Passover Questions for Discussion

What Passover remembers

Passover (Hebrew, Pesach) remembers God freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The story is told in Exodus 1-15, and the instructions for the first Passover are in Exodus 12. According to that account, the households of Israel were to take a lamb, put its blood on the doorposts, and eat the meal in readiness to leave. The LORD “passed over” their houses during the final plague (Exodus 12:13, 27).

In Jewish life, Passover is observed every spring with the Passover meal, called the seder, and a period of eating unleavened bread. The Torah also gives Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16. Exact dates follow the Jewish calendar and change each year on the civil calendar, so check a Jewish community calendar for the current dates.

What does “seder” mean?

Seder is a Hebrew word that means “order.” It refers to the ordered sequence of the Passover evening meal, which follows a text called the Haggadah (“telling”). The Haggadah gathers Scripture, blessings, songs and commentary so that the story of the Exodus is told in the home. Exodus 13:8 instructs parents to tell their children what the LORD did for them, and the seder is built around that instruction.

The Four Questions

The Four Questions, often called Ma Nishtana (“Why is this night different?”), are traditionally asked by the youngest person at the table who is able. They open the storytelling. In the commonly used modern form, they ask why on this night:

1. We eat only matzah (unleavened bread), when on other nights we eat leavened bread or matzah.
2. We eat bitter herbs, when on other nights we eat other vegetables or herbs.
3. We dip food twice (often parsley in salt water and bitter herb in charoset), when on other nights we do not dip even once.
4. We recline, when on other nights we sit upright or recline.

The wording and some details vary among communities and historical versions of the Haggadah. The Haggadah then answers the questions by telling the story of slavery and redemption.

Ideas for discussion:

• Why might the tradition begin with a child’s questions instead of an adult’s lecture?
• What does it say about faith that questions are built into the ritual?
• Which of the four questions seems most meaningful to you, and why?

Key elements of Passover and the seder plate

Practices differ among Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi and other communities, but common elements include:

• Matzah, unleavened bread. It recalls that the Israelites left Egypt in haste (Exodus 12:39) and is called “the bread of affliction” in the Haggadah.
• Maror, bitter herbs, which recall the bitterness of slavery (Exodus 1:14).
• Charoset, a sweet mixture often made with fruit, nuts and wine, commonly understood as recalling the mortar used by the slaves.
• Karpas, a green vegetable dipped in salt water, often understood to point to spring and to tears.
• Zeroa, a roasted shank bone, a reminder of the Passover lamb. For how the blood theme runs through Scripture, see our Bible verses about the blood of Jesus.
• Beitzah, a roasted egg, often linked to festival offerings and to new life.
• Four cups of wine (or grape juice), connected by tradition to the four expressions of redemption in Exodus 6:6-7.
• The Haggadah itself and the retelling of the Exodus.

Some families add other items, such as an orange or a cup for Miriam, which are modern customs not found in older sources. The seder plate is a teaching tool, and not a Scriptural requirement in its details.

The “five forbidden foods” question

Readers sometimes search for “five forbidden foods on Passover.” There is no single official list by that name. The related idea is chametz, leavened grain products that are not eaten during Passover. According to traditional Jewish law, chametz generally refers to products made from the five grains wheat, barley, spelt, oats and rye that have come into contact with water and been allowed to ferment or rise. Matzah is made quickly to prevent this.

Customs beyond this differ. Some Ashkenazi communities also avoid kitniyot (such as rice, corn, beans and legumes), while many Sephardi communities and some others do not, and views have shifted in recent decades. Anyone who wants to observe Passover rules should consult a rabbi or the guidance of their own community, since details matter and vary.

Discussion questions from Exodus 12-13

Read Exodus 12:1-14, 21-28 and 13:1-16 together, then consider:

1. Why did God ask the Israelites to do things (apply the blood, eat in readiness, remain indoors) rather than only watch?
2. What does the instruction to explain the meal to children (Exodus 12:26-27) suggest about how faith is passed on?
3. What might it mean that the Passover was both a community meal and a household event?
4. How does verse 13:3 (“remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt,” KJV) shape the idea of memory as a spiritual practice?
5. Exodus 13 links Passover to the consecration of the firstborn. How does the story of the ram in Genesis 22 relate to the theme of substitution and redemption?
6. What does it mean to say that each generation should see itself as having come out of Egypt? (The Haggadah expresses this idea.)

Discussion questions for the seder table

These work for a family, congregation or friendly gathering:

1. What is a time you felt “stuck” and later experienced freedom?
2. Who are the people today who are not free, and what might remembrance ask of us?
3. Which food on the table speaks to you most, and what does it bring to mind?
4. What question would you add to the Four Questions?
5. How does hospitality fit with the invitation in the Haggadah, “let all who are hungry come and eat”? (Compare our study of fellowship meals in the Bible.)
6. What stories from your family’s history deserve to be told to the next generation?

A note for Christian groups

Many Christians study Passover because the New Testament places the Last Supper in its setting (Luke 22:7-20) and speaks of Christ as “our passover” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Christians read these links in different ways. Some churches hold a “Christian seder” or a Passover-themed meal as a teaching tool. Some Jewish voices have expressed concern when Christians adopt the seder in ways that treat it as a prop or reinterpret it without regard for Jewish observance, and some Christians choose to study the themes without staging a seder.

A respectful approach would be to:

• Learn from Jewish sources and, where possible, join an invitation from a Jewish friend or community.
• Be clear about what is Jewish practice and what is Christian reflection.
• Avoid any teaching that blames or disparages Jewish people, a harmful history that Christians should reject.

Leading the conversation well

• Offer a brief overview of the story before asking questions, so everyone has the same starting point.
• Mix factual questions with reflective ones, and let people pass if they wish.
• Welcome children’s questions, which is the spirit of the Four Questions.
• If participants come from different traditions, state that practices differ and no one view is being pressed.
• Leave room for silence. Some of the best discussion begins after a pause.