Ask, Child
“Here the child asks “Mah Nishtana?”
What makes this night different from all
[other] nights?
On all nights we need not dip even once, on this night we do so twice!
On all nights we eat chametz or matzah, and on this night only matzah.
On all nights we eat any kind of vegetables, and on this night maror!
On all nights we eat sitting upright or reclining, and on this night we all recline!
“Here the Child Asks”
Asking questions is an integral part of the Seder. It does not suffice to simply tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt; one must tell the story in response to the questions of the children. In fact, there are four questions that are traditionally asked by the children at the beginning of the Seder.
In many Haggadot (the classical text recited at the Seder) the “Four Questions” are prefaced by the following, instructional phrase:
“Here the child asks…”
At first blush, these words were intended to indicate that this is the appropriate place for the child to ask the questions. However, Chassidic commentators are quick to point out that these introductory words actually convey a poignant message.
We are All G-d’s Children
The word child here is a metaphor for all of us, who are G-d’s little children. At this point, when we are ready to begin the process of retelling the story of the Exodus, each and every one of G-d’s children can ask their Heavenly Father for all of their needs and requests.
One is entitled to ask, why is this particular place singled out for asking G-d for our needs? Isn’t the process of asking G-d for our needs the function of prayer? And don’t we, in fact, pray three times every weekday; asking G-d for our needs? Why do we need to set aside a few moments before the child asks the Four Questions to turn our hearts Heavenward and petition G-d for our needs?
No Difference between Child and Adult
The answer, lies in the unique status of the child that all of us, including the adults, assume on the night of Passover. Despite the fact that we are all G-d’s children, there is a special place in G-d’s “heart” for the innocence and purity of one who is also very literally a child. Even the most hardened of people, seem to melt away when they are in the presence of a child.
This phenomenon, like all phenomena, is a representation of the way G-d relates to us. Because G-d has a special feeling for children, we, who were created in G-d’s “image,” also relate to children in an unusual way.
And while the distinction between adult and child applies throughout the year, it breaks down on Passover eve, particularly at the time that we are required to exhibit the childlike quality of inquisitiveness.
Where is Here?
Let us now return to the introductory remark that precedes the Four Questions:
“Here, the child asks…”
“Here,” refers to the Seder night, when we relive the experience of the Exodus, which marked the birth of the Jewish People and their entry into the stage of infancy.
“Here,” more specifically, refers to the point that is reserved for children. The energy generated by all the little children, poised to express their innocence and inquisitiveness, awakens the child in all of us. And as G-d’s children, we can ask for anything.
“Here,” refers even more specifically to the geographic and spiritual state of exile in which we are situated.
As we just concluded saying:
“This year we are here, next year we will be in the Land of Israel; this year we are slaves, next year we will be free.”
At this point, where we realize the fact that we are still “here,” in exile, this is where the child in us is aroused to ask, G-d why? Way are we still in exile? Why are we not totally free, both physically and spiritually?
When we ask, with the innocence and purity of a child, why—though this night may indeed be very different—why are we still in exile, G-d listens to our childlike purity of heart and assures us that the “night of exile” is but temporary. Just like He saved us from the Pharaohs in past generations, so too will He redeem us from this present exile so that we can indeed celebrate the Seder—this year—in Jerusalem!
