Passover (III)

Tonight was the night of the Four Questions. It's Jordan's job to ask them (as the youngest one who can pull it off), and he's very pleased to be able to sing in Hebrew. For the English, he made himself a "cheat sheet."



Since the questions are all "why" questions, he drew the participant shrugging dramatically in each picture. Click on the image to enlarge it.

For those of you who are not Passover-savvy, here is a key.
1. On all other nights we eat either bread or matzah. Why on this night do we eat only matzah?
2. On all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables. Why on this night do we especially eat bitter herbs?
3. On all other nights we do not dip herbs even once. Why on this night do we dip them two times? (Note the number 2, and the arrows for the dipping.)
4. On all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining. Why on this night do we eat reclining? (You can tell the participant is slouching because he can barely see over the table. And he has a soft pillow on his seat.)

Jordan recognized these as "known information" questions: he knows he is not asking them to find out the answers, because he knows the answers. Thus, he has concluded, he is asking them in order to test the rest of us, "like a teacher." Here's how it went tonight:

Jordan: Everyone, please be quiet now.
[Rachel and Dale and Aaron, reclining in the playroom tent, are as still as statues.]
Jordan: Why do we only eat matzah on this night?
[Dale raises his hand.]
Jordan: Daddy?
Dale: Because when we escaped from Egypt we were in a big rush and we didn't have time for the bread to rise.
Jordan: Right!

And so on. I am fondly hoping that he repeats this performance at the big family seder on Saturday in San Francisco.