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.