Shlomo Yablonka
Poland- Lest I Burst into Tears
Ramat Yohanan, 1990
The Seder was conducted with powerful singing: father would let one son read a section of the Haggadah each time. The youngest of the sons would ask the four questions. On the table was a large glass for Elijah the Prophet; a large and particularly beautiful glass which had been in our family for many years. When we reached the point of drinking the second glass father would fill Elijah the Prophet’s glass and the sisters ran to open the doors to Elijah the Prophet – in our home there were two entrances and if he ever came in I never saw him. When we reached the Hallel song we all stood and sang the Hallel with special enthusiasm and loudly. We also sang the song “When the Children of Israel left Egypt” with great enthusiasm and intent --- One day before the war broke out I left home. It has been already 50 years since I have sat at a Seder with my parents however on every Seder Night in Ramat Yohanan, when I sing “When the Children of Israel left Egypt” – the pain is there again with me, as if it was alive. The Passover Seder in my parents’ home, with the brothers and sisters and their children, all of whom went up in flames in the Holocaust, together with the rest of my family members and all the Jews in our town.