Karpas: The Masorah of Intellectual Courage

What if I told you that the Rabbinic enactment of karpas encapsulates the essence of Judaism's entire educational philosophy, as taught by Avraham Avinu? Don't believe me? Read and learn!

Apr 17, 2016

Originally published in March 2012. Click here for a printer-friendly version of this blog post.

Karpas: The Masorah of Intellectual Courage

The Rambam’s instructions for the mitzvah de’rabbanan (Rabbinic commandment) of karpas are as follows:

[The leader of the seder] should take a green vegetable, dip it in charoses, and eat a kazayis (the equivalent of an olive's volume) – he and all those present with him, no less than a kazayis; afterwards, they should remove the tray-table from before the reader of the Hagadah alone. [1]

According to the Rambam, the mitzvah of karpas is a three-step procedure: (1) dipping the karpas in the charoses, (2) eating a kazayis of the karpas, and (3) akiras ha’shulchan (taking away the tray-table).

We are familiar with the first two steps, but the last step seems strange. What role does akiras ha’shulchan play in the mitzvah of karpas?

The halachic answer to this question can be found in the previous chapter. The Rambam writes:

One must introduce shinuyim (changes) on this night so that the children will see and ask and exclaim, "How is this night different from other nights?" and he will respond by telling them what happened. What would be an example of such changes? He should give them roasted kernels and nuts (i.e. give them dessert before dinner); he should take the tray-table away from in front of them before they begin eating; they should snatch matzos from each other’s hands; and so on. [2]

According to the Rambam, a father is obligated to introduce his own shinuyim on the night of the seder in order to stimulate the curiosity of the children. These shinuyim include anything that catches the attention of the children, whether or not the shinui is related to the themes of Pesach. For instance, it is said that Rav Chaim Soloveitchik zt”l once did a shinui of wearing a pot on his head at the beginning of the seder.

We can now answer our original question. According to the Rambam, Chazal instituted the mitzvah of karpas as a mandatory shinui to arouse the curiosity of the children. Ideally, the father is supposed to come up with his own shinuyim, but Chazal instituted the mitzvah of karpas as a uniform obligation in order to ensure that every seder includes at least one shinui.

Now that we understand the “What?” of karpas (i.e. the halachic role it plays in the seder), we are now in a position to understand the “Why?” of karpas. Why did Chazal obligate us to begin our seder with the shinui of karpas in order to awaken the curiosity of the children?

On a basic level, the reason for karpas is that the mitzvah of sipur yetzias mitzrayim (recounting the Exodus from Egypt) must be in the form of sh’eilah u’tshuvah (question and answer). Ideally, these questions should not be rehearsed or contrived, but should spring from genuine wonder and curiosity. The mitzvah of karpas is designed to facilitate this mode of sipur, which is why it precedes the reading of the Hagadah.

But there is a deeper level of significance to this mitzvah as well – one which stems from the underlying theme of the night. Indeed, the seder night is the only mitzvah-event of the year devoted primarily to the transmission of the masorah (the Oral Tradition of Torah teachings) to our children. Not only do we focus on teaching our children the halachos and ideas of Pesach, but strive to initiate them into the entire Weltanschauung of Torah. The Rav zt”l provides a beautiful description of this motif:

Passover is the night of masorah, of handing down, transmitting the knowledge, the ancient tradition, our world outlook, commitments, aspirations, and visions to all kinds of children – bright and dull, obedient and rebellious, engaged and indifferent. The meal is thus turned into a “symposium,” a rendezvous with Torah, with the logos. The meal becomes the vehicle of hesed (kindness) in its highest form: teaching and enlightening. [3]

In this same essay, the Rav expounded on the theme of cheirus (freedom):

The slave lives in fear. He is afraid not only of those who are stronger than he or of those who have jurisdiction over him; the slave is afraid of contradicting anyone, of antagonizing even a stranger. This is the reason, in my opinion, why the Sages introduced haseivah (reclining) ... Haseivah symbolizes the throwing-off of the mental shackles depriving man of freedom of movement. Haseivah is the reverse of erect posture, which demonstrates obedient and submissiveness. Soldiers standing erect symbolize the readiness to obey. Haseivah is indicative of disobedience, of a courageous stand, of refusing to take orders, of rejecting the authority of man. Haseivah means defiance. That is why Chazal said that if one’s teacher is present, the student is relieved – indeed, enjoined – from haseivah.

In light of the Rambam’s halachos and the Rav’s explanation, we can appreciate an additional dimension of karpas. The mitzvah of karpas is designed to instill the Jewish trait of intellectual courage in the next generation of the masorah. In other religions, intellectual subservience is paramount. The habits of independent thinking, questioning, and challenging of religious authority are a regarded as taboo. Not so in Judaism. We maintain that Hashem endowed us with a tzelem Elokim (intellect), and we must utilize that intellect in every sphere of our lives – including, and especially, in our adherence to Torah.

The greatest role model for this trait is none other than Avraham Avinu, our founding father. Avraham was raised among idolaters in the primitive and superstitious culture of Ur Kasdim, as we recount in the Hagadah. Against all odds, he used his mind to search out the truth. He questioned the beliefs and rituals of Terach, his father, and he challenged the leaders of his society. This searching and questioning eventually led him to discover the truth of Hashem’s Existence and His Oneness, and it is in the merit of that discovery that Hashem promised to make Avraham’s descendants into a great nation – a nation devoted to sanctifying His Name and perpetuating the teachings of their forefather.

Thus, it is fitting that we inaugurate this “night of masorah” by providing our children with an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Avraham Avinu. Every father is obligated to go out of his way to invent a strange “ritual” to commence the seder. Every Jewish child is goaded to take an intellectually courageous stand - to pursue his curiosity to the point where he questions the religious authority of his father. In the house of the idolater, such questioning would be met with the harshest censure. But in the households of the offspring of Avraham, such intellectual courage is lauded, celebrated, and nurtured.

In this manner, the mitzvah of karpas initiates the next generation of Bnei Yisrael into the chain of our masorah and instills within them the spirit of wonder, curiosity, and intellectual courage which constitutes the very lifeblood of our Torah.

[1] Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides), Mishneh Torah: Sefer Zmanim, Hilchos Chametz u'Matzah 8:2
[2] ibid. 7:3
[3] Rav Yosef Dov ha'Levi Soloveitchik, Festival of Freedom: Essays on Pesach and the Haggadah (posthumously published from manuscripts)

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