Take a Minute

Little Dina, she was just 12 years of age

Whole life ahead nothing could get in her way

Got up for school like it was just a normal day

Walked out of the door, promised her mother not to stray

So little Dina, see she caught the bus to school

Knew that with the matsav it might be dangerous and all

But her family, they couldn’t afford a car

And she couldn’t walk to school see it was too far

At the bus stop were waiting the usual crowd

The bus arrived, Dina boarded and sat down

Saw her school friends and they quickly all gathered round

Soon chatter and laughter drowned the engine’s sound

What no one knew was there was a passenger with malice

Hell bent on causing maximum horrendous damage

A man whose mind was well and truly savage

This passenger was a Palestinian fanatic

Nissim, he had only recently arrived

Nine months old, the apple of his mother’s eye

Sure there were times when he would wail and cry

But you should have seen his smile when his eyes were dry

Nissim’s parents had decided to go out for dinner

Couldn’t find a babysitter so Nissim had come with them

It had been nice to get out and take a bit of a break

Of course there was the matsav but it had been quiet of late

They’d been sitting after eating, just taking it easy

Reflecting on what had been a really lovely evening

Nissim had been great no hint even of screaming

He’d been restless earlier – had just started teething

They had an eye on the clock, it was getting a bit late

Nissim needed to sleep so they got the bill and paid

They had no idea what was lying outside in wait

A man filled with hate determined to seal their fate

Greta was getting on, she was a bit of an old timer

Poor thing was a German Holocaust survivor

But over time she’d tried to put all that behind her

She found living for the present made the past’s burdens lighter

Every year at Pesach she had the family to seder

But for a change this year, in order to save her

The trouble of cooking her son-in-law had made a booking

At a hotel instead – persuading Greta took some doing!

She gave in eventually and it was all going fine

Half-way through the seder and just about to dine

A little bit merry from her first two cups of wine

She would smile and you could see her eyes still had their shine

But even on this most holy of nights

While all present forgot their fright at Israel’s (current) plight

It seemed that there could never be any respite

As into their midst stepped a man who unleashed his might

For Dina, Nissim and Greta

Take a minute to remember

For all who’ve passed due to terror

Take a minute to remember

Not names but lives too

Take a minute to remember

Your memory will survive you

Take a minute to remember