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Songs for Seders
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Joe_F Date: 14 Apr 20 - 06:09 PM A couple of amusements: 1. Somewhere near the end (I can't find it in my Haggadah at the moment), a time is set aside for disputing the meaning of various parts of the service. Argument as a form of piety -- how Jewish! 2. During the entire proceeding, the name of Moses is never mentioned. No cult of personality! |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: GUEST,Martin Ryan Date: 14 Apr 20 - 07:55 AM Thank you, Joe! Regards |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Apr 20 - 02:31 PM If you haven't been to a seder, here's a pretty good explanation: And then you can enjoy Saturday Night Seder (click) |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: GUEST,Martin Ryan Date: 13 Apr 20 - 07:00 AM Coincidentally, in these locked-down days, I’ve been wading through Simon Shamas history of the Jews post-1492, while listening to some Sephardic and Ladino music on my iPod. This thread should allow me to vary my musical diet as I wade through the large tome - on my Kindle! Regards |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Dave Hanson Date: 13 Apr 20 - 02:19 AM Got it, thanks. Dave H |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Joe_F Date: 12 Apr 20 - 06:54 PM Dave H: "Seder" (the Hebrew word for "order") here refers to the ritual Passover feast celebrating the Exodus. |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Dave Hanson Date: 12 Apr 20 - 02:35 PM For the uninitiated, what are ' seders ' ? Dave H |
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Subject: YouTube: Saturday Night Seder From: Joe Offer Date: 12 Apr 20 - 05:27 AM My friend Deborah Sandler from the San Francisco Folk Music Club pointed this one out to me. It's just over an hour, and it's delightful! https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/theater/seder-show-theater-coronavirus.html What Can You Do for People in Crisis" Put on a Seder Show By Katherine Rosman April 9, 2020 Like pretty much everybody in America blessed with good health these days, the actor Jason Alexander and his wife, the artist Daena Title, have been stuck at home, worried about their relatives, their friends and a nation whose future is uncertain. “We all want to try to do something, anything,” Alexander said. But what? About a week ago, he found an answer, in an email from Benj Pasek, the lyricist who helped create the songs for the Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” as well as the movies “The Greatest Showman” and “La La Land,” which earned him a share in an Academy Award. The songwriter’s pitch to Alexander was this: “Would you be interested in being a part of an all-star online Seder fund-raiser that will raise money for the C.D.C. Foundation?” On Tuesday, his wife arranged lighting in their dining room and held an iPhone as he rehearsed an original musical number, which they then recorded. He sang: “So you’re stressed by all the stories that you’ve seen on cable news? Well, it’s time to trade the cable for a tableful of Jews. While this night is always different from every other night, there is a smidgen of religion though we’re keeping that part light. Tonight is stranger than a normal Pesach meal, ’cause we’re locked in our apartment and the plagues are [expletive] real.” “Nailed it!” said Erich Bergen, a star of “Madam Secretary” who, of late, has become a go-to technical producer for logistically complicated endeavors, like the recent fund-raising, one-night return of “The Rosie O’Donnell Show.” (He was in Alexander’s dining room too, thanks to Zoom. But actually, he was sitting at a desk in front of his unmade bed in his apartment in Harlem.) “Let’s do one more take,” Title said. She later explained, with a little panic, that she hadn’t actually hit the record button. Such are the dramas inherent in producing a show that relies on iPhones and dozens of performers — including Ben Platt, Billy Porter, Judith Light, Tan France, Harvey Fierstein, Idina Menzel and Sarah Silverman — who are all in different places. The result — God willing, because as of this writing it’s nowhere near done — will be “Saturday Night Seder.” It’s an original telling of the Passover story meant to entertain and bring together a mainstream audience for a few laughs, a bit of joy and some unavoidable reflections on the human capacity for transcendence amid danger and chaos. It will be streamed on the “Saturday Night Seder” website and on YouTube at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, April 11. (With some words beeped out, it’s PG-13 family viewing.) “The Passover holiday is literally a story of going from confinement to freedom and from winter to spring,” said Pasek, who a few years ago teamed with the Broadway performer Adam Kantor to reimagine the biblical story of exodus for more than 100 people in New York. This year, amid the health crisis of Covid-19, rising unemployment and near-nationwide quarantine, Pasek and Kantor knew they needed to dip into their creative circles of colleagues, friends and friends of friends (of friends) to help share the story, with all its modern resonances, with a much larger audience. And to raise money while doing so. “At the Seder table, we ask ourselves, ‘What can you do for people who are suffering because you once suffered?’” Pasek said. “We want to amplify that message because it is one of hope and also one that asks people to give of themselves however they can.” Kantor, whose sister-in-law is a new mother and a nurse practitioner caring for Covid-19 patients at Bellevue Hospital in New York, helped write songs and wrangle actors, and he is overseeing the fund-raising drive to benefit the C.D.C. Foundation. “We want to support the front lines,” he said. The “Saturday Night Seder” team, including the writers Alex Edelman and Hannah Friedman; musical arrangers like Charlie Rosen and Ben Wexler; and the composer Shaina Taub, among many others, had about two weeks to put it together, using Slack, Dropbox, Zoom and a color-coded Google Sheet full of Talmudic detail that producers like Talia Halperin used to manage the rehearsal and taping availability of rabbis, writers and Fran Dreschers. Everyone is doing every job. “At one point,” Bergen said, “I found myself writing a letter to Oprah to see if she could participate, and then a minute later I was editing a video of a drag queen saying, ‘Yas, Passover!’ so it runs the gamut. If we pull it off — and that’s an if — it will be a miracle.” The first week of April, the creators met in a Zoom writers room for about 18 hours a day, piecing together a program that would have elements of awards shows, television variety specials and Broadway revues. This week, they worked directly with the talent, watching them rehearse and film the various elements while providing tech support to some people whose many gifts don’t include knowing how to upload files to the cloud. Most every recording session brought one technical glitch or another. The actor and singer Josh Groban was relying on his iPad both to communicate with the producers on Zoom and to listen to the instrumental version of the track he was singing to. He needed to quit the Zoom app to make his recording. |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: GUEST,Z'ev Date: 12 Apr 11 - 12:20 PM Just knocked off this altered version of the great old gospel tune Mary Don't You Weep. I expect to use it Monday night. Miriam Don't You Weep Well if I could I surely would Stand on the rock where Moses stood Pharaoh's army got drownded Oh Miriam don't you weep, *Chorus Oh Miriam don't you weep, don't you mourn Oh Miriam don't you weep, don't you mourn Pharaoh's army get drownded Oh Miriam don't you weep, Well Miriam wore 3 links of chain on every link was freedom's name Pharaoh's army got drownded Oh Miriam don't you weep, One of these nights bout 12 o'clock Pharaoh's world is gonna reel and rock Pharaoh's army got drownded Oh Miriam don't you weep, Well Moses stood on the Red Sea shore Wackin' the water with a two by four Pharaoh's army got drownded Oh Miriam don't you weep, Well, old Pharaoh he got mad Missed the people he thought he had Pharaoh's army get drownded Oh Miriam don't you weep, Moses told the Hebrews "listen here" We'll be in Jerusalem this time next year, Pharaoh's army got drownded Oh Miriam don't you weep, Moshe's vision came true you see, It took a while but we're all free Pharaoh's army got drownded Oh Miriam don't you weep, *Sing chorus after every verse or every other verse. |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: GUEST,Sarah Orzech Date: 13 Apr 09 - 08:10 PM I am searching for the words & music to a children's song I heard several years ago and haven't been able to find anywhere. It is Pharaoh in Pajamas in the Middle of the Night. |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: GUEST,Gerry Date: 05 Apr 09 - 05:28 AM The Shelly Posen song that Charlie Baum mentioned earlier in this thread is And We Sang Ha Lakhma Anya. It's on Posen's CD, Manna. Another Passover song on that CD is Four More Kashes, which is sort of a cross between The Four Questions and I Gave My Love A Cherry. Two other CDs that might be of interest are Kim and Reggie Harris and Rabbi Jonathan Kligler, Let My People Go, A Jewish & African American Celebration of Freedom, and The Klezmatics with Joshua Nelson & Kathryn Farmer, Brother Moses Smote the Water. |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: GUEST,Gerry Date: 05 Apr 09 - 02:30 AM What's That I Hear (Phil Ochs) Go Tell It On The Mountain (the Peter Paul and Mary, Let my people go, version) Shirele Perele (Yiddish counterpart to Eliahu Hanavi, recorded by the Klezmatics, also by the Machaye Klezmer Band) Dodi Li (taken from the Song of Songs, which is traditionally read on Passover) My daughter and I did a set of Passover songs at the (Australian) National Folk Festival last year, our set list was those songs, together with Man Come Into Egypt (already mentioned earlier in this thread) and a few traditional seder songs. |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders / Passover From: Genie Date: 05 Apr 09 - 01:59 AM Refreshing the thread, hoping for more suggestions for Passover songs. |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Genie Date: 28 Mar 02 - 12:52 AM How about "Little Moses" by the Carter Family? |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Bennet Zurofsky Date: 26 Mar 02 - 05:50 PM Todah Rabah to all for their contributions. With the first seder tomorrow evening I probably won't be able to check in again. It has been helpful to consider the suggestions and stories here. Perhaps next year we can start this discussion sooner and have a thread that emulates a seder in itself through ruminations and disputations on the Passover story and its meanings. A zis'n Pesach to all! -Bennet |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: bflat Date: 26 Mar 02 - 05:24 PM Jacob, that was delightful. Ellen |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Jacob B Date: 25 Mar 02 - 06:20 PM By the way, I just did a search to find out where the Rabbi who wrote Moses Potter was located. It turns out that he's in Marietta, Georgia - and the web site for his temple has a large collection of Midis of Jewish music available on it. Here's the link. Click on Jewish Music in the left-hand menu. Jacob |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Jacob B Date: 25 Mar 02 - 06:14 PM A good Pesach to all, and thanks to Larry and Jack for your stories. You've reminded me why I'm going to the trouble of turning the house upside down. Here's a new Passover