Who says four questions and who answers them? TB Pesakhim 116

Today’s daf TB Pesakhim 116 introduces us to the four questions and their answers.

“MISHNA: The attendants poured the second cup for the leader of the seder, and here the son asks his father the questions about the differences between Passover night and a regular night...The mishna lists the questions: Why is this night different from all other nights? As on all other nights we eat leavened bread and matza as preferred; on this night all our bread is matza. As on all other nights we eat other vegetables; on this night we eat bitter herbs. As on all other nights we eat either roasted, stewed, or cooked meat, but on this night all the meat is the roasted meat of the Paschal lamb. As on all other nights we dip the vegetables in a liquid during the meal only once; however, on this night we dip twice. (Sefaria.org translaion)”

Everybody knows that the youngest child asks the four questions. Nevertheless, the Mishna does not necessarily support this custom. It only states that a child asks the questions.

“But is it necessarily the YOUNGEST child who can ask the questions who should do so? Definitely, according to modern-day Haggadot in which we often find the instruction that "Here the youngest child asks..." When did this custom start? Looking through my corpus of English Haggadah translations I discovered the following:

"Neither the first Haggadah translator A. Alexander (1770) nor the second one David Levi (1794) mention who should ask these questions at all. Only the third translator of the Haggadah into English, Isaac Levi (who edited David Levi's translation in 1808) added this information: Levi (1808) adds: 'Then fill the Glass with wine the second time, and take the dish from the table. Then, the youngest in the company asks’

"Therefore, Isaac was the very first English Haggadah translator to add this phrase to the English Haggadah. Was he maybe influenced by other Haggadot? Or was he really the very first to add the phrase "the youngest child"?

“It seems he was actually the very first to use this exact term in a Haggadah in any language. I have not been able to find the explicit instruction that it has to be “the youngest child/son” in any pre-1808 Haggadah manuscripts nor in Haggadot in any language uploaded to the extensive Hebrewbooks.org website. The best one can find in Hebrew language Haggadot is the term תינוקות (" babes") but never "the youngest child". In addition, there were almost no Haggadot in other languages besides English at that time. As a matter of fact, the ONLY other languages the Haggadah was translated in before 1808 are Italian in Hebrew script (manuscripts), Yiddish and Ladino (not counting three non-Jewish translations in Latin and German) none of which state who should read out loud the Four Questions.

“Therefore, I pose it was in the English translation by Isaac Levi from 1808 that this phrase appears for the first time. This can obviously only be verified after examining ALL pre-1808 manuscript Haggadot and all 515 printed ones (Isaac Levi’s Haggadah is Yudlov #516) which goes beyond the scope of this study. Still, as stated above, I did not find any such Haggadah after scrutinizing scores of manuscripts and hundreds of printed Haggadot.

“Isaac Levi - the trendsetter who is to blame for shy trembling children who are told to stand on the chair and sing the Mah Nishtana.” (https://sites.google.com/site/jewishdigitalhumanities/Downhome/youngest-child-asks)

Let’s compare the four questions in the Mishna and the four questions in the Haggadah. Since the first two are the same, I shall omit them. I have highlighted the differences in a red font.

The Mishna: As on all other nights we eat either roasted, stewed, or cooked meat, but on this night all the meat is the roasted meat of the Paschal lamb. As on all other nights we dip the vegetables in a liquid during the meal only once; however, on this night we dip twice. (Sefaria.org translaion)”

The Haggadah: On all [other] nights, we don't dip [our food], even one time; tonight [we dip it] twice. On [all] other nights, we eat either sitting or reclining; tonight we all recline.

How can we explain the differences? The differences are due to time and location. The questions in the Mishna reflect the time before the Temple was destroyed and in the land of Israel and the questions in the Haggadah reflect the time after the Temple was destroyed and in Babylonia.

When the Temple stood and one celebrated Passover by eating the Paschal Lamb that had to be roasted, this question makes sense. After the Temple was destroyed and we no longer could sacrifice the Paschal Lamb, this question about meat made no sense. Consequently since we need four questions, the question about reclining was put in its place. In Israel there was a custom of beginning meals with hors d’oeuvres. This custom survives at weddings where we are given food that is often dipped in sauces. A child in Israel seeing a meal beginning with a dip would not be strange at all, but to do two dippings will be quite unusual and engender a question. In Babylonia they didn’t begin meals with hors d’oeuvres, so even one dipping would raise eyebrows and a question.

If you really think about it, the continuation of the Haggadah “We were slaves in Egypt-עבדים היינו” doesn’t really answer the four questions. Rabban Gamliel directly answers the questions in the next Mishna which is quoted in the Haggadah.

“Rabban Gamliel would say: Anyone who did not say these three matters on Passover has not fulfilled his obligation: The Paschal lamb, matza, and bitter herbs. When one mentions these matters, he must elaborate and explain them: The Paschal lamb is brought because the Omnipresent passed over [pasakh] the houses of our forefathers in Egypt, as it is stated: ‘That you shall say: It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Paschal offering for He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses’ (Exodus 12:27).

“The reason for matza is because our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt, as it is stated: ‘And they baked the dough that they took out of Egypt as cakes of matzot, for it was not leavened, as they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual’ (Exodus 12:39). The reason for bitter herbs is because the Egyptians embittered our forefathers’ lives in Egypt, as it is stated: 'And they embittered their lives with hard service, in mortar and in brick; in all manner of service in the field, all the service that they made them serve was with rigor’ (Exodus 1:14). (Sefaria.org translation)”

Rabban Gamliel answers the Mishna’s three important questions which deal directly with the mitzvot of Passover and not the questions found in our Haggadah. Since we use the Babylonian four questions, the connection between the questions and the answers became attenuated.