Mah Nishtana
By Rabbi Joshua Hoffman, AJRCA Past President & CEO
It used to be easier to ask simple questions. Simple and silly questions were often a humorous punchline to popular television shows not so long ago. Just think of the famous quip by Joey Tribbiani from the award-winning television show, “Friends.” Whenever a potential love interest came into focus, Joey would ask with a suggestive undertone, “How you doin’?” Or, consider the television show “Family Matters” also popular in the 1990’s and its quirky protagonist, Steven Urkel, who would sheepishly ask, “Did I do that?” every time some mishap caused alarm or discomfort among the other leading characters.
These days, even a question meant to get a laugh is flooded by the barrage of complicated relationships, complicated politics, complicated ecology, and a complicated universe. Just try reading any question posed on a news feed online and you’ll have a wild ride through the politics of the moment, home and garden tips, investment advice, and the latest celebrity breakup all before you finish your first cup of coffee or tea! We can use a little more curiosity about the world around us. We certainly need some better questions.
With a little attention, we find that the times we ask a good question is a powerful tool for connection with others, even providing deep insights into our own thinking and experience. It seems impossible to find our place in the world without some form of questing, of seeking out the truth that dwells around us.
The word ‘question’ is Latin in origin and refers to the act of seeking. In the Hebrew language, to ask a question (לשאול) is also to seek out or to inquire. The question underscores an interest in discovering meaning and invites a response. As a basic human need, this curiosity can bring great purpose into our lives. The satisfaction of an answered question, or even the understanding of what a question seeks to answer is inspiring, wondrous, even divine. In conversations and in teaching, questions are there to evoke a relationship. More than an opportunity to solicit and receive information, a question is posed to communicate a desire to connect to deeper truths and to discover sacred connections.
The focus on a question can be playful too. Relationships are built upon the courageous leap to connect. Those moments should be filled with curiosity and joy! Questions can be the dramatization of that connection, bridges of the chasm between doubt and faith, between uncertainty and deep knowledge. And so, questions as important tools of language deserve attention.
Tomorrow night, as we gather with family and friends, our goal should also be to connect to the deeper truths and sacred connections between us. Pesach is the quintessential evening of questions, not simply for knowledge to affirm where we have come from or for who we are. We ask questions together for who we might yet become together. For this, there is one fundamental set of questions I encourage you all to ask and make space to discuss throughout the holiday.
- What does freedom mean to you?
- Where do you see that freedom exists in the world today? (n.b. And be generous!)
- Where is your definition of freedom lacking in the world, and what would you use, besides plagues from God, to alleviate the suffering of those who are not yet free?
May your families be blessed for a holiday promising freedom for all, for the safe return of our families in captivity, and for peace to reign throughout the land of Israel and the world.
**a version of this also appears on Rabbi Hoffman’s blog, www.rabbijoshuahoffman.com/blog**