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Ma Nishtana ‐ Shani Yanowitz (6th Grade)

One of the memorable parts of the seder is Ma Nishtana, where all the youngest kids gather around the table to
sing the song known as “The Four Questions.” Have you ever thought about why kids sing the Ma Nishtana, or
why there are four questions and not more?

The goal of the Passover Haggadah is to encourage the future generations to learn about the history of Jews,
which is why the kids sing Ma Nishtana.There are four questions in Ma Nishtana because it creates an overview
of the whole Haggadah. The formula of the four questions was from the Mishna where it is written that this
question is asked from a child to his father. The father then replies to his child "according to the child's intelli-
gence." This is where the story of the Four Sons comes into play and then they reply to the four questions.

We can learn from this that it is important to encourage kids to participate in the seder and learn about the story
of Yetziat Mitzrayim so that when they are older they will do the same to their kids. Also, to always keep learn-
ing about the Haggadah every year so that you can understand things like why there are four questions and teach
others the things you've learned

What Do Matzah And Chametz Represent? ‐ Yehuda Stock (6 Grade)
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There are three basic differences between Matzah and bread. Matzah is crunchy and bread is soft. Bread rises
high, but Matzah remains low. Finally, bread can remain in the oven for a long time and Matzah can only re-
main in the oven for 18 minutes.

Our Rabbis teach us that eating Matzah on Pesach has a deep meaning. The Jewish people were humbled after
witnessing the ten plagues. Before the plagues, they may have had larger egos. Humility is represented by the
thin and smaller Matzah, and arrogance is represented by the puffy and larger bread. The lesson we can learn
from this is not to have a big ego because having big egos makes you bossy and mean and makes you forget
about Hashem.

Chametz ‐ Simcha Korn (12th Grade)

The concept of Chametz dates back to more than 3000 thousand years ago, when the Jews escaped from Phar-
aoh’s captivity in the land of Egypt. The Jewish Nation, led by Moshe, proudly marched out in broad day-
light. They were in such a rush to leave, and were so eager to serve G-d that they did not have time to let their
dough leaven or rise. This resulted in the Jews having Matzah instead of bread. Throughout the holiday of
Passover, we remember and recreate our exodus from the land of Egypt. One of the ways we do this is by eating
Matzah, the food that our ancestors had when leaving slavery. As an extension of recreating Matzah, we do not
eat any Chametz for the entirety of Passover. Chametz can be made from any of the following 5 grains: wheat,
barley, spelt, oats, and rye. All of these have the potential to become chametz if they are left to rise longer than
18 minutes in average room temperature.

Why is the Number 4 So Common in the Haggadah? ‐ Ohad Tessler (8th Grade)

The seder contains a lot of number 4s, including the four cups, the four questions, and the four sons. The Vilna
Gaon explains the use of four is a hint to the הדות ןברקin the ,שדקמה תיבwhich was used to express gratitude.
There happen to be four kinds of people that give a הדות ןברקand those are: one who cross the wilderness, one
who has been imprisoned, one who has been dangerously ill, and one who crossed a sea. Since all these people
went through life threatening situations and came out alive, they gave a הדות ןברקto thank .’ הWhen you think
of it, the escape from Egypt was kind of like all of these. They were imprisoned, they went through the wilder-
ness, they crossed the sea, and they were ill, and ‘ ה ךורבsurvived. This is why on רדסה לילwe should be
thanking ה ,’ because we went out of Egypt in all these four conditions. Pesach Sameach.