Hebrew – Connecting People

Shalom,

The holiday of Pesach is approaching soon and we wanted to share with you an amazing story, which unveils in the style of the traditional Pesach song “Chad Gadyah”. 

Well, our story begins with a girl from Taiwan, Mira.

Mira has studied Hebrew using our online Guided Distance Learning program (GDL) with our teacher Tal. 

Mira progressed very fast and reached the level, where we decided she could be trained to become a Hebrew teacher herself, and teach Hebrew, using Ulpan-Or method in the eastern hemisphere.

Last summer Mira arrived in Jerusalem with a small group of other women from Taiwan for an intensive Hebrew training workshop.

The training seminar was conducted by our teacher Ophir.

Mira was qualified by Ulpan-Or to teach Hebrew for beginner level students.

Mira returned to Taiwan and started teaching Hebrew in the East conducting online sessions.  

Among other students she now teaches Hebrew to students from Mongolia.

One of her Mongolian students is Yael who even learns up-to-date Israeli slang from Mira…

Toward the end of Pesach Seder ceremony people usually sing the song Chad Gadyah: 

חַד גַּדְיָא, חַד גַּדְיָא, דְּזַבִּין אַבָּא בִּתְרֵי זוּזֵי, חַד גַּדְיָא, חַד גַּדְיָא

וַאֲתָא שׁוּנְרָא, וְאָכְלָא לְגַדְיָא, דְּזַבִּין אַבָּא בִּתְרֵי זוּזֵי, חַד גַּדְיָא, חַד גַּדְיָא

וַאֲתָא כַלְבָּא, וְנָשַׁךְ לְשׁוּנְרָא, דְּאָכְלָא לְגַדְיָא, דְּזַבִּין אַבָּא בִּתְרֵי זוּזֵי, חַד גַּדְיָא, חַד גַּדְיָא

…

One goat kid. One goat kid. That daddy bought for two zuzim. One goat kid. One goat kid.

And came the cat and ate the kid that daddy bought for two zuzim. One goat kid. One goat kid.

And came the dog and bit the cat that ate the kid etc….

See the full text later in this newsletter.

On the surface Chad Gadyah reminds the English version of the nonsense song created in the cumulative style:

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly;

I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she’ll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider;
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her!

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;

I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – Perhaps she’ll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd to swallow a bird!

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider;

That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her!

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;

I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – Perhaps she’ll die….

Well, in our case in the format of Chad Gadyah:

Yael from Mongolia is learning Hebrew from the Taiwanese teacher Mira,

Who learned Hebrew from Ulpan-Or teacher Tal,

Who was trained by Ulpan-Or teacher Ophir,

Who learned from Ulpan-Or teacher Maayan,

Who learned from Ulpan-Or teacher Nachum,

Who was trained by Ulpan-Or founder Orly,

Who was inspired by the Holy One, blessed be He to create Ulpan-Or unique method…

So, in this case Hebrew became the connector between Mongolia, Taiwan and Israel – all through Ulpan-Or. 

Watch Yael from Mongolia speak Hebrew!

https://vimeo.com/260375527

And now about the song – Chad Gadyah

The Pesach Seder is over.

We are about to settle back into our chairs, when everybody is launched into the traditional rendering of Chad Gadyah.  

Chad Gadyah has ten stanzas.

It goes like this:

One goat kid. One goat kid. That daddy bought for two zuzim. One goat kid. One goat kid.

And came the cat and ate the kid that daddy bought for two zuzim. One goat kid. One goat kid.

And came the dog and bit the cat that ate the kid etc.

And came the stick and hit the dog etc.

And came the fire and burned the stick etc.

And came the water and doused the fire etc.

And came the ox and drank the water etc.

And came the slaughterer and killed the ox etc.

And came the angel of death and killed the slaughterer etc.

And came The Holy One Blessed be He and killed the angel of death that killed the slaughterer that killed the ox that drank the water that doused the fire that hit the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that daddy bought for two zuzim.

One goat kid. One goat kid.

Is it no more than a harmless ditty to amuse the children?

Or does Chad Gadyah have a secret meaning?

A hidden depth of allusion beneath the surface…

Find out the answer in

Ulpan-Or’s online Haggadah for Pesach

Contact us to find out how to get a free one-month subscription to our online Haggadah. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Yoel & Orly 

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