Difference between revisions of "Had Gadya"

Revision as of 03:04, September 22, 2012

The Had Gadya is a song sung at the Passover Seder or meal. The language is Aramaic as are some other parts of the mainly Hebrew ceremony. It is sung in most cases boisterously, with much enthusiasm and happiness that emanate from the children as well as the adults. The melody is lifting, repetitious and making it easy to learn and sing, and builds to a crescendo of exaltation. This has much to do with its theme which seems to bring home the message that though so much seems to be unjust and have gone wrong and against us, it has happened thus only to show who He is, and He, our God, will have the last word. He will have the final say. It demonstrates the indirect inculcations of moral lessons (more "caught" or imbibed than taught) - in this case, that beyond the injustices of this life, which we shall surely experience as we live, there is a moral fabric behind which a personal and caring and exacting God will one day act.

Although some think Had Gadya is a simple children's song, others view it as an allegory for the history of the Jewish people - the Father is God, blessing the Jewish people with two tablets - the Ten Commandments. The latter characters represent nations who one by one, conquered the Holy Land - the dog is Assyria, the stick Persia, the fire Alexander the Great, the water the Roman Empire, the ox the Saracens, the slaughterer the Crusaders, and the Angel of Death represents the Ottoman Empire. Each conqueror was in turn conquered, and ultimately, the song shows that God will conquer the conquerors. ^[1]

Had Gadya, Had Gadya. One Kid, One Kid.

One kid, one kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the cat came and ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the dog came and bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid,one kid.

And the stick came and beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the fire came and burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the water came and quenched the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the ox came and drank the water that quenched the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the slaughter came and slaughtered the ox that drank the water that quenched the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the Angel of Death came and slew the slaughterer that slaughtered the ox that drank the water that quenched the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the Holy One, blessed is He, came and killed the Angel of Death that slew the slaughterer that slaughtered the ox that drank the water that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

See Also

• Aramaic

• Passover Seder

• Kaddish

References

1. ↑ [1]