What is the purpose of the Seder? Why is it so important? Am I doing it right? Why do we have to talk about the story again, don’t we know it already? Why is it so important to know about the story to begin with, it is ancient history, why is it relevant to me? These are all questions that we may relate to. After all of the drama, preparation, and anticipation that we had leading up to the Seder we may feel let down when it is all over. The good news is that if we prepare ourselves properly beforehand we may learn the answers to some of these questions and we may find more meaning, purpose, and enjoyment from our Seder experience.

Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman 1194-1270 of Girona, Spain (the Ramban) famously explains why the Torah places such a big emphasis on remembering the storyline of Hashem taking us out of Egypt. Aside from the mitzva to speak about the story on the night of the Seder, there are many mitzvos that are relevant throughout the days of Pesach, and there are even many mitzvos throughout the year that are focused on the remembrance of our exodus. He explains that that the lessons that we can learn from this story are so important that the Torah instructs us to continuously have the story on our minds as a means of focusing on its lessons.

Our dedication to following the laws and values of the Torah begins with the knowledge that they were truly given to us by G-d and that we are truly responsible to keep the laws. There are many compelling proofs to these matters, however from the study of the storyline of the exodus these matters are clarified in a very clear manner.

Each of the different events within the story were brought about by Hashem for a reason. Therefore, there is something to learn from each of the different events. To learn the lessons properly we need to understand why Hashem brought about all of the different factors in the story. We need to understand the purpose and the function of all of the different factors of the story.

When the Jewish people left Egypt, millions of people witnessed numerous open miracles over a period of 41 years. They witnessed the plagues in Egypt, the splitting of the sea, the revelation on Har Sinai, the bread from heaven, the well of water, and the clouds of protection that accompanied the millions of people who traveled without provisions in a barren desert for 40 years.

Hashem performed clear and open miracles that demonstrated that He has complete control over nature. The fact that Hashem did the miracles in a manner that was specifically designed to assist or change an individual's life or the lives of a group of people shows that Hashem knows and cares about the events of humanity and even about the details of the lives of people. The fact that Hashem did the miracles in a manner where those who were acting appropriately were rewarded and those who acted inappropriately were held accountable shows that Hashem has a mission and a purpose for creation and specifically for humanity, and that Hashem expects us to comply with that mission. The fact that Hashem showed great love and honor to the descendants of the people who had committed their lives to the service of Hashem shows how beneficial that it is for us to dedicate our lives in such a manner. The fact that all of the miracles were precisely predicted directly through prophesy was a very significant matter because it showed the world that at times Hashem communicates directly to us through the means of prophesy. The fact that Moshe was the prophet who precisely predicted all of the miracles beforehand and everyone was able to see that all of those prophesies turned out to be true precisely as he had predicted them shows us that he is a trusted prophet of Hashem. That enables Moshe to be trusted about the Torah as well. As a result, we know clearly that the Torah was given to us by Hashem through Moshe exactly as it was taught by Moshe. This knowledge gives us the recognition that Hashem is the true source of all of the information that is delineated in the Torah, and it is our responsibility and opportunity to follow the instructions and the values that are stated in the Torah.

These are merely some of the lessons that can be clearly learned out from the general storyline, but there are many more lessons that can be learned out from the details of the story as well, and we are encouraged to do so.

Rabbi Yom Tov ben Avraham 1260-1330 of Seville, Spain (the Ritva) explains that the lessons that we can learn from the story of Hashem taking us out of Egypt are so important that the Torah instructs us about how to learn the lessons and how to teach them to others.

The Torah presents to us the fact that there are four different children who are each unique and they need to be taught in a manner that is unique and specific for each of their individual needs.

Each of the different children have their own questions. The questions that the Torah presents are questions about the laws of Pesach and about the Torah in general. The questions represent a broad range of questions that relate to the understanding of the purpose, meaning, and context of the Torah and the mitzvos.

Each of the questions also reflect different attitudes that each of the sons have about Hashem, the Torah, and the mitzvos. The Torah is teaching us that it is our responsibility to educate and inspire our children to be more dedicated to following the Torah and mitzvos. To do so we need to know what the proper messages of the story are and to understand which parts of the messages are uniquely beneficial for the people who are in our range of influence. We need to address each of the different questions and to address all of the different attitudes to the best of our ability. We also need to deliver the messages in a manner that is specifically conducive for those who are in our sphere of influence.

Each of the questions reflect different levels of eagerness to learn.

We see from the fact that we are taught to encourage our children (and adults) to ask questions by the seder and throughout the year that questioning itself is a good thing. However, the Torah uses the four sons as a means of teaching us how we should ask our questions.

It is important for us to ask questions with the proper attitude. Our goal of asking should not be for the purpose of being critical, challenging, and attacking, rather we should be looking to become more educated and inspired to follow the Torah and mitzvos. We should all always be learning and developing more clarity and more inspiration to serve Hashem properly!

