Ask Me a Question, Tell Me a Story
בכל דור ודור חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים
Everyone gathered at our table is called on to "see" that we ourselves have come out of the narrow place of slavery into an expansive freedom. This creative remembering is drawn out of us through the Haggadah, a book whose very name means "the telling" but which does not actually ever get to the business of telling a story. Rather, the Haggadah is a book that prompts us to tell the story, or rather stories, of freedom from bondage.
How many ways does the Haggadah encourage us to tell the story that it never tells?
- There are the ritual acts and the symbolic objects strewn across the table, from seder plate to salt water and matzah and Elijah's cup; and more recent symbols such as an orange or Miriam's water cup.
- There are the questions: not just the Four Questions, but the Four Children - four biblical quotes containing three questions and a non-question, all prompts about how to tell the story. And each an opportunity for type casting family members as "wise" or "wicked" or "simple."
- There is a listing of plagues, without any real context - and the remarkable removal of wine (read "joy") at the listing of each plague, lest we rejoice in the suffering of any human being, even those who act against us.
- There are intriguing dialogues between ancient rabbis.
- There are the songs. Dayenu,Had Gadya, Who Knows One (more questions and answers!), and more!
In every generation, each person must understand the experience of the tightness of oppression. Each of us!
Each of us will tell the biblical story differently, flavored by the way we have learned it, and influenced by the stories we have, whether we tell them or are even conscious of them, of our own experiences of narrowness and oppression, expansion and freedom.
Ask each other. Tell each other.
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