Madelyn Gruskin

spirit

torah portion

We Question To Learn

P

We Love You So Much!!

XOXO

Debra and Max Ernst
Ron and Wendy Gruskin
Lisa Gluck
Jeff and Romy Gluck (and baby girl on the way)

to Adrienne and Paul Shwedel
on your 50th Anniversary!

We can't wait to celebrate this wonderful milestone with you!

We love you so much!

Darrin, Emily, Lindsay, Dylan and Spencer

54

March 29 • 2018

jn

Parshat Pesach 1:
Exodus 12:21-51;
Numbers 28:16-25;
Joshua 3:5-7,
5:2-6:1, 6:27.

assover celebrates the Israelite
exodus from Egypt, reflected
upon in many places in the
Torah as the cornerstone of Jewish
religious faith in God.
The first of the Ten
Commandments declares: “I am the
Lord your God who took you out of
the land of Egypt from the house of
bondage (Exodus 20:2).”
Passover also celebrates
the liberation of a subjugated
The structure of the
people from its oppressors
Passover seder is also pat-
that has served as a model for
terned after a series of ques-
the universal values of free-
tions. We begin the Maggid
dom and human dignity. The
section of the Haggadah
black civil rights movement
with Ma Nishtanah — the
in America used the exodus
Four Questions — recited
narrative as the model for its
most often by the youngest
own struggles against slavery. Rabbi Scot
participant able to chant the
Berman
However, the form of how
beloved text. We revel in our
we celebrate the holiday of
children’s ability to ask ques-
Passover and, in particular,
tions, ironically, even before
the seder ritual is uniquely
they fully understand the
Jewish. Culturally, Jews are a
depth of what they are asking.
questioning people. The Mishna pres- But the questions at the seder do not
ents a series of cases and attributed
end there. Each new section opens
and unattributed legal positions. The
with questions. One by one the “Four
justifications for these legal positions
Sons” opens with the same question
typically are absent. Jews, ever ques-
formula. “The wise son, what does he
tioning, required justified law; hence
say? The evil son, what does he say?
the Talmud came into being, incor-
The simple son, what does he say?
And the one who does not know what
porating the Mishna but explaining,
to ask, say to him …”
often for several folios, the basis for
In the section explicating biblical
the laws stated in a short few lines of
verses, the Haggadah opens with:
Mishna.
“What did evil Lavan attempt to do to
Talmud itself is a series of argu-
our father Jacob?” And finally, when
ments from rabbinic sages over the
introducing symbolic food items, we
meaning of the text and questioning
ask: “The paschal lamb brought in
one another. Little is taken for grant-
ed, and hard questions are lifted up as Temple times was eaten for what rea-
son?” “For what reason do we eat this
the ideal in Jewish scholarship. Many
matzah?” and finally, “Why do we eat
have attributed the large percentage
these bitter herbs?”
of Jews in the legal field due to cen-
Questions arouse curiosity, and
trality of Talmudic study in Jewish life
curiosity arouses engagement, which
over the centuries and the culture of
is an essential goal of Jewish educa-
questioning borne from it.
tion. The more questions the better.
The typical rabbinic sermon has a
common structure. After an introduc- In the language of the Haggadah,
“Whomever increases is praise-
tion of some sort, the rabbi poses a
worthy.”
question, usually from the Sabbath
Happy Passover! •
Torah reading. The more perplexing
the question the more compelling it
Rabbi Scot A. Berman is head of school at Farber
is for the audience to listen to rabbi’s
Hebrew Day School – Yeshivat Akiva.
suggested resolution.