The Four Questions Revisited
THE FOUR QUESTIONS REVISITED What makes this night different from all [other] nights? On all nights we need not dip even once, on this night we do so twice! On all nights we eat chametz or matzah, and on this night only matzah. On all nights we eat any kind of vegetables, and on this night maror! On all nights we eat sitting upright or reclining, and on this night we all recline! Why Makes This Night Different One of the highlights of the Passover Seder is the Mah Nishtanah, The Four Questions concerning the things that are unique to the night of Passover. These Four Questions are prefaced with a general question: “Why is this night different from all other nights.” Some commentators interpreted this introductory question as it relates to the present exile. Night is a metaphor for exile and the question therefore is: Why is this exile different from all the other preceding exiles? The Rebbe Rashab follows that approach with one slight variation: Instead of the word Mah translated as why, he renders it more literally as “what.” The question now reads: What is it that distinguishes this exile from all the others? Or “How is this exile different from all the others?” And the Four Questions that follow are actually four answers to the question; four explanations as to what makes this exile different from all others. (See Hayom Yom for the Rebbe Rashab’s novel interpretation of the four questions/answers in detail. In short, the dipping, Matzah, Maror and reclining are expressions of ultimate purity that will transform our bodies, and animal souls, elevate us to unprecedentedly higher levels of spirituality and the experience of the essence of G-dly delight that will occasion the Geulah from this golus.) The following is an attempt to adapt the Rebbe Rashab’s approach to the Mah Nishtanah and apply it to the current phase of exile, which is arguably different from all preceding phases Sandwiched In the end of the Biblical Book of Daniel, it is stated: “Happy is the one who waits.” Rashi, based on the Midrash, comments that the praise extended to the one who waits for Moshiach refers to the period when Moshiach is hidden after he had already been revealed. The scenario for Moshiach according to the Midrash is that Moshiach is first revealed (nigleh) and then he is concealed (nichseh) and then revealed again (nigleh), after which time he will inaugurate the final redemption. Moshiach is revealed even before the actual redemption just as Moshe was revealed as the redeemer even as Jews were still languishing in Egypt and suffering from their enslavement. The Rebbe stated that Moshiach has already been revealed. Subsequent to Gimmel Tammuz we thus entered into the interim period of concealment, waiting impatiently for the time Moshiach will take us out of exile. When Rashi applies the words “happy is the one who waits” to this interim period of concealment and not to the period that precedes Moshiach’s initial revelation it indicates that this period of interim concealment carries with it a unique challenge. It may therefore be suggested—following the approach of the Rebbe Rashab—that the question Mah Nishtanah can be interpreted in a way that reflects the unique phase of exile in which we presently find ourselves: “What is it about this phase of night/exile/concealment that is different from all other phases of exile? The question is important because it challenges us to look for the approach we must take in this period of exile that is commensurate with its unique status of “sandwiched” concealment. The first response to the question is: Double Dipping “All other periods of night/exile we do not dip even once; this phase of exile we dip twice.” The phrase “other nights” is in the plural; “this night” is obviously in the singular form. In past periods of exile there was no singular focus. There were many forms of darkness. By contrast, this post-Gimmel Tammuzconcealment phase is punctuated by its singularity. As the Rebbe told us, our task is to prepare ourselves and the entire world to welcome and internalize Moshiach. This we do by intensifying all aspects of Judaism permeated with the objective of ushering in the Redemption. After Gimmel Tammuz we are obsessed with revealing Moshiach and reuniting with our Rebbe. We then refer to the “double-dipping” that occurs on this night of Passover. The reason for the dipping is simply to do things differently from the way we usually do them. We start off by changing the narrative so that it would arouse the curiosity of the child. The child that we have to stimulate is the Moshiach innocence within us that is covered up. The first step—even before we cultivate the adult and mature aspect of our efforts to bring about the Geulah is not to lose the virtue and innocence of the child within— whom our Sages refer to as Meshichoy— even as we try to grow in our mature understanding of Moshiach and Geulah. But that child-like innocence that hasn’t yet been tainted by our intellectual nature may be lying dormant. We must do something drastic, unorthodox and unconventional to awaken it. We therefore do unusual things because it reveals the “differences” within us; those elements that make us different and unique; our yechidah (the essence and “Moshiach” of our soul) that is different and unique. But dipping once is not enough. The Rebbe did “revolutionary” things until they became mainstream and then he “dipped” again. The Rebbe’s frequent blessing was kiflayim l’toshiyah-double strength because Redemption is connected to the idea of repetition, as in the repetitive expression employed in reference to the first Exodus: “pakod pokaditi-I have