Excerpts

A Lesson in Pedagogy

Asking questions is a very Jewish thing to do, and answering questions with more questions is an even more Jewish thing to do!  The traditional questions we asked are very old questions.  Our ancestors have been asking each other these questions for generations.  You would think by now that we would have the answers already! 

So why do we keep asking them?  Because the story of our people is an on-going story.  We delight in hearing it again and again, like any family story we know by heart. 

And why, on this night of all nights, do we have the youngest among us do the asking?  Because it reminds us that the children, too, are on the journey.  We tell the Passover story so that even the youngest among us will understand...


...The rebellious child asks:  What does this mean to all of you?

This child is oppositional -- and also skeptical.  This child likes to protest for protest’s sake, but he still comes to the table. He wants to appear not to be listening, but he takes in all the lessons. He wants to still belong and his challenges need to be taken seriously.

Say to this child:

    We welcome your defiance and independence.
 
   We will guide you to find your place among us...


Some say there is also a fifth child who no longer sits at the table...


[The Liberated Haggadah, p 12-13.]