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Ma Nishtana ( he, מה נשתנה) are the first two words in a phrase meaning "Why is tonight different from all other nights?" The phrase appears at the beginning of each line of The Four Questions, traditionally asked via song by the youngest capable child attending
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of .
The questions are included in the haggadah">isan in the Hebrew ...
.
The questions are included in the haggadah as part of the Maggid (מגיד) section.
Origins
The questions originate in the Mishna, Pesachim 10:4, but are quoted differently in the Jerusalem Talmud, Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds. The Jerusalem Talmud only records three questions; why foods are dipped twice as opposed to once, why
matzah
Matzah or matzo ( he, מַצָּה, translit=maṣṣā'','' pl. matzot or Ashk. matzos) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which ''chametz'' ( leaven an ...
is eaten, and why the meat sacrifice eaten is exclusively roasted. (The last question is a reference to the
paschal sacrifice which was fire-roasted). The Babylonian Talmud quotes four questions; why matzah is eaten, why
maror
''Maror'' ( he, מָרוֹר ''mārôr'') refers to the bitter herbs eaten at the Passover Seder_in_keeping_with_the_biblical_commandment__"with_bitter_herbs_they_shall_eat_it."_(Book_of_Exodus.html" "title="mitzvah.html" "title="isan in the H ...
is eaten, why meat that is eaten is exclusively roasted, and why food is dipped twice. The version in the Jerusalem Talmud is also the one most commonly found in manuscripts.
As the paschal sacrifice was not eaten after the
destruction of the temple
The siege of Jerusalem of 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), in which the Roman army led by future emperor Titus besieged Jerusalem, the center of Jewish rebel resistance in the Roman province of Jud ...
, the question about the meat was dropped. The
Rambam
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah s ...
and
Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon ( ar, سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي ''Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi''; he, סַעֲדְיָה בֶּן יוֹסֵף אַלְפַיּוּמִי גָּאוֹן ''Saʿăḏyāh ben Yōsēf al-Fayyūmī Gāʾōn''; ...
both add a new question to the liturgy to replace it: "why do we recline on this night?"
Ultimately, the question of reclining was maintained, in part to create a parallelism between the number of questions and the other occurrences of the number four in the
hagaddah.
Contemporary tunes
Traditionally, ''Ma Nishtana'' is recited in the chant form called the major ''lern-steiger'' ("study mode" – a chant used for reciting lessons from the Talmud or Mishnah).
One of the current tunes widely used for the Ma Nishtana was written by
Ephraim Abileah in 1936 as part of his oratorio "Chag Ha-Cherut".
Text
The following text is that which is recorded in the original printed Haggadah.
Alternate order
In the
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
tradition, the order is as follows: 1. Eating matzah 2. Eating bitter herbs 3. Dipping the food 4. Reclining. The Ashkenazi communities also omit the use of the word "ushotin", which means "to drink".
History
A fifth question which is present in the mishnah has been removed by later authorities due to its inapplicability after the
destruction of the Second Temple
The siege of Jerusalem of 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), in which the Roman army led by future emperor Titus besieged Jerusalem, the center of Jewish rebel resistance in the Roman province of Ju ...
:
The four questions have been translated into over 300 languages.
Answers
The answers to the four questions (and the historic fifth question) are:
# We eat only matzah because our ancestors could not wait for their breads to rise when they were fleeing slavery in Egypt, and so they were flat when they came out of the oven.
# We eat only Maror, a bitter herb, to remind us of the bitterness of slavery that our ancestors endured while in Egypt.
# The first dip, green vegetables in salt water, symbolizes the replacing of our tears with gratitude, and the second dip, Maror in
Charoset, symbolizes the sweetening of our burden of bitterness and suffering.
# We recline at the Seder table because in ancient times, a person who reclined at a meal was a free person, while slaves and servants stood.
# We eat only roasted meat because that is how the Pesach/Passover lamb is prepared during sacrifice in the Temple at Jerusalem.
Some of these answers are stated over the course of the Seder.
Contemporary use
The four questions are traditionally asked by the youngest person at the table that is able to do so.
Much of the seder is designed to fulfill the biblical obligation to tell the story to one's children,
[Exodus, 13:8] and many of the customs that have developed around the Four Questions are designed to pique a child's curiosity about what is happening in order to hold their attention.
See also
*
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of
* Passover">isan in the Hebrew ...
* Passover