Introductory Material
and Other Parts of the Haggadah
This page features Ha Lahma, Avadim Hayinu, The Ten Plagues, and other parts of the seder, including several from Judeo-Arabic traditions.
Judeo-Arabic
Near the beginning of Magid, there are a number of traditions in Judeo-Arabic-speaking communities.
Misharotam
Syrian (and other Sephardi and Mizrahi) Jews recite Misharotam, a brief theatrical exchange reenacting the Exodus.
Children practicing the Misharotam ceremony from the Passover seder. Jewish English text from Zimrat Ha'Aretz Haggadah, printed by Congregation Sha'are Zion in 1988 (Brooklyn, Syrian tradition).
Transcription, translation, and transliteration of the Mish-arotam ceremony courtesy of Asher Shasho Levy, based on his family tradition from Aleppo, Syria:
After the leader breaks the middle matzah, he places the larger piece (the afikomen) in a napkin. One participant holds this in his right hand over his left shoulder and recites:
.מִשְאֲרֹתָם צְרֻרֹת בְשִׂמְלֹתָם עֵל שִכְמָם. וּבֵֽנֵי יִשְרָאֵל עָשׂוּ כִּדְבַר מֹשֶה
Mish-arotam serurot besimlotam 'al shikhmam. Ubene yisra-el 'asu kidbar Moshe.
…their remaining possessions tied up in their bags on their shoulders. And the children of Israel did as Moses commanded (Exodus 12:34-35).
The seder participants then ask the person holding the massa:
Min Jayye?
Where are you coming from?
The individual holding the massa replies:
Mimmisrayim
From Egypt
The seder participants then ask:
Lawen Rayyih?
Where are you going?
The individual holding the massa replies:
Lirushalayim (be'ezrat ha-el)
To Jerusalem (some say: with God's help)
The maṣṣa is then passed to the next oldest, who repeats the whole ceremony. This continues until everyone at the table has participated.
Yahatz and U-tqol of Djerba
From OpenSiddur: In many communities, the practice of Yaḥats, or breaking the matsah before maggid, is done with liturgical and ritual additions. The additions included here are one practice out of many variants as found in the practice of Djerba, of the coast of Tunisia.
The U-tqol, a part of the Maggid, is a lengthy recitation of the story of Abraham's journey to Judaism, belonging to the Tunisian dialect of Judeo-Arabic spoken by the people of Djerba.
Hagda Qsmllah / Hagda Qsem Allah
Moroccan Jews have a custom of reciting a passage in Judeo-Arabic at the Yaḥaṣ section of the Seder, when the leader takes the middle of three maṣṣot and breaks it into two pieces. This recitation demonstrates how God split the sea, serving as an introduction to the following section of the Seder, the Maggid, or telling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt.
Here is the Judeo-Arabic text (transliterated):
Hagda qsem Allah libḥar, 'ala tnas leṭreq
ḥen kherjou jdoudna min maṣar
'Ala yid sidna unbina Mousa bin 'Amram
Ḥen fiqhoum ughatehoum, milkhdema se'iba alḥouriya.
Hagda yifiqna haQadosh Baroukh Hou wenomar Amen
(some say: Hagda yifiqna min had legalout, wejibna Liroushalayim l'aziza 'alina leme'an shemo hagadol wehanora.
Translation:
This is how God split the sea into twelve paths when our forefathers were taken out of Egypt by our master and prophet Moshe, son of Amram, peace be upon him. Just as at that time God saved and redeemed them from slavery to freedom, may the Holy One Blessed be He liberate us, our children and the children of our children, Amen may it be God's will.
(some say: May he redeem us from this exile and bring us to our beloved Jerusalem.)
Ma Chabar - A Yemenite Women's Seder Summary
(Text and translation from Yosef Qāfiḥ's הליכות תימן : חיי היהודים בצנעא ובנותיה and Madar, Vered. 2006. "Ma Khabar and Qussat Hannah: A Gendered Reading of Two Stories in the Culture of Yemenite Jewish Women." Nashim 11.)
Women in Yemen did not have the Hebrew education to understand the haggadah text, so they recited a summary in Judeo-Arabic:
What makes this night different from all nights? Our elders and forefathers left Egypt, the house of slavery. What did they do there? They mixed the straw with bricks and the bricks with straw. For whom? For Pharaoh, the absolute evil man, whose head is like a monster, whose mouth is like a furnace. And God brought upon the Egyptians: blood, frogs, locusts, lice, beasts, cattle disease, boils, hail, darkness, and the slaying of the firstborn. Even a wrinkled old woman, who had an idol made of dough – the dog came in and ate it, and she cried that night. And there was a great outcry in Egypt to fulfill the verse that says, “There was no house without someone dead.” And God saved them with a mighty hand and outstretched arm and great judgments, signs, and wonders, through our leader, Moses, may he rest in peace. And that is the answer.
