(ד) מזגו לו כוס שני. וכאן הבן שואל אביו. ואם אין דעת בבן. אביו מלמדו. מה נשתנה הלילה הזה מכל הלילות. שבכל הלילות אנו אוכלין חמץ ומצה. הלילה הזה כולו מצה. שבכל הלילות. אנו אוכלין שאר ירקות. הלילה הזה מרור. שבכל הלילות. אנו אוכלין בשר צלי. שלוק. ומבושל. הלילה הזה כולו צלי. שבכל הלילות. אנו מטבילין פעם אחת. הלילה הזה שתי פעמים. ולפי דעתו של בן. אביו מלמדו. מתחיל בגנות. ומסיים בשבח. ודורש מארמי אובד אבי. עד שיגמור כל הפרשה כולה:
(4) They pour a second cup [of wine] for him. And here the son questions his father. And if the son has insufficient understanding [to question], his father teaches him [to ask]: Why is this night different from all [other] nights? On all [other] nights, we eat leavened and unleavened bread, [but] on this night, [we eat] only unleavened bread. On all [other] nights, we eat all kinds of vegetables, [but] on this night, [we eat only] bitter herbs. On all [other] nights, we eat meat roasted, stewed or boiled, [but] on this night, [we eat] only roasted [meat]. On all [other] nights, we dip [vegetables] once, [but] on this night, we dip [vegetables] twice. And according to the son's intelligence, his father instructs him. He begins [answering the questions] with [the account of Israel’s] shame and concludes with [Israel’s] glory, and expounds from “My father was a wandering Aramean” until he completes the whole passage.
1. What is the first thing that happens in this text?
2. What is the son supposed to do?
3. Why would he be asking a question?
4. What if he doesn't do it?
5. What was the original reason for the 4 questions?
Sometimes posing a good question is more important than answering a good question.
Isidor I. Rabi, the Nobel laureate in physics who died Jan. 11, was once asked, ''Why did you become a scientist, rather than a doctor or lawyer or businessman, like the other immigrant kids in your neighborhood?''
His answer has served as an inspiration for me as an educator, as a credo for my son during his schooling and should be framed on the walls of all the pedagogues, power brokers and politicians who purport to run our society.
The question was posed to Dr. Rabi by his friend and mine, Arthur Sackler, himself a multitalented genius, who, sadly, also passed away recently. Dr. Rabi's answer, as reported by Dr. Sackler, was profound: ''My mother made me a scientist without ever intending it. Every other Jewish mother in Brooklyn would ask her child after school: 'So? Did you learn anything today?' But not my mother. She always asked me a different question. 'Izzy,' she would say, 'did you ask a good question today?' That difference - asking good questions -made me become a scientist!''
From a letter to the editor in the NYTimes by DONALD SHEFF New York, Jan. 12, 1988