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Gershon Hepner

Asking Questions without Demanding a Creed

Though most religions seem to need

the presence of belief, no creed

is central to the Torah’s law,

questions pathway to the awe

which Jews must feel towards their God,

not affirming what is odd,

but asking questions all the time,

 “credo” not the paradigm,

but “mah,” which means both “how?” and “what?”

raising question sometimes not

susceptible to answers, but

a proof that minds are not kept shut

to possibilities which they

become aware of when men say

the “mah” word, paying little heed

to certainties of any creed,

asking questions, mah nishtanah

prime example. What a stunner,

the opposite of meh, a term

we, unaffronted, don’t affirm!

Ignore all answers, life is all

about the questions that should call

all Jews not to a creed, while linking

their minds to God’s, while theo-thinking.

This truly is the reason I

don’t think that mah  means only “Why?”

but in the mah nishtanah means

“Amazing!” While the asker leans,

he’s quite prepared to make a leap

of faith before he goes to sleep,

just like his ancestors when they

left Egypt once night changed to day,

told by Egyptians “Go away,

to where you to your God can pray.”

Though most religions seem to need

the presence of belief, no creed

is central to the Torah’s law,

questions pathway to the awe

which Jews must feel towards their God,

not affirming what is odd,

but asking questions all the time,

 “Credo” not the paradigm,

but “Mah,” which means both “How?” and “What?”

raising question sometimes not

susceptible to answers, but

a proof that minds are not kept shut

to possibilities which they

become aware of when men say

the “Mah” word, paying little heed

to certainties of any creed,

asking questions, ma nishtanah

prime example. What a stunner!

Mah is the word that we should say,

not meta-answering it with meh,

revowelling mah, as if rejecting

responses to requests that call

Jews’ minds to God, not  knowing any

answers. Since there are so many,

when they’re  asked to declare their creed,

most  for the  Fifth Amendment plead.

This truly is the reason I

don’t think that mah  means only “Why?”

but in the mha nishtanah means

“Amazing!” While the asker leans,

he’s quite prepared to make a leap

of faith before he goes to sleep,

just like his ancestors when they

left Egypt once night changed to day,

told by Egyptians “Go away,

to where you to your God can pray,

not going then to anY seder,

amazing meal invented later.

Inspired by an article by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks for Passover 5772, “The Art of Asking Questions: ‘And When Your Children Ask You.’”

Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

The Jewish festival of Pesach, when we remember our journey to freedom, is the oldest continuously observed religious ritual in the world. Across the centuries, Pesach has never lost its power to inspire the imagination of successive generations of Jews with its annually reenacted drama of slavery and liberation. It is vivid, replete with direct experiences like eating matza, the unleavened bread of affliction, and tasting maror, the bitter herbs of oppression. It is a ritual performed not in the synagogue but at home, in the midst of the family. Seder night is an evening not only focused around reliving the past, but putting the education of the younger generations at its heart. The very narrative of the Haggadah is constructed in response to questions by a child; first the famous four questions of ma nishtana and soon after the passages describing the four sons and their differing approaches to the Seder night.

About the Author
Gershon Hepner is a poet who has written over 25,000 poems on subjects ranging from music to literature, politics to Torah. He grew up in England and moved to Los Angeles in 1976. Using his varied interests and experiences, he has authored dozens of papers in medical and academic journals, and authored "Legal Friction: Law, Narrative, and Identity Politics in Biblical Israel." He can be reached at gershonhepner@gmail.com.
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