During the Passover Seder, there is a part that is usually reserved for the youngest person in attendance. It is known as The Four Questions. Why is this night different from all other nights of the year?

Most are familiar with the first of the questions asked pertaining to why we eat only matzah; but it is the fourth question that I wish to focus on today. The fourth question asks why on this night we all eat reclining. In our Haggadoth, many of us read the response as “To recline at mealtimes in ancient days was the sign of a free man. On this night of Passover, we demonstrate our sense of complete freedom by reclining during our repast.” But let me ask you something, which way do you lean? Do you lean to the left or do you lean to the right? And, exactly how far do you lean?

I posed these questions at one of the Seders and someone who was trying to be funny attempted to show just how far they could lean to one particular side. Do you know what happened? That’s right, (or maybe I should say, that’s left), they fell off their chair and wound up down on the floor.

Somebody chided that the reason the person had fallen was that they leaned to the wrong side. And to prove the point, this other person leaned himself all the way to the opposite side. And guess what? That’s right; he wound up falling off his chair as well.

So let me give you another way of looking at the question ‘Why do we recline?’ When you hear the word recline, you might envision your favorite chair … you know, one of those soft, comfy recliners. Those chairs are meant to make you comfortable. But if you think about it, Archie Bunker had his favorite chair and G-d forbid anyone else ever try and make themselves comfortable by sitting in it.

Archie was worried about his comfort, not anyone else’s. He didn’t care what he said that hurt others. He looked down on anyone who was different from him. He disliked anyone who viewed the world differently. He even felt his wife was so subservient that, in his mind, it was okay to refer to her as ‘dingbat.’

Let me get back on track and focus on the word ‘recline.’ In the dictionary, it says, “To cause or permit to incline backwards.” Let me be the first to tell you that there is a big difference between CAUSING someone to lean over backwards and PERMITTING them to do so.

Causing someone to lean over backwards is a form of slavery. Permitting one to do so is a form of freedom. On Passover, we are supposed to feel as though we, personally, were freed from slavery. So this year, stop causing yourself to be enslaved by leaning too far to the right or the left. This year, permit yourself to look at things from a different angle. Perhaps, it will open up a whole new world for you and give you a greater sense of freedom than you have had in a very long time.

Shalom My Friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring