An orthodox Jew was attending a business meeting in a restaurant in Los Angeles. His companions were intrigued as to why he refused to share a glass of wine with them. At first he tried to demur the question but after some persistent pestering he finally explained to them that the Sages had decreed that a Jew must only drink Kosher wine never handled by a Non-Jew, lest the Non-Jew pour out some of the wine for pagan worship. His business colleagues were both bemused and amused by this. They found it hard to believe that in 1997, so many years after idol worship had ceased, the Jews should still be worried that it may occur. They raised their glasses to their lips and were about to wish each other a hearty, "Cheers" when the wine waiter piped up. "Excuse me but I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. I happen to be a neo-pagan and before I serve any wine I always pour out a little bit in the kitchen to my gods." The drinkers froze their glasses in mid-air.
    In the Haggadah we speak of four sons who view the proceedings of Seder night in their own unique manner and ask (or don’t ask) accordingly. The Haggadah quotes the pasuk (Shemos 12:26), "Mah ha’avodah hazos lachem- Of what purpose is this work to you?" as the question of the wicked son. The Haggadah then expounds, "He says, ‘To you,’ thereby excluding himself. By excluding himself from the community of believers, he denies the basic principles of Judaism. Therefore, blunt his teeth and tell him: (Shemos 13:8) "It is because of this that Hashem did so for me when I went out of Egypt." "For me," but not for him – had he been there, he would not have been redeemed." We see that although we must blunt the teeth of the wicked son we also must give him a response. Yet, the response we give him is very simple; we merely tell him about the exodus. This would seem to imply that the wicked son is but an ignorant youth. How could he be considered wicked because of his ignorance? In fact, it would seem that the blame should be shifted onto the father for not giving his son an adequate education?
    The Bais Halevi explains that we are indeed speaking of a knowledgeable son who knows the story of the exodus. However this son has attached himself to the group of heretics who seek out the reasons for the mitzvos and if they feel the reason is no longer applicable in our time, they remove it from their practice. The offering of the Korbon Pesach does not seem to be a mitzvah without reason (known as a "Chok"). The Torah explains in great detail that Klal Yisroel were commanded to take a lamb, which was the god of Egypt, and to slaughter it as an offering to G-d in full view of the Egyptians. The purpose of this ordeal was to signify that Klal Yisroel no longer felt subservient to their Egyptian oppressors and were ready to become full-fledged servants of G-d. No one could argue that this commandment seems logical and rational. However the wicked son’s complaint is, "Of what purpose is this work to YOU?" Granted, it made sense to offer this korbon just prior to the exodus, but that was over three thousand years ago. Today most of the world believes in Monotheism. Who is still serving sheep? What are we trying to prove now when we offer this silly sacrifice?" The wicked son tries to offer these arguments and show a cover of righteousness for his improper rationalizations and ideas.
    Our response to the wicked son is that although he is correct that the original reason for offering the Korbon Pesach no longer applies, there is another aspect of this mitzvah and all mitzvos that he is lacking. Even in regard to mitzvos that we are granted an understanding of, we do NOT keep those mitzvos because of the reason. The reason only serves as a window into the depths of the mitzvah to give us a diminutive appreciation of what we are doing. Chazal say that G-d created the world based on the Torah. That means that the mitzvos were in effect well before the cosmos came into existence. The mitzvah of eating matzah and marror on the fifteenth of Nissan really has nothing to do with our exdous from Egypt. The real depth of the mitzvah reaches far beyond the scope of our comprehension. Chazal say that the Avos kept all of the mitzvos (Avrohom was conducting his Seder when he was informed that his nephew Lot was taken into captivity). If the mitzvah of matzah is strictly to commemorate the exodus of Avrohom’s descendants, how could he commemorate an event that had not yet occurred? Rather it is quite the opposite. Because the mitzvos of pesach, matzah, and marror had to be fulfilled on the night of the fifteenth of Nissan, Hashem caused the exodus to occur precisely on that night.
    Our response to the wicked son is, "Because of THIS." History is not an affect it is a cause. Events happen so that we will be able to perform mitzvos, not the opposite. The reason we have a mitzvah to honor our parents is not because we have parents and we owe them such a debt of gratitude. Mankind could just as easily have been a single-cell self-replicating organism. The reason we have parents is in order that we can honor them because the Torah commands us to do so. Similarly the reason we offer the Korbon Pesach was NOT to commemorate a historical event. Rather, the historical event is the means through which we are able to fulfill the mitzvah.
