The Punch Haggadah |
As my grandchildren recited the Four Questions, my thoughts drifted—unexpectedly—to Punch the Monkey.
Yes, Punch-kun, the Japanese macaque.
That short-tailed, soft brown-furred monkey with the gentle, closed-lipped smile.
That big-eared, cuddly creature we all instinctively wanted to cradle and protect.
The same monkey who captured—and broke—hearts across TikTok.
Punch’s story, I realized, unfolds with a rhythm not unlike our family seder.
For those who may not know it, here is his tale.
Punch was born at the Ichikawa City Zoo. From the beginning, his life was marked by rejection: his mother would not care for him, and the zookeepers had to step in to raise him by hand.
Worse still, the troop rejected him. They bullied him, refused to socialize with him, and left him to navigate his small world alone.
Seeing his isolation, the zookeepers offered a simple act of kindness: a plush IKEA orangutan.
A soft, orange companion with large black eyes and a stitched, closed-lipped smile.
Punch clung to it. He hugged it, carried it everywhere, and slept wrapped in its arms—his only friend in a world that had turned him away.
And people around the world watched, empathized, and mourned for that small, lonely creature.
But then, something changed.
After forty days in the wilderness of isolation, Punch found acceptance. A member of the troop befriended him. Others followed. In time, he was no longer alone—he even found a mate.
Redemption came, slowly but surely.
So what does this small story of sorrow and renewal have to do with the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt?
And so are the Jewish people.