[Avodah] running a seder

[Daniel Israel]

On Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:38:35 -0600 rabbirichwolpoe at gmail.com wrote:
>Daniel:
>>In any case, we can't take the four questions as real questions 
of 
>>the child because there is a set text.  So they are, in a sense, 
>>symbolic.
>
>But the points are 
>They are real 
>And they are NOT questions at al!l rather they are a table of 
>contents of coming attractions!
>
>May I humbly suggest reading the sources quoted before jumping to 
>any conclusions;
>Viz.  Goldscmidt haggada
>Aruch Hashulchan
>Rambam's seder with any good peirush
>Mishna arvei pesachim preferably with artscroll.
>
>Afaik NO rishon sees these as questions from the children.

I'm happy to check the sources you mention, but I don't have access 
Goldschmidt's haggadah, which seems to be your primary source.  But 
in any case, WADR, I think you missed my point.  You cut my 
objection to your suggestion (or is it Goldschmidt's suggestion) 
that all the achronim misunderstood a Gemara, which was my real 
point.  Once we get beyond that, I think we agree that we can't 
understand these as real questions from the children, so what are 
they?  I'm not sure that what you are saying and what I am saying 
are that different.  (But I'm not sure, because without looking at 
your sources, I'm not 100% clear what you are saying.)

When you say no rishon sees these as questions from the children, 
do you mean that no rishon thinks the nusach should be recited by a 
child, or no rishon sees these as actual questions of the child?  
Because, clearly, scripted questions are not real questions, so I 
assume all the achronim also understood that even if the questions 
are put into the mouth of a child, one still has to answer why the 
haggadah scripts some questions, and particularly questions which 
raise so many questions.

--
Daniel M. Israel
dmi1 at cornell.edu