It’s Passover and one of the important parts of a Passover Seder is the youngest participant asking the four questions.
Now that I’m thinking about this, one might say that there is one question — Why is this night different from all other nights? — answered four times.
However, the Seder readings that follow the four questions answer why we eat matzah, eat bitter herbs, dip food twice, and eat reclining during this night that is different from other nights.
I have wonderful memories of asking/singing the four questions when I was the youngest at the family Seder. Tonight, I will be sharing a Passover dinner with four beloved people — my son Aaron, my husband Michael, my ex-husband Leon, and my cousin Lani. I don’t know if we’ll ask the traditional four questions, but maybe we’ll ask four questions from this packet I found on Monday as I was cleaning up my office at work:
Or maybe we’ll ask four questions from this book:
.
Do you have four questions about the other images I am sharing today?
In case you have any questions about this, I don’t think you suck. Quite the contrary, as you can tell from this question:
.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “the four questions.”
I also find this,
this,
and this.
.
Unquestionable gratitude to those who help me ask all the questions in this blog, including YOU!
My 30-year-old daughter has been chanting the 4 Questions at our Seders for about 25 years — since she first learned. There has been no one younger in attendance since then. Luckily she still enjoys it.
I’m enjoying this comment, Debbie!
I hope you have an uplifting Seder with your beloved family members, Ann. Thank you for showing us how to ask questions all year long and how to try to answer them, even if they are unanswerable.
Thank you for your always uplifting comments, my friend.
Thanks, Ann. Not being Jewish, I didn’t know about the 4 questions. I love reading about religious and cultural practices. You’re a delight! I enjoy all your posts.
It takes one delight to know another one, Robert, and many thanks for this comment!
I learned a lot about the faith from my Jewish friends while growing up on Long Island, Ann, but never enough. You educated me well today about the Four Questions. Thank you. I wish a fulfilling Passover to you and yours.
I learn a lot from you, my friend.
As a sometime Wiccan, I wish you a rewarding Passover meal. May the spirits of Earth, Air, Fire and Water be with you and yours as you pause to remember. Which is how I like to think of all ritual. A pause for remembrance.
Thank you for your beautiful wishes!
enjoy your family gathering and the traditions (and questions) during passover.
I unquestionably enjoy your comments, beth.
A few years ago I went to see a play called Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One about an older couple who invite a young woman to Passover hoping to introduce her to their son only to realize late that she’s not Jewish. It’s a comedy but I also loved that Passover is an event that, in addition to celebrating life, welcomes everyone.
I haven’t heard that one, Chris, and thank you for being so welcoming.
My mother also remembers the Four Questions in Hebrew. She lived in Israel until she was sixteen. After that she moved to the Dominican Republic and then to P.R. , where she married a Catholic man.
Thanks for sharing that, Maria.