I

t is no accident that 
Parshat Bo, the section 
that deals with the 
culminating plagues and 
the exodus, should turn 
three times to the subject 
of children and the duty of 
parents to educate them. As 
Jews, we believe 
that to defend 
a country you 
need an army, 
but to defend a 
civilization you 
need education. 
Freedom is lost 
when it is taken 
for granted. Unless parents 
hand on their memories and 
ideals to the next generation 
— the story of how they 
won their freedom and the 
battles they had to fight along 
the way — the long journey 
falters and we lose our way.
What is fascinating, 

though, is the way the Torah 
emphasizes the fact that 
children must ask questions. 
Two of the three passages in 
our parshah speak of this:

“And when your children 
ask you, ‘What does this 
ceremony mean to you?’ then 
tell them, ‘It is the Passover 
sacrifice to the Lord, who 
passed over the houses of 
the Israelites in Egypt and 
spared our homes when He 
struck down the Egyptians.’” 
(Exodus, 12:26-27)

“In days to come, when 
your son asks you, ‘What 
does this mean?’ say to him, 
‘With a mighty hand the 
Lord brought us out of Egypt, 
out of the land of slavery.’” 
(Exodus 13:14)

There is another passage 
later in the Torah that also 
speaks of a child’s question: 
“In the future, when your 

son asks you, ‘What is the 
meaning of the stipulations, 
decrees and laws the Lord 
our God has commanded 
you?’ tell him: ‘We were 
slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, 
but the Lord brought us 
out of Egypt with a mighty 
hand.’” (Deut. 6:20-21)
The other passage in 
today’s parshah, the only 
one that does not mention 
a question: “On that day tell 
your son, ‘I do this because 
of what the Lord did for me 
when I came out of Egypt.’” 
(Exodux 13:8)
These four passages have 
become famous because 
they are in the Pesach 
Haggadah. They are the 
four children: one wise, 
one wicked or rebellious, 
one simple and “one who 
does not know how to ask.” 
Reading them together, the 

Sages came to the conclusion 
that [1] children should ask 
questions, [2] the Pesach 
narrative must be constructed 
in response to, and begin 
with, questions asked by a 
child, [3] it is the duty of a 
parent to encourage his or 
her children to ask questions, 
and the child who does not 
yet know how to ask should 
be taught to ask.
There is nothing natural 
about this at all. To the 
contrary, it goes dramatically 
against the grain of history. 
Most traditional cultures see 
it as the task of a parent or 
teacher to instruct, guide or 
command. The task of the 
child is to obey. “Children 
should be seen, not heard,” 
goes the old English proverb. 
“Children, be obedient to 
your parents in all things, 
for this is well-pleasing to 

Rabbi Lord 
Jonathan 
Sacks

The Necessity of 
Asking Questions

SPIRIT
A WORD OF TORAH

38 | JANUARY 18 • 2024