It's Pesach!

[USU78]

Anyway . . . friend of mine was raised Jewish in New York, joined the Church up in Buffalo and is now living on the Wasatch Front. He likes to tell the story of being invited to a Seder at the local stake center. Of course he went, getting there early. When he saw all the dinner rolls on the tables, he asked if they'd run out of matzoh and should he go to the store to get some. The ladies running the show said, "Huh?" and he decided just not to say anything.

Somebody obviously missed the whole thing about it being the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Anyway, here's a little something I found today to help make the day a little sweeter:

[Bill Hamblin]

Anyway . . . friend of mine was raised Jewish in New York, joined the Church up in Buffalo and is now living on the Wasatch Front. He likes to tell the story of being invited to a Seder at the local stake center. Of course he went, getting there early. When he saw all the dinner rolls on the tables, he asked if they'd run out of matzoh and should he go to the store to get some. The ladies running the show said, "Huh?" and he decided just not to say anything.

Somebody obviously missed the whole thing about it being the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Anyway, here's a little something I found today to help make the day a little sweeter:

No, it's Palm Sunday--for all you Yidische-types!

My link

[volgadon]

That has to be one of the funniest Pesach stories I have ever heard. Only in Utah!

This is powerful and beautiful. Hannah Rovina was one of the original actresses of Israel's first theatre in the 1920s. She was born in the Russian Empire and was one of the last links to a world long since vansihed.

The song's title is actually "Hasten the Day", and is an appeal to God to hasten the day of salvation, a day which is neither day nor night. The text is Byzantine, based on the prophecy in Zechariah. The melody is said to have been composed by the Besht, the father of the Hasidic movement.

And as Bill Hamblin pointed out, today is still Palm Sunday!

[frankenstein]

I worked with a lady who told me of when she was a teenager, it was her turn to open the Door, she went to the door opened it only to be greeted by a man she did not know, it scared her so much she slammed the door closed and ran back to the kitchen screaming in terror.

I have been to a Utah LDS seder thing, I have mixed feelings about it. From an educational standpoint, it was enjoyable. I was surprised by all the required dialogue. What we were persented - on paper - made it seem as though it takes hours before you get to the food.

I am confused about Chametz, do the Israelites sell it before the Passover begins so as to "not benefit" from it?

[volgadon]

I have been to a Utah LDS seder thing, I have mixed feelings about it. From an educational standpoint, it was enjoyable. I was surprised by all the required dialogue. What we were persented - on paper - made it seem as though it takes hours before you get to the food.

It isn't short, but food is not really the point of the Seder.

I am confused about Chametz, do the Israelites sell it before the Passover begins so as to "not benefit" from it?

What isn't sold has to be cordoned off for the duration of the holiday.

[volgadon]

A bit more on Pesach traditions.

Every Jewish community's Passover Haggadah contains the following statement.

"And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt," not by means of an angel, and not by means of a seraph, and not by means of a messenger. On the contrary, the Holy One, blessed be He, by His own glorious self [did it]...

"For I will go through the land of Egypt," I, and not an angel.

"And will smite all the firstborn," I, and not a seraph.

"And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements," I, and not a messenger.

"I the Lord," it is I and none other.

The Yemenite Jews follow a slightly different Haggadah, one based on R. Saadiah Gaon's rescension in the 9th century CE. Theirs contains an additional midrash on the same topic. Despite a reference in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, it isn't that well known, undeservedly so.

I transcribed this from a 1953 Folkways recording of a Yemenite Passover in Jerusalem.

Our rabbis of blessed memory say: When the Holy One, blessed be He, went down against the Egyptians in Egypt, nine thousand myriads of angels went down with Him; some of them angels of fire, some of them angels of hail; some of them angels of shaking; some of them angels of quaking; some of them angels of trembling. Trembling seized all who beheld them.

They said unto Him: 'Master of the World, when a king of flesh and blood goes down to battle, his ministers and servants surround him lest harm befall him.

Now, Thou art the King of Kings and Thou knowest full well that we are Thy servants and they [the Israelites] are the children of thy covenant. Let us go down and make war with them [the Egyptians].'

But He replied: 'I will have no peace of mind until I Myself go down.

I myself in My glory, I Myself in My grandeur, I Myself in My holiness. I am the Lord, I am he, and none other [will go down].

Edited to correct a not insignificant translation error. All because of a misheard word. Amazing the difference one word can make at times.

[volgadon]

Stupid double posts.

[Robert F. Smith]

In honor of Pesach, here's my favorite Israeli song (by Naomi Shemer),

[volgadon]

In honor of Pesach, here's my favorite Israeli song (by Naomi Shemer),

Its sad to say, but this song killed her in the end. One of her very best, though.

[Smith]

Its sad to say, but this song killed her in the end. One of her very best, though.

Hi Volgadon,

Could you expand on that a little please? I did a search on her and found that she died of cancer but I dont find anything that somehow implicates this song in her passing so I am curious to understand what you mean.

Regards

Stephen

[volgadon]

Hi Volgadon,

Could you expand on that a little please? I did a search on her and found that she died of cancer but I dont find anything that somehow implicates this song in her passing so I am curious to understand what you mean.

Regards

Stephen

Basically what happpened was that in 1965 she and several others attended a private concert with Paco Ibanez who performed a Basque song. The melody is similar to that which she used for Jerusalem of Gold several months later. Things like that do happen to musicians. After all, Woody Guthrie was certain that he had written Gypsy Davey when in fact people were singing it for generations. Naomi Shemer's friend noticed the similarities between the melodies, but she denied this for years. The song had become THE song she was known for, and it roubled her that people would think she was guilty of plagiarism. This ate at her for years and years, and by her own admission, ruined her health so completely that she was unable to fight the cancer. The melodies are similar, but not similar enough for plagiarism, and the texts have nothing whatsoever in common. Even Paco Ibanez said in an interview that she had nothing to feel bad about.