However, the Torah teaches us that some people will be like the wise son who is asking because he wants to learn and he is proactive to try to learn. The simple son isn't so proactive to want to question and to learn. Others are either purposefully disengaged, or they are so ignorant and they don’t even know that they should be proactive to learn, or worse they may even be turned off, disinterested, and critical. The Torah teaches us that it is our job to try to engage and motivate each person as much as we can in a manner that can be effective in creating within them an interest in the Torah and mitzvos.

We should probably ask ourselves how eager that we are to learn and to grow and how eager that those around us are to do the same. Then we should try to inspire ourselves and others to become more eager to grow and to ask questions on the way as a means of learning more.

We should probably also ask ourselves what questions that we ourselves have about what the proper context, purpose, and benefit of the Torah and mitzvos, and we should ask ourselves what we can learn from the storyline of the exodus that can help us to address these questions.

Similarly, we should be aware of what the questions are that those around us may have about the proper context, purpose, and benefit of the Torah and mitzvos, and we should try to address those questions based on the messages that we can learn from the storyline of the exodus.

The questions of the four sons reflect a lack of understanding of the purpose, function, and benefit of the Torah and mitzvos.

We need to understand the purpose, function, and benefit of the mitzvos so that we can understand it ourselves and so that we can explain it to others. When we don't properly understand these matters we will have many questions about many of the mitzvos and we won't be motivated to do them, and as a result we either won't perform them at all or we will perform them in a wrong manner or without any passion and sincerity.

The Torah teaches us that the questions that we have about the specific mitzvos are reflective of a lack of proper understanding of the broader picture of life, and therefore we need to develop a better understanding of the broader picture of life in order to understand the specific mitzvos properly.

To serve Hashem properly we need to know the proper answers to the following questions:

Did Hashem create the world, why did Hashem create the world, is Hashem involved in the world, why is Hashem involved in the world, to what extent is He involved, is Hashem good, is Hashem good to me, in what way is Hashem good to me, what is the function of the mitzvos, what is the purpose of the mitzvos, what is the benefit for myself for doing the mitzvos, why do I have to listen to Hashem and to do the mitzvos, why should I be a good person, what does it mean to be a good person, who determines what is good and what isn't, how important is it for me to be a good person, how important is it to do the mitzvos?

Our understanding of the answer to each of these questions affects how we understand the purpose, function, the benefit, and the importance of all of the mitzvos in general and the importance of each of the specific mitzvos.

There are different ways that we can react to our lack of the proper understanding of the broad concepts and our lack of understanding of what the proper application of the concepts. At times the fact that don’t understand these matters motivates us to search for and to find the answers to the questions that we have. At times we are only mildly proactive to search for the answers and we casually search for some clarity. There are other times when we don’t know enough or we don’t care enough to try to try to learn about what the correct perspectives are about these matters. There are some people who are turned off because they don’t understand the true context of these matters and they distance themselves from observing the Torah and mitzvos. The Torah teaches us that we are responsible to learn about what the proper understanding is about Hashem, life, and the Torah and that will make us more likely to have the proper passion and motivation to do the mitzvos properly.

The following are the questions of the four sons. The essence of their questions are not unique to Pesach or to the Seder, rather they are questions about Hashem, the Torah, the mitzvos, and the purpose of life. The storyline of the exodus is used as a means of explaining and proving to us what the fundamental truths are about these matters. Therefore, we need to know the story and to learn the lessons of the story in a manner that we can attain a better understanding of Hashem, the Torah, the mitzvos, and our purpose in this world.

The Wise Son's questions:

Rabbi Shimon ben Tzemach, a 14th century Spanish Rabbinic authority (the Tashbatz) says that the wise son begins with the most important question that is the foundation for all of the Torah. He questions how we know that all of the fundamental factors that are the basis for the
Torah are true. His question includes the fact that how do we know that Hashem created the world, that Hashem runs the world, and that Hashem gave us the Torah. (This question obviously needs to be addressed first).

The wise son also has a hard time understanding the purpose, function, and benefit of the mitzvos that are classified as the chukim. Even if he would recognize that Hashem created the world and Hashem gave us the Torah, he has a hard time understanding why we should be responsible to do the mitzvos that don’t seem to have any real logic to him. It is especially hard to understand why these responsibilities are specifically designated for the Jews. It seems to be unfair why we are stuck with these responsibilities.

Rabbi Ovadia Sforno explains that the wise son recognizes that every other nation has a purpose in this world but for the seven mitzvos of the B'nai Noach was good enough, so why do we need to have 613 of them. The wise son questions how this is beneficial for him.

The Tashbatz says that the wise son also has a hard time understanding why the Torah has to teach us about the mitzvos that are logical when we could figure them out on our own. As long as we are committed to being a good person we would follow the laws such as not lying, cheating, and stealing (among others).

The Ramban explains that he has a hard time understanding the extreme punishments that are in the Torah for desecrating Shabbos or similar types of infractions. The wise son also wonders why the Torah seems to put so much of a focus on our studying world history and Jewish history. Why is it so important for us to always be focused on stories from ancient history?

To summarize; the wise son is saying that the way that he understands the world many of the mitzvos in the Torah seem to be unnecessary, and he has a hard time seeing their purpose and benefit. According to the Ramban he also has a hard time understanding the severity of the punishments for some of the infractions.