indeed remembered,” etc. The message is that even after we did something unconventionally positive; once it becomes the norm, we “dip” again; we keep on beating our own record of transcendence. The Rebbe expressed this idea when in the historic talk of the 28th of Nissan he declared that we should introduce the “light of Tohu in the vessels of Tikkun.” Tohu is transcendent light. Now is not the time to be content with conventional approaches. But once they become internalized and comfortably ensconced within the vessels of Tikkun as the Rebbe demanded, we have to introduce new unfettered light until it too is internalized. Alternatively, we might add: Dipping twice means we should first stop being fixated on the conventional Oros d’tikkun and start acting with Oros d’tohu. The second message (“dipping”) is we should stop being fixated exclusively on Oros d’tohu and start working on keilim d’tikkun. In other words, we cannot just focus on what is a radical departure from what we’ve done before in one direction only. We must take our serene Tikkun personalities and imbue them with the fiery passion of Tohu. And when that passion begins to remove us from the reality of the world that we left behind because of our flight to the “stratosphere,” we must “dip” again and plant our feet on the terra firma of Tikkun only to take off again to a yet higher place. This is what awakens the Moshiach spark within us. The Geulah Positioning System Once we’ve successfully boarded the rocket that propels us into Tohu space and back again to earth, we are ready to focus on the actual mission. “In all other periods of Golus we eat Chometz or Matzah, in this phase of golus we eat only Matzah..” Matzah, Chassidic philosophy teaches us, is the symbol of Bittul, self-effacing submission to G-d and His Torah. In other period of golus we were allowed to pursue our own metzius (subjective interests that satisfy our egos) even as we had times when we would experience the self-surrender of matzah-bittul. A child, the Rambam says, you may bribe to get him or her to do a Mitzvah. As he or she matures, their notion of reward becomes more sophisticated, but one may still lack the ability to totally put aside one’s own interests. Today we have only bittul; i.e., even our ego is harnessed to bringing the Geulah. Every part of our personality must revolve around Geulah. Now the emphasis on bittul, i.e. having our eyes on the goal, is more pronounced and urgent than ever before: In the past, when we were still on the road towards Geulah it was easy to get sidetracked and go off on a tangent into our own personal ambitions and goals that were not totally in consonance with our ultimate goal. And that was okay as long as we did not violate any of the teachings of the Torah. Thus, our Sages state, the traveling disruptions are more difficult for a man than for a woman. This can be explained in a spiritual fashion. Our goal is to make the world into a dwelling place for G-d. That is what Moshiach and Geulah are all about. Women, who create dwelling places for G-d in their own homes, are much more “plugged in” to the goal. They do not easily stray from it. Men who do the preliminary work of paving the way might forget as to what is the ultimate objective of their work and may take a detour. In the age of GPS’s we must recognize that we too must be guided by the Geulah Positioning System and dwell on it while we are engaged in the Geulah-Pesach-Seder. In this phase of exile, we have to be exclusively matzah; everything we do must revolve around fulfilling G-d’s agenda of making the world a dwelling place for Him and not our own—even spiritual—agenda. Crushed! In all other nights/exiles we eat all types of greens, this night/phase of exile we eat Maror No matter how difficult golus is there are times when we can eat greens, we get satisfaction with our growth; now we are shattered because we are still in a period of concealment. As the Rebbe stated in his landmark discourse—the last one he distributed to us—this is the meaning of the Torah’s requirement to crush the olives for the Menorah to elicit the source and essence of light. While in the past we focused on the manifestations of G-dly light, now we cannot tolerate anything less than the G-d’s essence. As the Rebbe explains in that discourse days before he entered into the stage of nichseh, never before were we as crushed as we are today—not because of persecution and suffering—but because the ultimate goal of reaching the “fiftieth gate of understanding” still eludes us. Our feeling of being crushed is even more palpable now because we cannot hear or see the Rebbe. The concealment that comes after the initial revelation is in many ways more crushing than the concealment we experienced throughout the painful journey of exile. Unity! In all other nights/exiles we eat sitting or reclining; in this phase of exile all of us eat reclining Reclining is the expression of Geulah. In all other periods we could compartmentalize golus and Geulah; now we are obsessed with Geulah In addition, the idea of “we are all reclining” conveys the idea of unity of the Jewish people. In the past, unity was not as crucial. There was room for division; now we have to all be sitting at the same table and partake of the feast associated with Geulah, even if we disagree about methodology. We ought to focus, as the Rebbe told us, on the things that unite us, and not on that which divides us. And there is one thing we all agree on: That we are preparing ourselves and the entire world for the Geulah Shleimah.
From the book Light from the Future: Haggadah Shel Pesach by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
