The Four Answers

Miguel: So why is this night different from all other nights? Well, because on this night, we celebrate one of the most important times in the history of God's people, when we went forth from slavery to freedom because of the mercy, love, and the great power of YHWH our God. But before we retell that story, let ’s answer the four questions:

1. Why do we eat the unleavened bread (matzah)? We eat the matzah for two reasons: first, to remember the bread of affliction we had to eat when we were slaves and second, to remember how our ancestors fled from Egypt in such a hurry that they did not have time for their bread dough to rise.

2. Why do we eat the bitter herbs? We eat them to remind ourselves of how our ancestors’ lives were bitter as slaves in Egypt.

3. Why do we dip our herbs twice? We dip karpas in salt water to remember the salty tears of the slaves, and also to remember how we crossed the salty waters of the sea. We also dip the maror in the charoset to remember how the bitterness of our slavery was made sweet by the hope for our freedom.

4. Why do we recline at the table? We recline tonight as a symbol of our freedom, for when we were slaves we could never recline in comfort.

Now let's begin the great story of our redemption...


haggadah Section: -- Four Children