Last night, reportedly, Israel carried out a strike targeted at a military air base in Isfahan, Iran. United States officials say the limited nature of the strike may provide an early indication that both Israel and Iran are seeking to step back from the brink of war. Let's us hope so.

Passover begins Monday night (here is a link to all the activities happening in our community). I am looking forward to gathering around my seder table to celebrate with family (both my children will be home) and friends. This is the most celebrated of all the Jewish holidays. And what I have learned most through the years, is that the seder, at its core, is an exercise in asking questions.

“Dear Abby” once jokingly asked, “Why do Jews always answer a question with a question? . . . How else should they answer?”

The Nobel Laureate Isidor Rabi attributed his becoming a scientist to his mother’s unusual way of greeting him after school. While most mothers asked their children, “Did you learn anything today?” Rabi’s mother instead greeted him with, “Did you ask any good questions today?” 

This was mirrored by one of my college professors who used to say, “I prefer thoughtful questions to smart answers.”

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks tells the story of a famous Holocaust historian who was interviewing a Chasidic rebbe who survived Auschwitz. The rebbe emerged from the death camp still a faithful and practicing Jew. The historian asked, “Seeing what you saw, did you have any questions about God?” 

“Yes,” responded the rebbe, “of course I had questions. So powerful were those questions, I had no doubt were I to ask them, God would personally invite me to heaven to tell me the answers. I prefer to be down here with the questions than up in heaven with the answers.” 

Such a story reflects the paradigm of the Jewish value of questioning. That is, while we ask a lot of questions, we may not always be interested in the answers.

Judaism encourages the asking of questions, and each year on Passover, Jews are, in fact, required to ask questions. Ma nishtana halaila hazeh mikol halayot -- “Why is this night different from all other nights?” typically frames all of our questions for Passover.

So what will be your questions at the seder table this year?

I am confident that at some point the topics of Israel, Hamas, the hostages, Palestinians, Iran, and American politics will come up. It may be a contentious conversation. Remember, this holiday is all about asking questions. Let us engage in a concerted effort to listen to differing perspectives and truly engage in dialogue and thoughtful conversations – with less emphasis on the concrete answers.

Kveller.com offers seven ways to address October 7 at your seder table.

Of course, the 133 hostages (sadly, we know too many are no longer alive) who remain in Gaza are at the forefront of our minds. Here are a few ideas on how to honor them:

Leave an empty chair or include a photo of one of the hostages (use this link) at your seder table.

Read this special prayer for women held captive.

Fill our wine cups half-way. Our cups will only be full, and our redemption only fully delivered, when all hostages and displaced people are home and free.

Add a date, a fruit that symbolizes resilience, to the seder plate.

Open the door for the hostages, similar to opening it for Elijah.

Place a yellow ribbon as a sign of solidarity with the movement to free the hostages.

Rabbi Eli Kaunfer of the Hadar Institute suggests that at the meal, which begins with eating matzah, instead of abundance we will feel absence. He proposes that instead of the three matzot that are included on the seder table, use only two. When it comes time to break one of the matzot to hide half for later (the Afikomen), we will have only one and a-half matzot left. This is meant to mark the suffering of those still in captivity by reducing our plenty and reclaiming the power of the “bread of suffering” at our seder.

This reminds me of a story in The Jerusalem Post from years ago:

In 1944, as Passover approached, the Jews confined in Bergen-Belsen, the Nazi concentration camp in northern Germany, faced a troubling dilemma. On the one hand, they were being given starvation-level rations consisting of crumbs of bread that barely kept some of them alive. On the other hand, it was impossible to obtain matzah under the harsh German rule and forgoing their daily bread during the festival would mean certain death.

So what did they do? 

With all their liberties taken away from them, they resorted to the one freedom that even the Nazis could not deprive them of: the freedom to ask. 

They approached Rabbi Avraham Levisson from Holland and Rabbi Aaron Davids, the former Chief Rabbi of Rotterdam, both of whom were being held at Bergen-Belsen, and sought guidance for what to do. Realizing this was a matter of life and death, the two rabbis courageously decided to permit the Jews of the concentration camp to eat bread. But they went one step further and penned a short prayer which was to be recited prior to eating it.

The moving text, which was released by the Ghetto Fighters’ Museum nearly a decade ago, is a testimony to the valor and durability of the Jewish people.

Addressed to the “Master of the Universe,” it reaffirms the desire to observe Passover properly by eating matzah and refraining from hametz. “But to our great sorrow, our servitude prevents us from fulfilling these mitzvot,” it reads, adding poignantly that, “we are not masters of our own fate and our lives are in danger.”

Therefore, the prayer continues, “We are ready and willing to keep the commandment of ‘you shall live by them’ (Leviticus 18:5) and not perish because of observing the mitzvot.” It continues, “We are commanded to do what we must to remain alive, thus by eating hametz (leavened bread) we will be keeping Your other precept, ‘Be very careful about your lives’ (Deuteronomy 4:9). We pray that You keep us alive and sustain us so that we merit to survive to fulfill Your commandments wholeheartedly in the future.”

We share this same blessing with the remaining hostages.

At this year's seder, when we all come together, and there is so much pain and unknown in our world, we must remember to take the opportunity to find comfort and hope.

May this Passover be a time of renewal, reflection, and unity, as we celebrate our shared heritage and look forward to a future filled with peace and prosperity. My sincerest wishes to you all for a joyous holiday filled with the warmth of family, the richness of tradition, the blessings of freedom, and excellent questions.

Chag Pesach kasher v’sameach – a kosher and joyous Passover -- and L'shana haba'ah b'Yerushalayim! Next year in Jerusalem!

Shabbat shalom.