The father's job is to answer these questions by explaining to him what the true purpose of the world is, why Hashem created the world, what the purpose, function, and benefits are of living and performing the mitzvos, and why we should be good people. With these perspectives, he will properly understand the reasons and the benefits of all of the laws of the Torah. The Ramban and Tashbatz explain that the story of the exodus that address these questions because the storyline of the exodus includes fundamental lessons about our understanding of Hashem, the Torah, and the mitzvos. It is our job to learn the lessons and to teach them in a manner that will be effective for the student.

To have the proper messages from the story of the exodus we need to have an accurate account of the story and we need to have an accurate understanding of what the purpose was and what the context was behind all of the events of the story. "What" happened and "Why" did it happen.

The Ramban teaches us that one that Hashem did the type of miracles that show that He is the one who has control over all of nature, we are able to also see that He is the one is in control of every detail in the world. We also see that Hashem takes an interest in every detail of our lives and that Hashem changes nature at His will when He wants to. The Ramban points out a life changing perspective from this recognition. When it is clear to us that the world is run by Hashem and not by the laws of nature, we are able to trust in Hashem and to dedicate our lives to following the path of the Torah and the mitzvos.

We also see the kindness of Hashem in general and specifically for us from the manner in which Hashem saved the Jews from their enemies and from the fact that Hashem gave the Egyptians opportunities and encouragement to do teshuva.

The Ramban spells out that a very important lesson that the Torah teaches us about the story is that Hashem took us out of Egypt in a miraculous manner and He gave us the Torah was for our benefit. Hashem demonstrated this through the story as we see that Hashem saved those who followed His will in a miraculously and He punished the others, those who didn’t follow in His ways. Hashem also told us that we will have endless blessings in both this world an the next when we follow in His ways.

When we study the lessons from history it is even more important to learn about why the events of history occurred and not just to learn about what occurred. This way we can have a more accurate lessons for the future. When we learn about the story of Hashem taking us out of Egypt from the Torah, we are not only provided with an accurate account of what happened, we also have the benefit of the Torah teaching us why it happened. Hashem also explained His thought process for why He brought about the events the way that He did and that gives us a

much better understanding of Hashem, our relationship with Hashem, the Torah, and our purpose in this world. The Torah taught us that Hashem did all of the miracles for us because He was choosing us to be His nation and to be the leaders and role models for the world. He describes us as His children who He loves. Hashem tells us that He gave us His Torah as a means for us to accomplish the greatest accomplishments in this world in order to be able to appreciate the benefits in the next world.

When we learn these messages we will be able to be motivated and inspired to do all of the mitzvos with passion and purpose.

The fact that the story testifies about these important facts that are essential to our service of Hashem explains why Hashem instructed us to have constant reminders for ourselves to remember the events as a means of strengthening our core beliefs. The mitzvos of Pesach, Sukkos, Shavuos, Shabbos, and others remind us of these stories and their accompanying messages.

The question of the wicked son:

There are different variations of the explanations for what the wicked son was saying including the following: "I don’t understand what the benefits are for doing the mitzvos", "I don’t believe in reward and punishment", "I don’t believe in the World to Come", "I don’t believe that Hashem is kind", "I don’t believe that Hashem cares about me", "I find the mitzvos to be annoying", "I don’t find meaning, purpose, and value in the mitzvos", "I don’t want to keep the mitzvos", "I don’t want to keep the mitzvos", and "I don’t feel like I am responsible to do the mitzvos".

The Torah teaches us that the wicked son is uneducated and uninspired and it is our job to try to educate him and inspire him. The storyline of Hashem taking us out of Egypt teaches us that Hashem is kind, Hashem loves us, and that Hashem gave us the Torah and the mitzvos for our benefit. When we follow the Torah properly, we are rewarded by receiving the greatest benefits in this world and in the next world. These are some of the perspectives that we can learn from the storyline of the exodus and through them we are able to become motivated and inspired to keep the laws of the Torah.

However, the Torah teaches us that even when we present a rational and compelling proof to someone, if he isn't interested in listening to our message, then he won't be receptive to the message. Often people are caught up in what they are doing and they aren't inspired to change even when they hear a good argument to change. Therefore, aside from sharing a compelling argument with them we also have to catch their attention by informing them that things may go very badly for them if they don’t change their ways.

The Torah teaches us not only what to say but how to say it. We need to know both what the right messages are for each person and how to communicate those messages in a manner that is tailored for each person to respond to those messages.

The lessons from the story of Hashem taking us out of Egypt are life changing and it is important for us to learn the lessons and to remind ourselves about them throughout the year. Therefore there is a mitzva to remind ourselves about the lessons every day of our lives. However, Hashem gave us the days of Pesach to immerse ourselves in the remembrance of the story and in the focus on the lessons so that we can have an extra degree of learning all of those lessons. On Pesach we also have a responsibility to do our best to think about the story in a manner that helps us to really relate to the reality of the events, and to even envision them as though we are currently experiencing them. When we are able to do that it helps us to really appreciate the kindness of Hashem and to learn the lessons of Pesach in a very meaningful way.