Page 31 - RMBA Upper School Haggadah 2018

Talmud says, “Three good providers (parnassim) stood up for Israel: Moshe, Aaron and Miriam.”
(Taanit 9a).
The results are clear. Moshe survives birth due to brave midwives. He survives infancy due to his
mother hiding him and then giving him away. Moshe is then saved by an Egyp an princess who
risks disobeying her father by raising a Jewish baby as her own. He is also helped by his sister,
Miriam, who watches over his safe placement.
Moshe would never have grown to be the man who led us out of Egypt if it was not for the
bravery, kindness, and hopefulness of these women. According to the Talmud, Israel was
redeemed from Egypt as a reward for righteous women of that genera on. They stood up
against the norms and authority of their day. More importantly, they demonstrate the
tremendous power of hope, faith, and kindness. According to Rashi, the Jewish women knew to
take tambourines out of Egypt because they had hope and faith that G-d would perform the
miracles necessary to escape (Rashi- Exodus 15:20). These women exemplify how an open heart
and open eyes, to what is right and just, can save an en re people. Lastly, we learn to not judge
people by their appearance, for it is an Egyp an princess, the daughter of the man who
enslaved our ancestors, that has the bravery and kindness to set the Jewish people on the path
towards freedom.
Asking Questions - Jeremy Morgan (9th grade) and Noah Diner (10th grade)
As our parents teach us over and over, the point of seder night is to regard ourselves as if we
personally went out of Egypt and to do this by asking as many ques ons as possible. We begin
with the proverbial “Why is this night different from all others?” and end hours later, with “Why
does Chad Gadya have so many verses?” but beneath all these inquiries, the ques on remains,
as Rav Dovid Zaklikowski asks, why so many ques ons?
For starters, the Torah commands us, no less than four mes, to tell our kids and grandkids the
story of Yetziat Mitzrayim. However, a er all those years of their incredible, wonderful,
spectacular Beren educa on, we can assume that they already know the story. Conveniently,
the Haggadah shows us the way on the night of ques ons and answers, which results in our
effec ve retelling of the story. We must tell over the story in four ways, as our rabbis remind us
of the four children, each asking a different ques on and requiring a different answer. The Wise
Son asks, "What are the decrees, and laws which the Lord our God has commanded concerning
Passover?" He can easily grasp the complex and teachings of Judaism. The Wicked Son asks,
"What does the service mean to you?" He is scornful, an outsider. We are told to punish him.
The Simple Son asks, "What does this all mean?" For him, we need to start at the beginning of
the story, explaining slowly and carefully. And the Fourth Son does not even know how to ask a
ques on. The challenge, although not popularly believed, is the Fourth Son who cannot even
formulate a ques on and not understanding the world around him. And perhaps, as Rav Dovid
beau fully says, this is the second reason for the night of inquiry; to show that just as Hashem
lead us out of slavery, so too the act of asking ques ons will lead us out of the slavery that is
ignorance. Ask and learn is what we must do seder night in order to truly recount the story of

30