From sea to road to space: A Jewish habit of mind

Attending the first-night Seder for Passover this year, a light bulb went off as we read from the Haggadah. There are so many questions! The children’s Haggadah at the second Seder seemed to have even more. It is not just the Four Questions. The Haggadah keeps asking: Why matzah? Why bitter herbs? What does this service mean to you? Why the rush to leave Egypt? It even turns inward and asks something deeper: What does this story mean to me, right now? That was proof enough to me that Jewish children are trained early to ask, probe, compare, and challenge. Over time, that way of thinking shows...