The passages dealing simple child and the one who doesn’t know how to ask appear at the end of Parshat Bo (Ex. 13:2-10): “Consecrate to me every first born among the children of Israel; man and beast…for they are mine;” (13:2) “Moses said to the people: Remember the day you went free from Egypt;” “No leaven shall be eaten;” (13:3) “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread;” (13:6) “Throughout the seven days matzot shall be eaten;” (13:7) “You shall explain to your child on that day: it is because of what Adonai did for me on that day;” (13:8) and “And it shall be a sign on your arm.” (13:9) This passage is interpreted as referring to the child who doesn’t know to ask. After this comes another passage (Ex. 13:11-16): “When Adonai has brought you to the land of the Canaanites;” (13:11) “You shall set apart for you every first issue of the womb;” (13:12) “And when, in time to come, when your child asks you;” (13:14) “And so it shall be a sign on your arm.” (13:16) This passage is refers to the simple child. One must analyze these two passages.

First, if God commanded Moses to “Sanctify the first born,” in the first passage, why was it combined with the commandment of matzah and hametz, as we see in Scripture “Consecrate to me every first born….Moses said to the people, ‘remember this day when you went free from Egypt…you shall not eat hametz…seven days you shall eat matzah?’”

Second, why didn’t Moses mention the commandment of the Passover offering with rules such as the commandment to eat maror with it? Why did Moses see fit to command the Passover offering sometimes but not the other commandments, and sometimes other commandments but not the Passover?

Third, why combine the law of tefillin with these other commandments, as Scripture states, “And it shall be a sign upon your arm,” while other times when the commandment of the first born is mentioned, it does not mention tefillin with the law of the Passover offering?

I will now explain these passages in such a way so that they reveal the interpretation of the Maggid for the child who doesn’t know to ask and the simple child, beginning with the simple child, since he has some knowledge, either more or less. The Torah tells us that though God commanded Moses regarding the sanctification of the first born, this law did not go into effect in the wilderness but only after they entered the land of Canaan as Ramban wrote. Similarly, the obligation to observe the Passover offering did not become an obligation for the generations until after they were settled in the land. The Passover offering (of which we were instructed in this chapter) was also not an obligation yet to the generations. Since the sanctification of the first born was connected to the plague of the first born, Moses warned Israel regarding this commandment and all its details including the Passover offering, matzah andmaror and the sanctification of the first born. All of these commandments served one purpose and were a reminder as Moses said to the people, “Remember this day when you went forth from Egypt.” Moses began teaching the reason for these commandments by telling the Israelites to remember the day on which, “Adonai brought them forth from Egypt.” They would have included the commandment of matzah and the prohibition of hametz. They were connected to the land. In the wilderness there was neither wheat nor hametz. All of these things were dependent on the earth.

Therefore, the Torah states, “When Adonai brings you in the land of the Canaanites...you shall observe in this month the following service (avodah).” (Ex. 13:5) Avodah is not a reference to matzah but to the Passover offering*.* The Torah abbreviates this since it discussed the details in Chapter 12. After the discussion of the Passover offering, it mentions the matzah, “Seven days you shall eat matzah.” Concerning the matzah, the passage states, “Throughout the seven days, leavened bread shall not be eaten… You shall tell your child on that day saying….” Since there is no question or statement in this passage, and only “You shall tell your child,” the Maggid concluded that this must be a child who doesn’t know to ask and it instructs the parent to open the mouth of the mute child and explain things to him as they came to pass.

It is possible that this child did not believe in such things and that he rejected the teachings of God, saying, “I will not mention them or speak in God’s name. Therefore, the Torah immediately states. "It shall be a sign on your arm and a remembrance between your eyes that the Torah of God may be in your mouth and you shall observe these institutions at its set time from year to year.” (Ex. 13:9-10) Such a thing would not have been written about someone unless he was God fearing and desired to fulfill the commandments, and for whom nothing was lacking but knowledge. That is why it says, “In order that the teachings of God may be in your mouth.” That is, learned people would teach him those things that he lacked. In that way, they would be in his mouth even if he doesn’t understand them completely. It was only necessary to teach him the content of the commandments, as it says, “Because of this that God did for me.” That is, because of this – matzah andmaror – so that I may perform this commandment; God did this for me in order to take me out of Egypt. This is what the Maggid states, “The one who doesn’t know to ask – you open up the subject for him.”

Some of the commentators suggest that the following passage in the Haggadah, “You shall tell it to your child; one might think that one should begin the telling on Rosh Chodesh,” is not part of the previous statement regarding the child who doesn’t know how to ask. Rather when the Maggid completes his explanation of the four children with the verse, “You shall tell it to your child,” it continues with, “One might think that one should begin the telling on Rosh Chodesh (on the first of Nisan?)” It then continues as a general discussion: “On that day – One might think that one should begin while it is still daytime. Therefore, it says “because of this” – only at night when matzah and maror are before him.” What I originally said was correct. This passage is a continuation of the interpretation of the child who doesn’t know to ask. This discussion was not necessary for the other three children since there learning was not dependent on a set period of time. It continues to interpret the expression “because of this,” regarding the child who doesn’t know how to ask, while the rest of the verse is interpreted as relating to the wicked child. While the verse is associated with the child who doesn’t know to ask, it is borrowed from here for him.

The simple child is associated with the passage, “And when Adonai has brought you to the land of Canaan.” (Ex. 13:11) After speaking about the day on which we perform the rite of the Passover, matzah and maror, Moses goes on to speak about the sanctification of the first born in the same passage. These commandments serve one purpose, namely, reminding us of the day of the Passover. They all go back to the original statement, “When you enter the land of the Canaanites…” Therefore, it goes on to say, “When in time to come when your child asks, “What is this.” When he sees the content of the commandments, one would answer him, “With a mighty hand Adonai took us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” This implies that the child will remember more generally the connection between all the commandments, for he notes that they are all connected when he asks, “What is this?” He understands that all these commandments are decrees of God. To the question of the Passover offering, one answers, “With a mighty hand Adonai gook us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” To the question of the sanctification of the first born, one answers, “Therefore I sacrificed to Adonai every male issue of the womb but I will redeem the first born among my sons.”

It appears that the answer given to the simple child reflects the general purpose of the commandments including the Passover offering, matzah, and the sanctification of the first born. Since in his simplicity he could not differentiate between them, he said, “What is this?” Thus we see that he is answered out of his simplicity and not as a matter of enmity or heresy. That is what the Torah goes on to say. And it shall be a sign upon your arm and a reminder between your eyes that with a mighty hand God took you out of Egypt. For the child who doesn’t know to ask, we answer by explaining the verse, “It is because of this,” according to its plain meaning. For him we need only offer the material explanation. The simple child and the one who doesn’t know to ask are not guilty of evil intent but simply lacking knowledge, unlike the wise child and the wicked child. It is sufficient to answer them with the words of the Torah. Therefore we do not use the expression Af attah as an introduction to an answer not given by the Torah as we do in the case of the wise and the wicked children.

We have now answered all the questions!****