Mitlu hadha khibz elmasakin
Ha Lahma in Syrian Judeo Arabic, sourced from Shaar Binyamin, transcribed by Asher Shasho Levy
מִתלוּ הָאדָא כִבְז אֶלמַסַאּכִּין אִלַדִי אַכַּלוּ אָּבּהָָתָּנָא בְאָרְד מָצָר. כִּל מִינוּ
ג'וּעָאן יִגִ'י וָיָאכּוֹל. כִּל מִינוּ מִעְתָּאז יִגִ'י וָיָעאִד. הָאלסִנִה הוֹן. סִנִת אֶלגָ'איַה פִי בָּלָד אִסְרָאִיל. הָאלסִנִה הוֹן עָבִּיד. סִנִת אֶלגָ'איַה פִי בָּלָד אִסְרָאִיל בָנִין מָעָטוּקִין.
Mitlu hadha khibz elmasakin iladhi akalu abhataba be-ard maṣar. Kil minu ju'an yiji wayakol. Kil minu mi'taz iji waya'id. Halsini hon. Sinit eljaya fi balad Israil. Halsini hon 'abid, sinit eljaya pi balad israil banin ma'aṭuqin.
This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. All those who are hungry, let them enter and eat. All who are in need, let them come celebrate the festival. Now we are here. Next year in the land of Israel. This year we are enslaved. Next year we will be in the land of Israel as free people.
Hadha khibz el miskin
Ha Lahma in Iraqi Judeo Arabic, transcribed by Asher Shasho Levy
הָאדָ'א כִבְז אֶל מִסְכִּין אִלַדִ'י אַכְּלוּ אָּבּהָָתְּנָא פִי בָּלָד מָצִר. כִּל
ג'וּעָאן יִגִ'י וּיָאכִּל. כִּל מִעְתָּאז יִגִ'י וִיְפַסִּח. הָל סָנָא נִחְנָא הוֹן. סַנְתְּ אֶל גָ'איָיא פִי בָּלַד יִסְרָאִיל. הָל סָנָא נִחְנָא הוֹן עִבִיד. סַנְתְּ אֶל גָ'איָיא פִי בָּלַד יִסְרָאִיל בִּנִין אֶל .מִטְלוּקִין
Hadha khibz el miskin iladhi akelu abhatena fi balad maṣir. Kil ju'an yiji wuyakil. Kil mi'itaz yiji wiyefasiḥ. Hal sana nihna hon. Sant el jaya fi balad Yisra-il. Hal sana niḥna hon 'ibid. Sant el jaya fi balad Yisra-il binin el miṭluqin.
This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. All those who are hungry, let them enter and eat. All who are in need, let them come celebrate the festival. Now we are here. Next year in the land of Israel. This year we are enslaved. Next year we will be in the land of Israel as free people.
Ha Lahma in Iraqi Judeo Arabic begins at 4:20
A Moroccan tradition is to recite the "Bibhilu" piyyut while waving the seder plate over guests’ heads before Ha Lahma. This video features this tradition among Jews in Brazil.
Ha Lahma is chanted at the beginning of this video.
Passing the seder plate over the heads of guests at a Moroccan seder. From Steven M. Lowenstein, Jewish Cultural Tapestry.
Ha Lahma from the English/Hebrew/Iraqi Judeo Arabic haggada from Naim Dangoor's Exilarch Foundation in London, 2000.
Recordings of songs from a Tunisian Judeo-Arabic haggadah
Judeo-Spanish/Ladino
Ha Lahma Anya: Este el Pan de la Afrisyon
From the Sephardi Federation of Palm Beach County
Este el pan de la afrisyon ke comyeron muestros padres en tierra de Agyfto. Todo el ke tiene ambre venga i coma. Todo el ke tiene de menester venga i paskue. Este anyo aki, a el anyo el vienen en Tierra de Yisrael. Este anyo aki siervos, a el anyo el vienen en Tierra de Yisrael ijos foros.
This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. Whoever is hungry, come and eat; whoever is in need, come and celebrate Passover with us. Now we are here, next year may we be in Eretz Yisrael. Now we are here as slaves; next year may we be in Eretz Yisrael as free people.
A Lahma Anya
Liturgy of Ezra Bessaroth - Hazzan Isaac Azose
Seder of a family from Rhodes. At 3:35 they sing Ha Lahma in Ladino.
Seder of a family from Rhodes, singing the Ten Plagues in Hebrew and Ladino.
Avadim Hayinu: Siervos huimos
Siervos huimos a Paro en tierra de Agyfto, i Adonai, muestro Dyo, nos saco de ayi con mano fuerte i brazo extendido. Si el Santo bendicho sea, no huviera sacado a muestros padres de Agyfto, nosotros, muestros ijos i los ijos de muestros ijos huvieramos, continuado subjugados al Paro en Agyfto.
We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord our God took us out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Had God not taken our fathers out of Egypt, then we, our children and grandchildren would still be slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.
