Pesach – Questions Rather Than Answers
 "Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers" – Voltaire
When’s the last time you asked yourself a real good question? Not someone else – yourself. And not just asked, but really pondered. A question such as: What am I living for? What does it mean to live a truly good life? Which aspects of my personality are most in need of improvement? What am I trying to accomplish in my marriage? It seems that in this day and age, it’s a lot more important for us to have the answers than it is for us to have the questions.
In spite of the fact that I attended a decent public school system, and an Ivy League college, ironically, it wasn’t until I attended an Orthodox Yeshiva that I really began to learn how to ask a question. One would think that upon entering such an institution, I’d be indoctrinated into a rigid worldview with strict guidelines as to how to think and what to think about, but to my great surprise, I actually found myself in a world where questioning was not only encouraged, but was considered to be of the utmost importance.
“Five minutes a night, just five minutes a night, ask yourself: What am I living for?” Of all the instruction that I received from my Rabbi, these are the words that stick out in my mind most of all, because these are the words that he most often repeated. Why? Because the willingness to question one’s self and one’s direction in life, we were taught, is one of the most important attributes that a human being can possess.
In fact, my Rabbi often made a striking comparison between the values of secular society and those of a traditional Jewish one. In a secular society, at least back in the old days, it was a common practice to preserve a child’s first pair of shoes – the ones that she took her first steps in – by bronzing them, because a child’s first physical steps are one of the first indications that she’s on the path to independence. In Jewish culture however, it was the custom to enshrine, or “bronze” the child’s first question – the first time he noticed a striking contradiction and articulated it - because in Jewish consciousness, a child’s first question, far more than his first step, is an indication that he’s on the road to true independence.
Which brings us to Pesach, the festival that not only commemorates our independence as a nation, but teaches us how to achieve independence and freedom in our personal life as well. Anyone familiar with the Haggadah knows that the Seder is carefully designed to encourage the children to ask questions. And anyone who understands how we tend to enslave ourselves, and what personal freedom is all about, must understand why such a great emphasis is placed upon questioning.
The Jewish definition of slavery is the state in which a person is no longer pursuing his or her own true agenda. In Egypt we served our taskmasters. Today, although we are technically free to do whatever we feel like, we nevertheless find ourselves stuck in patterns and behaviors that we don’t really want: be it the job we hate, the diet or exercise schedule we can’t seem to keep, or the unsatisfying marriage we feel helpless to change.
How can we hope to escape from our own personal Egypt so that we can live the life of our dreams? Only by carefully examining the life that we have already chosen, including the opinions we have formed and the decisions that we have made along the way.
This is undoubtedly a very difficult thing to do. After all, answers to the most important questions don’t always come quickly or easily, and when they do, they’re not always what we feel like hearing. Serious questions can sometimes lead to serious change. But if we think for even a moment, we’ll realize that the alternative is ultimately much harder. For if we fail to examine our lives in a substantial way, we can be guaranteed that in the end of the day, instead of living in a manner that reflects our dreams and aspirations, we will have lived in a manner that reflects the opinions of our society, or the impulses and habits of our own, less-than-perfect natures.
So this year, as we attempt to stimulate our children’s interest and curiosity at the Seder Table, and listen with nachas as they recite the Four Questions, let’s not forget that qualities such as curiosity, inquisitiveness and wonderment are not just for kids. And may we be inspired to re-examine our own lives, reconnect with our true potential, and ultimately, live lives that are a reflection of our deepest hopes and dreams.
Chag Someyach!
Mark
Challenge: If you could get one question answered, what would it be?
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