Note 80 — II. OUR DUTIES. (continued 3)

5. ‏מגיד‎ “Relating,”80 scil., the history of the departure from Egypt. The reader, pointing to the broken ‏מצה‎ before him, exclaims, “Such was the bread of poverty which our forefathers ate in the land of Egypt;” as if to say, “We are all alike descendants of those who ate the bread of poverty in Egypt.” In the same sense, the reader continues, “We all alike should rejoice in the kindnesses shown by the Almighty to our nation, and all alike should seek and find true comfort in the hope of the Messianic blessing promised by Him for the future.”81 One of the company, usually the youngest, puts to the reader four questions, as formulated in the paragraph beginning ‏מה נשתנה‎ “Why is different?”82 Additions and alterations may, of course, be made by the inquirer according to his knowledge and intellect. The object of these questions is to obtain an explanation of the rites that distinguish this evening from others. In answer to these questions, the reader refers to the past history of Israel in three different forms,83 viz.:—