story that you may enjoy: Moses Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Shalom Jacob |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Jack The Lad Date: 25 Mar 02 - 01:56 PM My most memorable Seder was held in Leningrad under the communist regime. It was sort of secret, and the KGB were patrolling outside. The US assistant consul happened to be Jewish and was a guest at the seder,so the KGB couldn't do much to bother us . We sang Go Down Moses- in Hebrew and English- as well as many other Pesach songs- both traditional and modern- taken from the kibutz seder service. Especially poignant was "Next year in Jerusalem" although it took a few more years before that prayer became a reality. Pesach -Passover is the festival of Freedom , and may God in His wisdom grant freedom to all people- and grant us the wisdom to implement His will. Chag Sameach- Happy Passover to you all. Jack The Lad |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: InOBU Date: 25 Mar 02 - 05:20 AM I was recording oral histories of NMU (National Maritime Union) members about the formation and destruction of the US Comunist Maritime tradition. One of the great storries was from a Jewish seaman, who was on a ship transporting Nazi soldiers to a camp in the US. They were behind a wire fenced in enclosure in the hold of the ship, so, on passover, Jewish shipmates held their seder right in front of the wire. Have a thoughtful and peaceful passover folks, Larry |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: GUEST,Arjay Date: 25 Mar 02 - 05:14 AM How about "Mary, Don't You Weep?" The chorus includes "...Pharaoh's army got drownded...". I modify the verses to fit a Jewish tradition (e.g., "Mary wore three links of chain and on every link was Jesus' name" becomes "Moses wore three links of chain and on each link was freedom's name." I also use Peter Yarrow's "Man Come Into Egypt." What do you think about "Bashana" and "Dona, Dona" for pssover? Arjay |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Bev and Jerry Date: 24 Mar 02 - 10:51 PM Jewish holidays (except for the sabbath) start on a particular day of the Jewish lunar calendar which could turn out to be any day of the week in the Gregorian calendar. Unless congress decides to move them to Fridays to give us more three day weekends! Bev and Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: GUEST,Jewish by birth Date: 24 Mar 02 - 06:56 PM I thought Pesach started on Fridays, like other festivals?? |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Charlie Baum Date: 24 Mar 02 - 12:05 AM Shelley Posen has written an incredible seder song, which I've been nudging him to propagate. The first verse is about zayde leading the seder. When he passes on, the second verse is about father leading it. The third verse is about leading it oneself... Alas, I haven't gotten him to send me a copy (yet), so I can't remember the exact title. He wrote it for a songwriter's group on the topic of "the empty chair" and sang it at last year's Old Song's Festival. --Charlie Baum |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Jim Dixon Date: 23 Mar 02 - 01:19 AM THE SEDER NIGHT RAP looks like a cool song. (It's the second song in that message.) |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Mark Cohen Date: 22 Mar 02 - 10:11 PM And I once led a very small one in a hotel room in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. I wonder if in addition to song suggestions we can collect memorable Seder locations or experiences...Passover will always be bittersweet for me because my dad died the day before Passover 1991. But it's still a wonderful holiday...and the oldest one in the Jewish calendar. Here's an old thread with lots of interesting stories and other chazerei: Have a Happy Passover. Aloha, Mark |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: InOBU Date: 22 Mar 02 - 09:55 PM Happy Passover, all, I once attened a great seder aboard a Chesipeak Skipjack, by oil lamp in the aft cabin... big skipjack by the way, one of the bigest ever built, bugeye rigged. Very moving seder (no pun, really had a sence of timelessness from the oil lamp light). Cheers Larry |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: SINSULL Date: 22 Mar 02 - 09:52 PM It is a great idea Bennet. And I will pass it on to the family I usually join for Passover. For me, the songs found in the Haggadah and sung by the family's children are treasured and novel traditions -not part of my RC upbringing. It is an honor to be included in the celebration and witness the youngest children eager to participate, explain the story of the Exodus, and sing the songs. |
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Subject: RE: Songs for Seders From: Mark Cohen Date: 22 Mar 02 - 09:41 PM Great idea, Bennet. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but you might try looking in the "Freedom" section of "Rise Up Singing". Aloha, Mark |
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Subject: Songs for Seders From: Bennet Zurofsky Date: 22 Mar 02 - 05:36 PM Passover starts next Wednesday evening. I enjoy including some songs in the seder that are not typically found in the Haggadah. Most often these are African-American Sprituals dealing with themes from the Book of Exodus of songs from the Civil Rights movement. E.g.: Go Down Moses, Oh Freedom, Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Set On Freedom. I also sometimes include a song or two associated with the Jewish resistance to the Holocaust, such as Zog Nit Keynmol, since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began on the first night of Passover. I enjoy my usual choices, as well as all of the traditional Passover hits from the Haggadah, but would certainly enjoy trying some different songs this year. Any suggestions? |
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