THE FOUR QUESTIONS

The Mishna details questions one is obligated to ask on the night of the seder. It is customary for the youngest child present to recite the four questions. Some customs hold that the other participants recite them quietly to themselves as well. At some seders, the newest person to the seder asks the questions in English, partnering with a guest who knows the Hebrew.  The need to ask is so imperative that even if a person is alone at Passover, they are obligated to ask themselves and to answer their own questions.

Ma nishtana ha lyla ha zeh mikkol hallaylot?
Why is this night different from all other nights?

  1. Shebb'khol hallelot anu okh'lin ḥamets umatsa, vehallayla hazze kullo matsa.
    Why is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either leavened bread or matza, but on this night we eat only matza?
  2. Shebb'khol hallelot anu okh'lin sh'ar y'rakot, vehallayla hazze maror.
    Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables, but on this night we eat bitter herbs?
  3. Shebb'khol hallelot en anu matbillin afillu pa'am eḥat, vehallayla hazze sh'tei fe'amim.
    Why is it that on all other nights we do not dip [our food] even once, but on this night we dip them twice?
  4. Shebb'khol hallelot anu okh'lin ben yosh'vin uven m'subbin, vehallayla hazze kullanu m'subbin.
    Why is it that on all other nights we dine either sitting upright or reclining, but on this night we all recline?

The questions are answered with the following:

  1. We eat only matzah because our ancestors could not wait for their breads to rise when they were fleeing slavery in Egypt, and so they were flat when they came out of the oven.
  2. We eat only Maror, a bitter herb, to remind us of the bitterness of slavery that our ancestors endured while in Egypt.
  3. The first dip, green vegetables in salt water, symbolizes the replacing of our tears with gratitude, and the second dip, Maror in Charoses, symbolizes the sweetening of our burden of bitterness and suffering.
  4. We recline at the Seder table because in ancient times, a person who reclined at a meal was a free person, while slaves and servants stood.

haggadah Section: -- Four Questions