Tonight, we will celebrate the Passover seder. It is a fourteen part event held over a festive meal on the first and second night of Passover (first only in Israel). I have wonderful memories of growing up, spending Passover at my grandparents and staying up late for the seder. The cousins would get together to put on some dorky play about the story of Passover, which recounts the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. A good deal of the rituals involved are said to be part of the seder so that the children will be involved. We eat different foods than we usually eat and there is a tradition to hide a piece of matzah called the afikomen, which the children look for towards the end of the seder.

Another "children's part" of the seder is asking the four questions. The four questions are generally asked by the youngest child present. Last year, when she was two, Anna threw a nice tantrum the first night, and actually stayed up the second night to ask the first of the four questions. This year, she actually knows how to sing the whole thing in Hebrew and I'm hoping she'll take a nap during the day (fat chance) so that she'll be up to participate.

My in-laws have the custom of saying the four questions in every language they can come up with. This site has some nice ideas on how to spice up your seder - with or without children present, it's always fun to try something a little different.

Here's a nice translation of the four questions from the Orthodox Union's (OU) website.

Why is this night different from all other nights?

For on all other nights we eat Chametz and Matzah;

And tonight we may eat only Matzah!

Why is this night different from all other nights?

For on all other nights, we may eat any vegetable that we want;

And tonight we must eat specifically Marror!

Why is this night different from all other nights?

For on all other nights we don’t have to dip any vegetable into a liquid;

But tonight we must dip two vegetables into a liquid -

Karpas into Salt Water and Marror into Charoset!

Why is this night different from all other nights?

For on all other nights, we eat either sitting straight or leaning;

But tonight we are required to lean!