Reflection
A Key to Freedom Why were the rabbis so insistent that the Exodus story open with a spontaneous question ?
On a deeper level , the rabbis may have reflected that questioning is an essential part of the freedom celebrated on the Seder night . The whole Talmudic literature is in the form of questioning and dialogue .— not the meek questioning of inferior to superior but the give and take interaction of adamant rivals pitted against one another , and sometimes even against God ! ( B . T . Bava Matzia , 59 b )
An essential characteristic of free people is that they notice the world around them , make distinctions and search for meaningful patterns . They want understanding , not inscrutability . For a slave mentality , nothing is “ different ”— all tasks are part of the same meaningless arbitrariness . There is no point in asking if no one answers , no place for questions in a world where the master ’ s arbitrary orders are the ultimate justification for the way things are .
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