DER YIDDISH-VINKL April 9, 2004

To regular readers of this column, the timely, lighthearted and clever poems by Stanley Siegelman in Yiddish and English are by now well-known. As might be expected, he was unable to pass over Passover. So, here’s his latest:

Bay Dem Seyder Zingt Ayeder

A gliklekher ovnt Pesakh nakht

S’iz ven der seyder vert gemakht.

M’fayert es arum der velt

Avi s’iz heys, avi s’iz kelt.

Far “communists” a gute tsayt

Zey lign oyf der linker zayt!

(Far zey es hot a Yidish-tam,

Di mayse fun dem roytn yam.)

Un far shikurim epis fayn

Zey zaynen fray tsu trinken vayn!

Far kinder, likhtikayt in ponim,

Matones “via” afikomen!

Far Demokratn: Dom*! S’iz gut!

Zey denken fun Al Gore un blut!

Far oysgelasene: Oy! A glet

Zey trakhtn fun der Hes-a-bet!

(Far milkhike hobn zey nit kheyshek,

Zey hobn lib in gantsn fleyshik!)

Far Gibson (Mel) a “gutn yor”;

Zol nor er shlingn gal (Moror)!

Mit’n letstn “couplet,” mit fardrus

Mir denken fun dem Exodus!

*In Hebrew, “Dom” stands for “blood,” the first of the Ten Plagues.

At the Seder, Everyone Sings

Passover is the time for all

To have a festive (matzo) ball!

The Seder blooms around the globe

Unnerving the Judeophobe.

It gives to communists a treat

They love to leftward lean (and eat)!

They also like the history

The parting waves, the “red”-named sea.

To boozers, Seders are just fine

Because the Seder mandates wine.

To children, joyfulness comes swift

Each afikomen means a gift!

For Democrats, the plagues are core:

Reminding them of blood, called Gore.

For people sexually inclined,

The “Heys-a-bed” leaps first to mind.

(For them all, dairy food is waste

Carnivorous describes their taste.)

Mel Gibson, these directions follow:

Just chew some bitter herbs — and swallow!

Your “passion” strikes this chord in us

We’re struggling still with Exodus!

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO