Welcome! If you are here for the Chavruta Roulette event, that event has passed. You will have other opportunities to participate in similar events, though! Stay tuned for future Chavruta Roulette updates.
Even though the event is over, you are invited to learn through this sheet on your own (click here to learn it without the video sidebar), or, if you have a specific chavruta in mind, you can learn it with them using Sefaria's Chavruta feature (click here for more information on how to do that).
The ritual of the Four Questions derives from the fact that the Torah instructs parents to teach their children about the Exodus. In fact, it does so repeatedly, as you can see here:
When your children say to you: “What does this service mean to you?” you should say: “This is the paschal sacrifice (pesah) of the Lord, who passed (pasah) over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, and he killed the Egyptians, but he saved our homes.”
2. And you shall explain to your child on that day, “It is because of what the LORD did for me when I went free from Egypt.”
And when your child asks you on that day: “What is this?” you should say to your child: “With a strong hand the Lord took us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”
In the future, when your child asks you: “What is the meaning of the laws, statutes, and commandments which the Lord our God has commanded you?” then you should say to that child: “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord took us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the Lord wrought great and awful signs and wonders in Egypt for Pharaoh and all his house, before our very eyes. And God took us out of there in order to bring us to the land that he swore to our ancestors. And the Lord commanded us to follow all these laws, and to fear the Lord our God in order that it may go well for us always, to preserve our lives until today.”
You might recognize these statements as the basis of another important part of the seder — the tradition of the four children — since each phrasing can be read to imply a slightly different dynamic between parent and child. Notice that the model here is one of spontaneous asking, not scripted questions.
Can you figure out which statement from the Torah matches to which child from the seder (the wise child, the simple child, the wicked child, and the one unable to ask questions)?
And you shall tell your child. (Exodus 13:8)—even if he doesn’t ask you!
I know that this is so if he has a child, what about for himself or others (adults)?
A person should engage in the laws of Passover all night, even if it is just him and his son, even by himself, and even between himself and his (adult) student.
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: חָכָם — בְּנוֹ שׁוֹאֲלוֹ. וְאִם אֵינוֹ חָכָם — אִשְׁתּוֹ שׁוֹאַלְתּוֹ, וְאִם לָאו — הוּא שׁוֹאֵל לְעַצְמוֹ, וַאֲפִילּוּ שְׁנֵי תַּלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים שֶׁיּוֹדְעִין בְּהִלְכוֹת הַפֶּסַח — שׁוֹאֲלִין זֶה לָזֶה
The Sages taught: If his son is wise and knows how to inquire, his son asks him. And if he is not wise, his wife asks him. And if even his wife is not capable of asking or if he has no wife, he asks himself. And even if two Torah scholars who know the halakhot of Passover are sitting together and there is no one else present to pose the questions, they ask each other.
For discussion:
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How has the commandment to teach been interpreted here? What is being taught and to whom (pay attention: it’s likely not what you expect!)?
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Which is more important in this text: telling or asking?
(ד) מָזְגוּ לוֹ כוֹס שֵׁנִי, וְכָאן הַבֵּן שׁוֹאֵל אָבִיו, וְאִם אֵין דַּעַת בַּבֵּן, אָבִיו מְלַמְּדוֹ, מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל הַלֵּילוֹת, שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין חָמֵץ וּמַצָּה, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה כֻלּוֹ מַצָּה. שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין שְׁאָר יְרָקוֹת, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה מָרוֹר. שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין בָּשָׂר צָלִי, שָׁלוּק, וּמְבֻשָּׁל, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה כֻלּוֹ צָלִי. שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ מַטְבִּילִין פַּעַם אַחַת, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה שְׁתֵּי פְעָמִים. וּלְפִי דַעְתּוֹ שֶׁל בֵּן, אָבִיו מְלַמְּדוֹ. מַתְחִיל בִּגְנוּת וּמְסַיֵּם בְּשֶׁבַח, וְדוֹרֵשׁ מֵאֲרַמִּי אוֹבֵד אָבִי, עַד שֶׁיִּגְמֹר כֹּל הַפָּרָשָׁה כֻלָּהּ:
They mix the second cup, and here* the child asks.
If child is unable to ask,** the parent teaches him:
Why is this night different from all other nights?
On all other nights, we dip once, but on this night we dip twice.
On all other nights, we eat hametz (leavened bread) or matzah (unleavened bread), but on this night we eat only matzah (unleavened bread).
On all other nights, we eat our meat roasted or boiled, but tonight only roasted.
The parent teaches according to the child’s ability.
For discussion:
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Are these really questions? Are you sure?
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How does this compare to our version of the Four Questions (see today’s version here)?
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Why do you think meat is mentioned here but not in our version of the questions?
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Bonus: In the section we have marked with a **, some manuscripts say “if the child is unable to ask” but the Kaufman manuscript of the Mishnah says “if the child is able to ask.” How does this change the meaning of the ritual?
Plutarch (1st c. CE)
The idea of asking questions and telling comes straight from the Torah. But where did the rabbis get the idea that there should be formal question prompts at the seder table? It may well be from Greco-Roman banqueting (symposium) practices. Plutarch, better known for late first century best-seller Lives of the Emperors, wrote a little book called Table Talk which recounts the conversation that took place at the best dinner parties he ever attended. In that book, he says that every great conversation starts with a great question. Here are some examples:
Plutarch (1st c. CE), Table Talk
- Why do old men read better at a distance?
- Is the number of stars even or odd?
- Why is the flesh of sheep bitten by wolves sweeter than the flesh of other sheep?
- Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
- When is the best time for a man to know his wife?
- Why is alpha the first letter of the alphabet?
- Why do those who are stark drunk seem less inebriated than those who are only half drunk?
- Which is better, food from the sea or food from the land?
- Can there be new diseases?
- What God do the Jews worship?
For discussion:
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Which of these is your favorite question?
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What do you notice about what kind of questions Plutarch thinks work best as conversation starters at a banquet? What qualities do these questions have in common? Do the four questions at the Passover seder have those same qualities?
Rav Saadya Gaon (9th c. CE)
They fill the second cup and if there is a child who knows how to ask, he stands up and asks, “Why is this night different…?” and the sages in the group answer him.
And if there is no child who knows how to ask, the sage is the one who asks and he is also the one who answers.
For discussion:
Notice that in the Talmud it is the parent who gives these question prompts. But now, with Saadya Gaon, it is the child who asks the scripted questions. How does this change the dynamic at the table?
Now let’s return to the question with which we started the lesson. We noted that most people think the following things are true about the Four Questions: (a) there are four of them, (b) they are questions, (c) they refer to items on the table, (d) they are asked by the youngest child old enough to do so, (e) they are sung. How many of these were originally the case?
Even though the event is over, you are invited to learn through this sheet on your own (click here to learn it without the video sidebar), or, if you have a specific chavruta in mind, you can learn it with them using Sefaria's Chavruta feature (click here for more information on how to do that).
