion; as we reach each new section of the Seder, we sing the tune stopping in order to conduct that newest part of the Seder. Thus, we sing it 14 times – each time one word longer than the time before. Listen
The next tune, Ha Lachma Anya, is found on page 26, at the beginning of the Yachatz section of the Seder. It was written by Yedidyah Admon, who also wrote the familiar melody from the Hallel (Psalms of Praise) to B’tzeit Yisraeil (Psalm 114 on page 59).
ListenMost young Jews get their first taste of performance pressure from the next musical selection. It is an upbeat arrangement (using the “Miami Pop” style) of the “Four Questions,” found on p. 29. The composer is Ephraim Abileah, as we learned from Cantor Alane Simons Katzew in her excellent article, “Mah Nishtanah Tunes for Passover: Why Is This Melody Different from Other Melodies?” Listen

On p. 34, we find the words Avadim Hayinu, (once we were slaves), at the beginning of the Maggid section. The words to the following song can be found on p. 104. The setting is by Shalom Postolsky (1893–1949), who also wrote the early Israeli dance song Kuma Echa (Arise, Brothers). Postolsky was among the earliest Zionists who made Aliyah before Israel declared