There’s No Seder Like our Seder Song

Nationality: Jewish
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

The informant is my film partner (referred to as MR) who has a Jewish mother and was raised Jewish.  This is a song his Jewish grandmother has the family sing before the dinner service of Passover.

There’s No Seder Like our Seder

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!

MR: “We sing this song to the tune of “There’s no Business like Show business,” and my grandma had them printed on a twice photocopied piece of paper that she stores in this big bin that only comes out of the closet during Passover. So we all sing this right before the meal of Passover.”

This song is very interesting because it is sung to the tune of a song that is obviously not Jewish which also means that while this is a family tradition this may not be a widespread Jewish cultural tradition. At least this song being sung to the tune of “There’s no Business like Show business,” means that this is not carried down for centuries and is a modern twist on perhaps a more historically grounded Jewish song. The act of singing before a meal is also interesting because it shows the meal is much more of a celebration than other events.