Chad Gadya

Main article: Passover songs

Chad Gadya (Aramaic: חַד גַדְיָה chad gadya) is a playful cumulative song, written in Aramaic with Hebrew words interspersed. In English, "Chad Gadya" means "One Little Goat" (also "One Kid"). It is the last song sung before "L'shana Ha'ba'ah Birushalayim" (Next Year in Jerusalem) at the Passover Seder. It is believed to have developed from Medieval German folk music. The song is popular with children and similar to other cumulative songs such as "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". Echad Mi Yodea, another cumulative song, is also in the Passover Haggadah.

File:Pesach3.gif

The father holding his kid goat that he bought.

Sometimes it is translated, "one little goat", other times "one little kid.", where "kid" refers to a baby goat. The word "chad" is Aramaic for "one" ("echad" in Hebrew), and "gadya" is Aramaic for a young goat (Hebrew "gedi").

Symbolism of Chad Gadya

There is deep symbolism in this song. Many explanations have been written attempting to explain it. A popular explanation is that Chad Gadya shows the different nations that have inhabited the Land of Israel with the child goat being the Jewish people, then the cat being Assyria, the dog Babylon, the stick Persia, the fire Macedonia, the water Rome, the ox Saracens; the slaughterer the Crusaders, the Angel of Death, the Turks. At the end, God returns to send the Jews back to Israel.

Text

#	English ONE LITTLE GOAT	Transliteration Chad Gadya	Hebrew חַד גַּדְיָא
Verse 1:
1	One little goat, one little goat:	Chad gadya, chad gadya,	Template:Hebrew
2	Which my father bought for two zuzim.	dizabin abah bitrei zuzei.	Template:Hebrew
Verse 2:
3	One little goat, one little goat:	Chad gadya, chad gadya,	Template:Hebrew
3	The cat came, and ate the goat,	ve-ata shunra ve-akhlah le-gadya	Template:Hebrew
4	Which my father bought for two zuzim.	dizabin abba bitrei zuzei.	Template:Hebrew
Verse 3:
3	One little goat, one little goat:	Chad gadya, chad gadya,	Template:Hebrew
3	The dog came, and bit the cat, that ate the goat,	ve-ata kalba ve-nashakh le-shunra, de-akhlah le-gadya	Template:Hebrew
4	Which my father bought for two zuzim.	dizabin abba bitrei zuzei.	Template:Hebrew
Verse 4:
5	One little goat, one little goat:	Chad gadya, chad gadya,	Template:Hebrew
6	The stick came, and beat the dog,	ve-ata chutra, ve-hikkah le-khalba	Template:Hebrew
7	that bit the cat, that ate the goat,	de-nashakh le-shunra, de-akhlah le-gadya	Template:Hebrew
8	Which my father bought for two zuzim.	dizabin abba bitrei zuzei.	Template:Hebrew
Verse 5:
9	One little goat, one little goat:	Chad gadya, chad gadya,	Template:Hebrew
10	The fire came, and burned the stick,	ve-ata nura, ve-saraf le-chutra	Template:Hebrew
11	that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat,	de-hikkah le-khalba, de-nashakh le-shunra, de-akhlah le-gadya	Template:Hebrew
12	Which my father bought for two zuzim.	dizabin abba bitrei zuzei.	Template:Hebrew
Verse 6:
13	One little goat, one little goat:	Chad gadya, chad gadya,	Template:Hebrew
14	The water came, and extinguished the fire,	ve-ata maya, ve-khavah le-nura	Template:Hebrew
15	that burned the stick, that beat the dog,	de-saraf le-chutra, de-hikkah le-khalba	Template:Hebrew
15	that bit the cat, that ate the goat,	de-nashakh le-shunra, de-akhlah le-gadya	Template:Hebrew
16	Which my father bought for two zuzim.	dizabin abba bitrei zuzei.	Template:Hebrew
Verse 7:
17	One little goat, one little goat:	Chad gadya, chad gadya,	Template:Hebrew
18	The ox came, and drank the water,	ve-ata tora, ve-shatah le-maya	Template:Hebrew
19	that extinguished the fire, that burned the stick,	de-khavah le-nura, de-saraf le-chutra	Template:Hebrew
20	that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat,	de-hikkah le-khalba, de-nashakh le-shunra, de-akhlah le-gadya	Template:Hebrew
21	Which my father bought for two zuzim.	dizabin abba bitrei zuzei.	Template:Hebrew
Verse 8:
22	One little goat, one little goat:	Chad gadya, chad gadya,	Template:Hebrew
23	The slaughterer came, and killed the ox,	ve-ata ha-shochet, ve-shachat le-tora	Template:Hebrew
24	that drank the water, that extinguished the fire,	de-shatah le-maya, de-khavah le-nura	Template:Hebrew
25	that burned the stick, that beat the dog,	de-saraf le-chutra, de-hikkah le-khalba	Template:Hebrew
26	that bit the cat, that ate the goat,	de-nashakh le-shunra, de-akhlah le-gadya	Template:Hebrew
27	Which my father bought for two zuzim.	dizabin abba bitrei zuzei.	Template:Hebrew
Verse 9:
28	One little goat, one little goat:	Chad gadya, chad gadya,	Template:Hebrew
29	The Angel of Death came, and slew the slaughterer,	ve-ata mal'akh ha-mavet, ve-shachat le-shochet	Template:Hebrew
30	who killed the ox, that drank the water,	de-shachat le-torah, de-shatah le-maya	Template:Hebrew
31	that extinguished the fire, that burned the stick,	de-khavah le-maya, de-saraf le-chutra	Template:Hebrew
32	that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat,	de hikkah le-khalba, de-nashakh le-shunra, de-akhlah le-gadya	Template:Hebrew
33	Which my father bought for two zuzim.	dizabin abba bitrei zuzei.	Template:Hebrew
Verse 10:
34	One little goat, one little goat:	Chad gadya, chad gadya,	Template:Hebrew
35	Then came the Holy One, Blessed be He,	ve-ata ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu	Template:Hebrew
36	and smote the Angel of Death, who slew the slaughterer,	ve-shachat le-mal'akh ha-mavet, de-shachat le-shochet	Template:Hebrew
37	who killed the ox, that drank the water,	de-shachat le-tora, de-shatah le-maya	Template:Hebrew
38	that extinguished the fire, that burned the stick,	de-khavah le-nura, de-saraf le-chutra	Template:Hebrew
39	that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat,	de-hikkah le-khalba, de-nashakh le-shunra, de-akhlah le-gadya	Template:Hebrew
40	Which my father bought for two zuzim.	dizabin abba bitrei zuzei.	Template:Hebrew
Verse 11:
41	One little goat, one little goat.	Chad gadya, chad gadya,	Template:Hebrew

Trivia

• In the 2005 Natalie Portman film Free Zone, a song based on the traditional Chad Gadya is sung and composed by Israeli singer Chava Alberstein. It relates to the contemporary themes in the movie.

See Also

• Passover Seder
• Passover