1,136. So the Children Should Ask

Chometz u’Matzah 7:3

We should make changes on Seder night so that the children will see them and ask why this night is different from all other nights until the parent replies by telling them all that occurred. Examples of changes include giving the children roasted seeds and nuts [the current practice of Ashkenazi Jewry is not to eat seeds on Passover], removing the table before eating [their tables were comparable to our tray tables], snatching the matzah from one another, etc. If a man has no son, his wife should ask him. If he has no wife, he and a friend should ask each other why this night is different. This is so even if they are all scholars. A person who is all alone should ask himself why this night is different.

Chometz u’Matzah 7:4

One begins the narrative with our ancestors’ lowly origins and concludes with praise for them. We begin by recounting how, in the days of Terach, our ancestors denied God and strayed after nonsense by worshipping idols. We conclude with an expression of the true faith, describing how God has drawn us close to Him, separating us from the other nations and bringing us near to His Unity. Similarly, we begin by describing how we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and all the evil that was done to us, concluding by detailing the miracles and wonders that were performed for us, and our subsequent freedom. One should expound upon “An Aramean sought to destroy my ancestor” (Deuteronomy 26:5) until he has completed the entire section. One who elaborates upon this reading is to be praised.