    The Sifrei (Pasrshas V’zos Habracha) relates that prior to Kabbolas HaTorah on Har Sinai, G-d went to every nation and offered the Torah to them. Each responded, "Mah k’siv bay- what is written in it?" To each of them G-d responded with a different commandment that they couldn’t adhere to. To the descendants of Eisav He said, "The Torah says one may not kill," to which they replied that the trait of their ancestor Eisav was to live by the sword and therefore they couldn’t agree to such terms. Similarly to the descendants of Yishamel G-d said the Torah prohibits stealing. They too responded that stealing is in their genes because it was the main trait of Yishmael. In this manner G-d went to each nation and each rejected it until He came to Klal Yisroel and they immediately declared, "We will do and we will hear!" Chazal explain that the reason G-d bothered to approach each nation to offer them the Torah was so that they could not complain later that G-d showed favoritism to Klal Yisroel by only giving them the Torah. However there is a blaring question that emerges: If one has a store and he wants passerby’s to come in and buy things, he puts his best wares in the show window. If a salesman puts his old and outdated wares in the show window, not many people will be interested in coming in. G-d may have approached every nation and offered them the Torah but when they asked about its contents, G-d immediately scared them off by stating the most difficult commandment for that nation. How would this pacify the nations so that they won’t complain in the future? The Kehillas Yitzchok explains that in truth had the nations displayed a sincere interest in accepting the Torah, G-d would not have sought to scare them off. However when G-d offered them this tremendous gift and their first response was, "well what’s it all about," at that moment they blew it. If one wants to accept the Torah he must first have a certain level of trust and belief in G-d. If G-d offers you a gift and assures you of its greatness there is no reason to inquire further.
    In Tehillim, Dovid declares, (119:66) "Tuv ta’am vada’as lamdayni ki b’mitzvosecha hemanti- Teach me reason and understanding because I believe in your mitzvos." At first glance this pasuk seems to be contradictory. If it’s a positive thing to understand the reasoning and rationale behind mitzvos than why do we have to simply believe in them (belief implies trusting in something you don’ fully comprehend)? The Terumas Hakri explains that although it is good to know the reason behind performing mitzvos there is a grave danger involved. The Torah forbids a king to take too many wives. Shlomo, the wisest of men, understood the reasons for all mitzvos. He felt that this commandment did not apply to him. Nevertheless when he transgressed the prohibition it served as a stumbling block for him and led him to sin. There must be a preamble to performing mitzvos and that is that first and foremost we understand that no matter what, we will perform this mitzvah! Regardless of the reason for the mitzvah and whether we feel that it is applicable or logical we will adhere to the Torah’s commandment. After that idea is firmly ingrained in us, we ask Hashem to grant us some understanding of the mitzvos. For now that "I believe in your mitzvos," "teach me reason and understanding." The reasons for the mitzvos therefore, serve only as an incentive and guide as to how to perform the mitzvah. Consider the following parable: A young apprentice of a tailor was becoming fed up with his daily chores. He would sit around all day and sew sleeves together and after a while he became very depressed. One day the craftsman took him into a suit store and showed him the beautiful suits on the rack that throngs of people were looking art. "You see all these extravagant suits. This is where all your timid and trivial work went." So too the reasons given to us for certain mitzvos give us a mere "taste" so that we can relate to the mitzvah with some degree of comprehension.
    With this idea in mind, we can understand another difficult passage in the Haggadah. Toward the end of Maggid we expound on the three main mitzvos of the night: Pesach, matzah, and marror. We begin each passage in the same manner, "Matzah zu/Marror zu she’anu ochlim al shoom mah- This matzah/ This marror that we are eating, is for what purpose?" Why do we first declare "that we are eating"; those words seem to be completely superfluous? My Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchok Heimowitz shlita, explained that before we come to explain the reason for our performing these mitzvos, we must first remind ourselves that the reasons we are declaring are not the underlying cause for our performing these mitzvos. First we must unequivocally state, "this matzah/ marror that we are eating." In order to refute any potential claims that the reasons for these mitzvos no longer apply we must remind ourselves that we will fulfill these mitzvos on this night no matter what. Only then, can we proceed to relate the ‘reasons’ that we are given.
    Pesach is the holiday of belief. The holy Ari explains that in the holy foods we eat by the Seder (particularly the matzah) there are sparks of holiness that engrains within us feelings of belief in G-d. Similarly in the words of the Haggadah there are great levels of emunah one can attain from simply reading the words. Let us take advantage of this opportunity and never forget that the infinite G-d’s infinite Torah is everlasting and unchanging.