My Passover prep and celebrations have always been consistent. I alternate between saying Passover and Pesach, I use the Maxwell House haggadah at my seder and I watch “Shalom Sesame Passover” — okay, that mostly happened when I was younger, but I stand by it being an excellent piece of Jewish culture! I was staunch in my traditions (hi, Tevye!) and didn’t really see the need to add an animated film to the rotation during the holiday.
But it seems I may have been overlooking another important piece of Passover Jewish culture: “The Prince of Egypt.” Every year, friends routinely question why I haven’t watched it, and even my Christian friends seem invested in the lore behind the film. I’m someone who is either way too early or way too late when it comes to trends, and it seems like for The Prince of Egypt, I’m the latter. So this year, I’m changing that. This year, I’m ringing in Passover season by watching “The Prince of Egypt” for the very first time.
Of course I had to text my friends my reactions as I watched — they’d been waiting for this day for so long. They deserved minute by minute updates. And so do you. So here, I present to you, 18 things I thought / felt / texted to a friend as I watched “The Prince of Egypt” for the very first time.
2. Oh hi, Ofra Haza!
3. They’re using actual Hebrew here?
4. Moshe as a hell-raiser??
5. Miriam being awesome. We’ve known.
6. I need to know who these voice actors are.
7. Wait, wait. I just looked it up. This is a STACKED voice cast. Hi, Jeff Goldblum! Hi, Val Kilmer! Hi, Michelle Pfeiffer!
8. Stop, this is just like “Tangled” with the hair cutting scene.
9. This niggun goes hard.
10. Did Jewish Day School fail me? I forgot about the staff turning into the snake. Please don’t tell my teachers.
11. The brother drama here is crazy.
12. “LET MY PEOPLE GO.” Say it louder, Moshe!!
13. “This Hebrew nonsense” is literally just another way to describe the way I talk.
14. Oh, wait, stop. “The Plagues” is such a bop. “SEND A PESTILENCE, SEND A PLAGUE!”
15. STOP NJB Stephen Schwartz of “Pippin” did this??
16. Okay, this is actually a really effective way of teaching the Torah and it’s actually really cool that they consulted with Imams, Priests and Rabbis. You go, Dreamworks (and thanks to my friend for providing this information before I pressed play)!
17. I have made a terrible mistake by not watching this earlier.
18. “I AM THE MORNING AND THE EVENING STAR” is how I’m going to enter parties now.
Happy Passover, everyone!
