by Steve Hausman When Joseph did in Egypt settle He used his wits and all his mettle To win the Pharaoh to his side So he could there in peace reside And Pharaohs came and Pharaohs went But they were not from heaven sent And they did all the Jews enslave And drive them to an early grave They labored there under the yoke All those ancient holy folk And after a time the Jews were bound Their sorrow it was most profound As slaves their lives were a grind No joy or happiness could they find And then an edict was broadcast wide Causing mothers their sons to hide Each male child, those first born Would be the object of the Pharaoh's scorn Each male child would be put to death None evermore to take a breath And thus did Moses' mother conspire To hide her son amidst the mire She left him there beside the river Hoping he would not cry or shiver She left him amidst the rushes tall Not knowing if he would survive at all She left him there with great sorrow Not knowing if he would survive until the morrow And when Moses did in his basket lay His sister Miriam close to him did stay Then one day there came a crowd With Pharaoh's daughter laughing loud And Moses in his basket they found And took him back to the palace ground As an Egyptian master was he raised And often by the Pharaoh praised But one day he saw an overseer beat A Jewish slave on the head and feet In anger he did kill that man And thence he to the desert ran And one day chanced to see A burning bush, not a tree A bush the fire did not consume Something that you would presume Then from the bush a voice did speak With such a tone it made him weak He was commanded to free his folk Who suffered under oppression's yoke Thus to the Pharaoh he did return For righteousness did within him burn He said you must let my people go He did it quietly and without show But the Pharaoh's heart was hardened deep The Israelites he vowed to keep And thus the Pharaoh's heart did harden He would not give the Jews a pardon Then the Lord the plagues did bring Down upon this Egyptian king Came the plagues one after another Affecting each Egyptian and his brother First the water turned to blood Then the land with frogs did flood Next came vermin and the beast Of the plagues these were the least Then came boils and the hail To soften the Pharaoh these did fail The locusts did the crops despoil And ruin all of Egypt's toil The darkness blotted out the sun For Egypt this was not much fun The last one was the worst of all Where the first born gave their all The firstborn children had to die It was enough to make the mothers cry The first nine plagues, count them then Affected all the women and the men But when death's angel came to pass The Jewish people were saved en masse They spread lamb's blood upon their door For them thus death was not in store And when this plague was finally past The Pharaoh did agree at last To let the Jewish people depart (Finally he was getting smart) And they left in such a hurry That making bread was their least worry The bread did not have time to rise In spite of all the children's cries And the Jews did leave in haste Running to the desert waste Alas, the Pharaoh changed his mind And sent his chariots fast behind The Israelites stopped at the sea But it split so they could flee And when the soldiers rode behind Just deep water did they find We have a seder and retell The story of what the Jews befell In memory of that ancient time We eat the matzo and drink the wine We eat the marror because of what bound the bricks Back then it was made of sand and sticks Now in freedom we sit and eat Our friends and relatives we greet And hope to be in Jerusalem some day And at the Wailing Wall to pray So let us now have a seder Another holiday will come later Copyright © 1998 Steve Hausman