Recounting the Exodus

 

Yosef Roth


 

 

One of the mitzvos on the Seder night is to transmit to our children the story of our going out of Egypt, including all the miracles that God did for our ancestors. The best way to accomplish this is through questions and answers. We see that Halacha incorporates activities within the Seder in order to make questions. An example of this is Karpas. Dipping a food usually takes place within the meal, and not before the meal. The reason we dip before the meal is so the children will ask why we are doing it, and we will be able to answer them because “tonight is different than all other nights”. When the kid asks, “why is tonight different than all other nights?” we will begin telling them the story of us getting freed from Egypt. The Rambam says “a person must make differences on this night so that the children will ask why is this night different from all other nights”. We see according to the Rambam that a person should strive to make any difference in order to make the children inquisitive. If this provokes questions, he will fulfill the positive commandment of telling over the story to his children.