Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

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4. Ma Nishtana.
The Vilna Gaon asks – when do we answer the four questions asked by the child?
He explains that the real questions being asked are not why matza or why maror,
rather what the child is asking is why we are behaving in contradictory ways, like
royalty (by leaning and dipping) and slaves (by eating matza and maror) in one
night? And we answer him straight away – “We were slaves to Pharoah in Egypt”
(hence we eat matza and maror) “but Hashem took us out” and so we act as free
men. So there is no contradiction – just two parts of the same story.
5. The four sons.
בלה תובשחמ
Chacham (Based on Rav Hirsch) – The wise son asks, “What are the “eidot –
testimonies”, “chukim – statutes” and “mishpatim – social laws” that Hashem our
G-d has commanded you.” Rav Hirsch points out that this question contains no
reference to Pesach!!! The chacham just wants to learn Torah. This makes the
answer we give even more perplexing. The answer we are told to give in the
Torah (Devarim 6:20-25) is that we were slaves to Pharoah in Egypt and Hashem
brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand [this raises the question of why if the
Torah gave this answer to the question, the Hagaddah puts this part of the answer
in the answer for the tam but we won’t deal with that now].
The Torah is teaching us that there is no point of studying laws, testimonies,
statutes, social laws, Gemara, Misha, etc. – no point in learning Torah if one does
not accept the basic premise that G-d took us out of Egypt in order to give us the
Torah and serve Him. As the mishna in Pirkei Avot says, “Fear of G-d proceeds
wisdom” (3:9). The child here is being taught that intellectual curiosity and
learning, whilst good, is only valid if built upon Yirat Shamayim and devotion
to G-d, a devotion which springs from Yetziat Mitzrayim. Yetziat Mitzrayim led
to na’aseh ve-nishma and when na’aseh comes before nishma it means that doing
what G-d wants comes before human understanding.