Opinion

Ever hear anyone ask, “What’s the big deal?” If you’re a parent or a teacher, chances are one or more of your children have asked you that, when you were annoyed about something they did or didn’t do. Truthfully, you may have asked the same question to someone else who was annoyed at you for something you did or didn’t do. [Word of advice: It’s probably not a good idea to ask your spouse what the big deal is when he/she is upset about something.]

As we take leave of Pesach and proceed full-steam ahead towards Kabalas HaTorah, I would like to take a moment to reflect back on one part of the Seder.

The third question is: On all other nights we don’t even dip once, but tonight we dip twice: the karpas in salt water and maror in charoses.

 For children, it’s unquestionably one of the highlights of the Seder – hiding the afikoman. Some call it stealing the afikoman; some opine that doing so is inappropriate. But whatever it’s called, children love the little midnight game of hide and seek during the Seder.

Recently, The New York Times published an article by David Leonhardt entitled, “Is bad news the only kind?” In it, Leonhardt notes that almost all the news throughout the pandemic was negative.

I wrote and sent out the questions on Pesach. I am now resending together with my response: 

Dad, I have a few questions that have been bothering me recently. I hope you won’t take them personally:

My high school students are helping to learn me English. To clarify, I’m actually teaching them English, but they are trying to teach me how to communicate in their world.