Avadim Hayinu,
Hazzan Isaac Azose
Chanting of the Order of the Seder and Ha Lahma
Introduction to the Four Sons in Hebrew and Ladino
Ten Plagues in Hebrew and Ladino
Mahazor Instructions for the Passover Seder, Minervini, 2018
Hebrew and Ladino Passover Songs, Tel Aviv 1959
Hebrew and Ladino Passover Songs, Livorno, Italy
Siddur Nashim for Passover, Seattle Ladino Community
Reading of the Haggadah in Ladino by Rabbi Joseph ben Zacariah Halevi
Jewish English
Several song parodies have become popular at American seders. You can see more here and here.
There's No Seder Like our Seder
(to the tune of "There's no Business like Show Business")
There's no seder like our seder,
There's no seder I know.
Everything about it is halachic
Nothing that the Torah won't allow.
Listen how we read the whole Haggadah
It's all in Hebrew
'Cause we know how.
There's no Seder like our seder,
We tell a tale that is swell:
Moses took the people out into the heat
They baked the matzoh
While on their feet
Now isn't that a story
That just can't be beat?
Let's go on with the show!
Our Passover Things
(to the tune of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music)
Cleaning and cooking and so many dishes
Out with the hametz, no pasta, no knishes
Fish that's gefillted, horseradish that stings
These are a few of our Passover things.
Matzah and karpas and chopped up haroset
Shankbones and kiddish and yiddish neuroses
Tante who kvetches and uncle who sings
These are a few of our Passover things.
Motzi and maror and trouble with Pharoahs
Famines and locusts and slaves with wheelbarrows
Matzah balls floating and eggshell that clings
These are a few of our Passover things.
When the plagues strike
When the lice bite
When we're feeling sad
We simply remember our Passover things
And then we don't feel so bad.
The Ballad of the Four Sons
(to the tune of "Clementine")
Jewish Neo-Aramaic
Recitation of various parts of the seder, including the Order of the Seder, Ha Lahma, the Four Questions, and the Four Sons.
Western Yiddish/Jewish German
El Bene - Bau dein‘ Tempel schiro - Jewish German
Allmächtiger Gott, nun bau dein‘ Tempel schiro.
Also schiro und also bald, in unsern Tagen schiro, ja schiro.
Nun bau, nun bau, nun bau dein Tempel schiro, barmherziger Gott, Demut liebender Gott, immerwährender Gott.
Nun bau dein‘ Tempel schiro. Also schir‘ und also bald, in unser’n Tagen schiro, ja schiro.
Nun bau, nun bau, nun bau dein Tempel schiro.
Du bist Gott und keiner mehr, bau dein Tempel schiro. Also schir‘ und also bald, in unsern Tagen schiro, ja schiro.
Nun bau, nun bau, nun bau dein Tempel schiro.
Almighty God, now build your temple quickly.
So quickly and soon, in our days quickly, yes quickly.
Now build, now build, now build your temple quickly, merciful God, humility loving God, everlasting God.
Now build, now build, now build your temple quickly.
You are God and no one more, build your temple quickly. So quickly and soon, in our days quickly, yes quickly.
Now build, now build, now build your temple quickly.
The Open Siddur Project features the same song in Western Yiddish, called Baugesang - literally, "building song". Below is the Hebrew text, Yiddish translation and transliteration, and the English translation.
Ki Lo Naeh - Herr im Himmelreich
Herr im Himmelreich, dir ist keiner gleich. Der Engelschar singt immerdar.
Dein ist Glanz und Pracht, dein ist Himmelstracht, dein ist Tag und Nacht.
Du, o Herr regierst allein. Du, o Herr wirst ewig sein.
Glanz umstrahlt dein Reich, schützest alle gleich. Der Engelschar singt immerdar.
Ihm geziemet Preis und Dank…
Du, o Herr regierst allein. Du, o Herr wirst ewig sein.
Lord in the kingdom of heaven, none is like you. The band of angels sings continuously.
Yours is glory and shine, yours is of the habit of heaven, yours is day and night.
You, o Lord rule alone. You, o Lord will be forever.
Shine light upon your kingdom, you protect everyone equally. The band of angels sings continuously.
Praise and thanks are due to him…
You, o Lord rule alone. You, o Lord will be forever.
Video of Steven M. Lowenstein singing Jewish German Passover songs
Jewish Malayalam
Judeo-Tamazight
The text is part of the translation of the Haggadah by Yehuda Derʕi, born in the 1920s in Ighil n-Ughu, upstream from the Sous Valley, who settled in Ashdod, Israel in 1962. The translation was commissioned from Yehuda Derʕi by J. Chetrit in 1994. Click the image on the right for a full Judeo-Tamazight Haggadah.
Bukharian/Judeo-Tajik
Bukharian Jews reenacting the exodus in the Bechol Dor VaDor section (Haggadat Yehudei Bukhara, by Bekhor Barukh, Jerusalem, 2000)
Avadeim Hayinu in Bukharian from Sefer Chukot Hapesach (Jerusalem, 1907, 1964)