Traditionally, the youngest person at the seder (presumably the one with the least seder experience) recites The Four Questions. The questions ask why we perform certain rituals tonight, like eating matzah instead of bread. “Why is this night different from all other nights?” they ask.

For many of us, a night in recovery is much different than the alternative. Chances are you have had to explain your recovery-oriented choices to others, especially if they don’t know you’re sober or if they used to use with you. What questions have others asked you when you chose a night in recovery instead of a night of using, and how have you answered? If you are not in recovery, what questions do you have for those who are?

This night is different from all other nights because on this night we become conscious, mindful, aware that we have choices. We take advantage of the fact that we as human beings have been given the gift of free will. We make sure to remind ourselves
that there is a way out and that if we join hands, we can indeed cross the Red Sea.
We will begin to conceive of a life that is larger than we ever could have imagined.

-- Cantor Rebekah Mirsky, founding Cantor of Beit T’shuvah,
a Jewish addiction treatment center in Los Angeles


haggadah Section: -- Four Questions