Pesach 5631 First Night Second Ma’amar–Lacking in טעם
In the Haggada we read; “חכם מה הוא אומר? “מה העדות והחוקים והמשפטים אשר צו ה אלוקינו אתכם – What does the wise son ask? What are the testimonies, statutes and laws that God our Lord commanded you?”
The Sfas Emes understands that the wise son is asking the reasons behind the laws, not the laws themselves. Since he is the wise son, it is assumed that he knows the laws. However, how can he ask for a reason for the חוקים ? חוקים do not have reason. Included in חוקים, for example, are the Para Aduma and sha’atnez. These mitzvos have no obvious reason. So why does the wise son ask for the reason for these mitzvos?
In Sefer Tehillim, we say; “מַגִּיד דְּבָרָיו לְיַעֲקֹב חֻקָּיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו לְיִשְׂרָאֵל – He told his words to Yakov, His statutes and laws to Israel”. מַגִּיד is a discussion – the implication is that חוקים is not just an instruction, but a talking point, something that was discussed. So we see that really, חוקים have meaning as well. How can we come to know these reasons? The Sfas Emes explains that the way to attain an understanding of the חוקים is by doing them even without understanding, but with the belief that what we are doing has a deeper meaning. By performing these mitzvos without understanding the reason, we merit knowing the reason as well eventually.
The Sfas Emes explains that the mitzvah of matzah alludes to this. The matzah is made of flour and water. It has no additional taste. In Hebrew the same word is used for taste and for reason – טעם. We specifically do not add any טעם to it to show that the mitzvah itself has enough טעם for us.
Through this, we develop a closeness with Hashem, a Naaseh v’Nishma of sorts, that we do what Hashem commands even though we don’t know why we were commanded.
The answer we give the wise son is, “We do not eat any dessert after the Pesach lamb.” He wants to know the טעם for the mitzvos including the חוקים . We tell him that the way to know the reasons is to do them, without knowing why, but with faith in Hashem Who commanded us. We give him a hint when we tell him not to add to the טעם of the Korban Pesach.
It seems that the Sfas Emes is saying that by asking the right question, it leads us to see that it is more important trust in Hashem than know why.