הַּלֵילֹות? מִּכָל הַּזֶה הַּלַיְלָה ּנִׁשְּתַּנָהמַה

מַּצָה: ּכֻּלֹו הַּזֶה הַּלַיְלָה ּומַּצָה. חָמֵץ אֹוכְלִין אָנּו הַּלֵילֹותׁשֶּבְכָל מָרֹור: הַּזֶה הַּלַיְלָה יְרָקֹות ׁשְאָר אֹוכְלִין אָנּו הַּלֵילֹותׁשֶּבְכָל פְעָמִים: ׁשְּתֵי הַּזֶה הַּלַיְלָה אֶחָת. ּפַעַם אֲפִילּו מַטְּבִילִין אָנּו אֵין הַּלֵילֹותׁשֶּבְכָל מְסֻּבִין: ּכֻּלָנּו הַּזֶה הַּלַיְלָה מְסֻּבִין. ּובֵין יֹוׁשְבִין ּבֵין אֹוכְלִין אָנּו הַּלֵילֹותׁשֶּבְכָל

Mah nishtanah halaila hazeh mikol halaylot?
Shebakhol halaylot anu okhleen khamaytz u’matzah, halaila hazeh kulo matzah.
Shebakhol halaylot anu okhleen sh’ahr y’rakot, halaila hazeh maror.
Shebakhol halaylot ayn anu matbeeleen afeelu pa’am akhat, halaila hazeh sh’tay f’ameem. Shebakhol halaylot anu okh’leen beyn yoshveen u’vayn m’subeen, halaila hazeh kulanu m’subeen.

Why is tonight different from all other nights?

On all other nights we may eat either leavened bread or matzah; tonight, only matzah, that we may recall the unleavened bread our ancestors baked in haste when they left slavery .

On all other nights we need not taste bitterness; tonight, we eat bitter herbs, that we may recall the suffering of slavery.

On all other nights we needn’t dip our food in condiments even once; tonight we dip twice, in saltwater to remember our tears when we were enslaved, and in haroset to remember the mortar and the bricks which we made.

On all other nights we eat sitting up; tonight, we recline, to remind ourselves to savor our liberation.

In addition to the Four Questions, tonight we ask ourselves a fifth:

We are commanded to celebrate as if each one of us were personally liberated from Egypt. In the last year, how have you been liberated from bondage—and in the next year, how do you hope to bring yourself closer to your place of freedom? 


haggadah Section: -- Four Questions
Source: Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach