In the coming days, God will infuse the world with an unprecedented capacity for liberation and transcendence! Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it before. Didn’t we say the same thing last year?! And yet here we are again. What makes this year any different?

One of the highlights of the seder every year is the recitation of the four questions, which are traditionally chanted by the children, and often the youngest child who is able. The questions begin with an introduction asking “Mah nishtana halyla hazeh mikol haleilos/what makes this night different from all other nights,” and then address four actions that we engage in on Passover that are different from the rest of the year: we dip vegetables in salt water, we eat matzah instead of leavened bread, and we eat bitter herbs, we recline while we eat.

The Haggadah then proceeds to answer these four questions, explaining why we perform these peculiar actions on Passover. We dip vegetables in salt water........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)