"Why is this night different from all other nights?"
Millions of Christian moviegoers heard this question for the first time in a scene near the beginning of the movie "The Passion of the Christ" when Mary bolts upright with a premonition that Jesus has been arrested.
But it's a familiar question for Jews. For more than 2,000 years Jews have asked this on the first night of Passover. It's a preamble to the Four Questions, a set of queries integral to the Seder, the ceremonial meal where Jews celebrate freedom from bondage in Egypt — humanity's salvation — by the hand of God.
Nowhere is the theological divide between Judaism and Christianity more evident than in the Passover and Easter stories. In "The Passion," the query establishes Mary and Jesus as Jews. Then, Gibson uses glimpses of Jesus at the Last Supper, which some Christian scholars say was a Passover meal, to reveal Christianity's different road to salvation, one mediated by Jesus.
"Our tradition does not require a certain kind of belief. It is always about exploring and questioning and uncertainty. We are a people who ask God questions directly," says Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.
The Four Questions, like the preamble, are intended to provoke discussion, storytelling, even arguments. And all are in the present tense because, Rabbi Wolpe says, "we all need the experience of freeing ourselves from servitude and submitting ourselves to doing God's will. That is where true freedom lies."
Think about the "cantankerous Israelites," always squabbling with Moses and among themselves, says Eric Kimmel, author of "Wonders and Miracles: A Passover Companion."
"Getting them out of Egypt is like herding cats. Moses has a tough time, and it's true to this day. We Jews are not supposed to accept things by rote. The Torah (Hebrew scripture) is not in heaven, it is with us, and we must discuss it and wrestle with it.
"So we start kids on that idea early," says Kimmel. "Everything about the meal — strange foods, wine and blessings — is set up to challenge a child's imagination, exactly how we teach children today."
There are dry matzoh crackers instead of bread, bitter greens that get dipped in salt water, comfy chairs for the guests to lean back and enjoy a long evening. Why?
The evening is supposed to be wonderfully odd, says David Arnow, author of "Creating Lively Passover Seders."
"In the earliest instructions Jews have for how to conduct a Seder, there are prompts to engage the children's curiosity. A Seder is supposed to be invigorating, engaging and getting people to put themselves into the action. Every generation is charged with making Judaism live and breathe," says Arnow.
The Passover tradition calls for the Four Questions to be asked by the youngest person present.
The Four Questions are really five: The preamble is meant to provoke examination of symbols in the Passover story. Rabbi David Wolpe, of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, offers answers, with a traditional personal spin.
Question:Why is this night different from all other nights?
Answer: This question "lifts the entire evening out of the trivial and every day by establishing that this night represents events of eternal significance," says Rabbi Wolpe, author of several books on Judaism.
Question:On all other nights we eat either leavened or unleavened bread. Why do we eat only matzoh on this night?
Answer: Jews eat the dry crackers known as matzoh like their forefathers did when they fled Egypt suddenly, before their bread had time to rise. "They only wanted to get out of there. The desire for freedom overrides all other desires, even material ones."
Question:On all other nights we eat many kinds of green vegetables. Why do we eat only bitter herbs on this night?
Answer: Eating bitter herbs recalls "not only the bitterness of slavery but the inevitable bitter component in life."
Question:On all other nights we do not dip. Why do we dip the greens twice on this night?
Answer: Dipping the greens in salt water is reminiscent of tears.
After Wolpe had a brain tumor removed four months ago, he says, "the experience made me think bitterness is not only inescapable in life, it is indeed necessary. It may be the precondition for sweetness, as darkness is for light."
Question:On all other nights we eat sitting or reclining. Why do we recline on this night?
Answer: Reclining at a meal symbolized wealth and leisure in ancient times. "Today, we all have the opportunity to be comfortable, so we talk about making the Seder, and all commandments, beautiful."