15th April 2022 – Shabbat is almost here
And today we will listen to a part of the Yemenite hagadah of Pesach.
Then, please, spread the word.And note that these weekly emails are also posted in the website www.musicbeforeshabbat.com
About the recording
The recording of today is from the album Hagadah: A Yemenite Home Passover, edited by Folkways Records in 1957. On the website you can find the tracks and the complete booklet. The cover sais “passover 1953” but in the notes of the booklet it is explained that it was recorded in 1955. This is the specific text, by Sam Eskin, who made the recording:The recording was made in the home of this family. They lived in the section of Jerusalem occupied by the very religious Jews, not far from the Jordan border.
It was hard to find at night, inaccessible by car, and in that section of town there were no sidewalks or surfaced pavements. A small bare room furnished only with chairs and a table was the setting for this Yemenite Passover service. The recording was done by Sam Eskin in Jerusalem, Passover 1955”.
The booklet is available here. I haven’t found any reference of the identity of this family who are recorded.The introduction on the website explains that:
“During the traditional Passover meal, the family reads, chants, and sings from the Hagadah, a Seder “guidebook” first formally compiled in the Middle Ages. Every family has its own traditions, however, and this recording documents the Seder as it was celebrated in Jerusalem by a family of Yemenite Jews in the 1950s. Arabic influence is pronounced, and the Yemeni-Jewish Hagadah includes some sections and songs not found in European and American versions, particularly during the final segment of the service.”
Let’s take a closer look at some of these concepts. If you know them, skip the bullet points:
- Seder: According to ReformJudaism, the seder is “a festive holiday meal, actually means “order.” It is called this because the meal is done in a certain order which takes us from slavery to freedom.” And according to MyJewishLearning, “Freedom is one of the primary themes of the seder. The seder permits Jews to worship God through prayer, study, and learning by taking part in what is essentially a lesson of Jewish history, literature, and religion. Participation in the seder lets one symbolically and vicariously relive the Exodus.”
- Hagadah or Haggadah: According to the aforementioned ReformJudaism, it “means “the telling” – is the book used at the Passover seder. The Haggadah explains the foods on the seder plate, recounts the highlights of the Exodus, and includes songs, prayers, questions, and vignettes.” And as explained by the University of Chicago’s Library, “The book tells the story of the Exodus from Egypt and explains the symbols and practices of the holiday. The Passover Haggadah was first compiled over two thousand years ago; and while the story has remained stable, narrative and illustrative styles have changed over time, and commentaries and songs have been added. Since traditionally each Jewish household held a Seder and owned a Haggadah, it became one of the most familiar books in the Jewish home.”
About the piece
This piece of the album reaches as far as the Maggid. I will try to match the 4 steps with what is explained on the booklet about what they are singing:
Steps of the seder, as explained on JewishVirtualLibrary.org:
1. Kaddesh: Sanctification
The word is derived from the Hebrew root Qof-Dalet-Shin, meaning holy. This is a blessing over wine in honor of the holiday. The wine is drunk, and a second cup is poured.
2. Urechatz: Washing
A washing of the hands without a blessing, in preparation for eating the Karpas.
3. Karpas: Vegetable
A vegetable (usually parsley) is dipped in salt water and eaten. The vegetable symbolizes the lowly origins of the Jewish people; the salt water symbolizes the tears shed as a result of our slavery. […]
4. Yachatz: Breaking
One of the three matzahs on the table is broken. Part is returned to the pile, the other part is set aside for the afikomen (see below).
5. Maggid: The Story
A retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt and the first Passover. This begins with the youngest person asking The Four Questions, a set of questions about the proceedings designed to encourage participation in the seder. […] The maggid is designed to satisfy the needs of four different types of people: the wise son, who wants to know the technical details; the wicked son, who excludes himself (and learns the penalty for doing so); the simple son, who needs to know the basics; and the son who is unable to ask, the one who doesn’t even know enough to know what he needs to know. At the end of the maggid, a blessing is recited over the second cup of wine and it is drunk.
Correspondence with the recording, according to the booklet:
1. The proceedings open with the chanting in unison of the Kiddush or Sanctification of the Festival, which consists in a Blessing over Wine and an acknowledgment of God’s bounty in choosing Israel from all peoples, hallowing it with His commandments, granting it festive seasons for rejoicing and, in particular, the present festival of the Passover. The Yemenite ritual expands the traditional formula into a lengthy chant, recorded already in the liturgy drawn up by the illustrious Saadya Gaon ( 892- 942) and by Maimonides (1135-1204).
2 and 3 don’t seem to appear so clearly.
4. The celebrant then points to the unleavened bread, and all chant together: IN HASTE went we forth out of Egypt […]
5. The service continues with the famous Four Questions, enumerating the differences between the paschal meal and a normal dinner and seeking explanations of them. The subsequent narrative is taken to supply the answers.
If you are interested in learning more about the Yemenite seder and its differences with the Ashkenazi and the Sephardic seder, there is a nice explanation by Lisa Samin in first person, on the JerusalemPost and another one by Ilana K. Levinsky on Times of Israel.
It’s time to enjoy the music.
Click the picture to listen to Kiddish; In Haste Went We; Four Questions: