R' Chaim Shmulevitz in his sefer Sichos Mussar, page רפג-רפד in מאמר סו, points out that the mitzvah of סיפור יציאת מצרים can only be fulfilled in a question and answer form. If you think about it, since the mitzvah is סיפור, telling over, this is really strange! What is it about questions specifically that accomplishes the mitzvah?
R' Shmulevitz continues and explains that it's hard to fulfill the mitzvah properly by just telling the story over, because it is not a new story! Everyone knows how it's going to end. So as he says:
ואילו כאשר "כולנו חכמים, כולנו נבונים, כולנו יודעום את התורה", האיך התקיים מצות סיפור יציאת מצרים כהלכתה"
If we all know everything already, how can we fulfill the mitzvah properly?
He gives a stunning answer in the next paragraph. He says that the reason we use questions and answers, is because"השאלה מעוררת ומגבירה את ההתענינות", the question awakens and increases a person's interest, and
"ואז יחוש השואל בתשובה טעם של "חידוש", that then the answer will have a feeling of חידוש, of newness.
If you think about it, we all know this to be true. If you open a Chumash and read a passuk, for example, and then read a Rashi, you'll understand from Rashi that there's a question and this is the answer. However, if you read a passuk, and ask the questions yourself, and ponder, "Why is there an extra vav here? Why is this written in singular if we're talking about a group?" and so on, and only then read Rashi to find the answer, there's so much more depth involved. The answer feels so much more meaningful, so much deeper that it would've been had you relied on the mefarshim to ask the question for you. Because of this, the mitzvah of סיפור יציאת מצרים can only be accomplished to it's fullest by way of questions. Then, everyone feels much more connected and finds much more depth and beauty in the story.
We might think that asking is just for the benefit of the children. However, R' Shmulevitz tells us that this is not the case. He quotes a Gemara in Pesachim:
גמ׳ תנו רבנן חכם בנו שואלו ואם אינו חכם אשתו שואלתו ואם לאו הוא שואל לעצמו...
GEMARA: The Sages taught: If his son is wise and knows how to inquire, his son asks him. And if he is not wise, his wife asks him. And if even his wife is not capable of asking or if he has no wife, he asks himself...
We might think that asking questions is just for the little kids. But now that we’ve read this Sichos Mussar and we learned the gemara, we know it’s just as beneficial for us, if not more! Everyone needs to ask their own questions at the seder, even when there’s no question written in to the script of their haggada. The way we can grow at the seder is by turning our table into a Beis Medrash, by turning our haggada into our Gemara or Chumash or Navi or Mishnayos. When we ask the same questions we asked last year and the year before that and the year before that, we should be thinking and trying to find ways to answer this question that you never thought of before. We should be striving to find NEW questions! That’s how we can grow in our understanding and especially our appreciation of the Pesach Story. When we say the
מה נשתנה, we should ask ourselves, מה נשתנה השאלות הזאת, why these questions I'm asking this year different from last year? מה נשתנה התשובות הזאת, how are my answers different this year? How am I growing in my understanding and connection to the Pesach story? To illustrate how important this idea is, the Gemara continues:
גמ׳ ואפילו שני תלמידי חכמים שיודעין בהלכות הפסח שואלין זה לזה:
GEMARA: ...And even if two Torah scholars who know the halakhot of Passover are sitting together and there is no one else present to pose the questions, they ask each other.
Even if you have two Talmidei Chachamim who most certainly know the story and the halachos, they should ask the questions! Clearly then, this is beneficial to everyone and important for everyone. The way to feel the love HaShem has for us that He expresses on Leil Seder, the way to grow in our Emunah and Bitachon, in our understanding and connection to Pesach is to ask, to search for the chiddush in the answers and to find our own answers, to find nuanced details and ideas to connect to and think about.
This concept has practical ramifications that extend well beyond the Seder. It can impact our middos development, our Emunah, our Ahavas HaShem, and our every day lives. We should constantly be questioning ourselves- "Why did I react this way to that person? Why was this mitzvah hard for me?" and seek to find new answers that can unlock deeper self awareness. In terms of our Emunah, our growth in Yiddishkeit, and our relationship with HaShem, we should continuously question, "Why do we believe this? Why do we have this mitzvah? How do I see HaShem in my every day life?" and then we need to search for the answer. In sefarim, from our teachers, from our parents. It's okay to always be the child, so to speak, in the Seder of our lives- that's the goal!
My teacher said something amazing she had read in an article that encourages this. She said: "In Judaism, questions testify to faith, because to question means that you believe there is an answer." I think that sums up this idea very well and drives the point home. Like R' Shmulevitz said, when you ask questions, you find the chiddush. You're more interested and connected. The goal is to constantly be questioning and connecting through the answers that we seek out, and I believe this is one of the messages that the Pesach Seder is coming to teach us. BEZ"H we can all apply this to our lives, and see growth spring forth from our questions.
Have a Chag Kasher V'Sameach!