What Are YOUR Passover Questions?

Passover is coming up soon! On the first night of Passover, we have a seder which is a meal that marks the beginning of Passover. During Passover we sing a song about the four questions and, usually, the kids are asked to sing a song.

At every Passover Seder, we're telling the story of the Jews' exodus from Egypt, with the help of God's miracles. I heard this story many times and also learned a lot about it at school. This is a very interesting and fascinating story, but a few questions about it come to mind when I think about it. I'd like to share those with you, since this is the holiday of asking questions!

In the Passover story, the Egyptian Pharaoh finally frees the Jews from slavery - and then he changes his mind and chases after them!

Question one: Why did Pharaoh chase after the Jews himself and not send other soldiers? I think that Pharaoh didn't stop to think about what he was doing because he was so angry. If he would have stopped to think, I imagine he would have stayed put for the fear of the God of the Jewish people. Knowing that Pharaoh might change his mind, the Jews rushed to leave Egypt and had no time for their bread to rise.

Question two: Why didn't the Jews have time for their bread to rise, while they found the time to gather money and gold from the Egyptians to take with them on their way our from slavery? It is possible to think that food was something the Jews thought they could find in the desert, but gold would be harder to come by. Another possibility is that they wanted to take their valuables with them after being forced to be their slaves for so many years.

According to the Passover story, God created 10 plagues to try to convince Pharaoh to let the Jews go free.

Question three: Is there a meaning to how the plagues are organized? Is there is a meaning to the way the plagues came down on Egypt? Maybe God was saving the worst for last to see if Pharaoh would let the Jews go earlier than he actually did. Maybe God was trying to be merciful, hoping Pharaoh would let his people go without going through all the troubles he did at the end.

Pharoah's daughter was kind and saved baby Moses, even after her father decreed that all Jewish baby boys should be thrown in the Nile.

Question four: Why did Pharaoh's daughter take Moses out of the river, when she actually knew he was Jewish? One possible answer is that maybe she didn't realize he was Jewish at first and then, when she finally did, she already liked him too much to let anything bad happen to him. However, it is possible that she did know he was Jewish but chose to save baby Moses' life because of her kind heart.

These are my four questions for Passover. I hope they will make you think of the Passover story when you read the Hagadah with your family and friends during Lel Ha-Seder (the Passover Seder). You might want to come up with your own four questions, or, if you want, you can also try and think of alternative answers for my questions! Happy Passover!