A New World Order on Seder Night

Fifth Reading: A New World Order on Seder Night

“When your children ask you: What is the nature of this service...”

The Psychological Origin of the Four Sons’ Questions

When performing the mitzvah of, “You shall tell your son on that day”—the mitzvah that prompts us to sit together on the Seder night and retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt—the father must hone his message so that it will enter the hearts of all four sons described in the Haggadah. Each son asks his question in a different style, as it wells up from a different place in his psyche. In Hebrew, the word for question (הָלֵאׁש) does not refer only to a query. It also means a wish or desire.