The number four is very prominent in the Haggadah. Everything seems to come in fours: there are four cups of wine, four expressions of redemption, the four sons. Probably the most widely known grouping of four are the four questions. We even know it in the Yiddish as the fier kashes.

Interestingly enough, if we look carefully in the Bible we can see that Moses also asked four questions. It was particularly at the point when God appeared to him at the Burning Bush, that Moses had four important questions that had to be asked.

As God commanded him to go to Pharaoh and rescue the Israelites from slavery his first question was:

"Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? What are my spiritual qualifications? I'm just a shepherd, what do I know about leading a liberation movement?"

The answer God gave to Moses was a good response:

"Don't worry, for I chose you and I will be with you in all that you do." How can you continue to doubt your abilities if the Lord himself feels that you are qualified?

But Moses had other questions that bothered him as well. His second question was:

What if Pharaoh doesn't listen to me? What if he doesn't believe me that I spoke to God?

To this second question, the Lord responded by showing him all of the miracles and wonders that he would perform before Pharaoh ... the rod that became a snake, the water that turned to blood. How could they not believe you after seeing such things?

But this leads to still another questions: What if the Jews themselves do not believe me? As a matter of fact, I've always had trouble communicating with people, just on the level of everyday conversation. Now you are telling me to be a spokesman for a whole nation ... don't you know that I stutter?

To this as well, God had an answer.

Don't you have a brother Aaron? He can speak well ... He can go with you and be your spokesman.

The fourth question was, "How do I know that it is God who sent me? Maybe this whole conversation is a mirage; maybe I am having a hallucination? Did I invent God or did God make me? Of course the experience Moses had was enough to convince him that what he saw was real.

To all these questions God gave Moses an answer. But if we really consider them we can see that they are also the same questions that we ask, right here today, and the answers are needed by us as well.

In particular these four questions are the questions of the modern Jew who is still outside, who might come to the synagogue once or twice a year, or maybe will show up a family Seder. He too, has the same questions on his mind that Moses asked thousands of years ago. But unfortunately he usually doesn't stay around long enough to receive an answer.

Just like Moses, the modern American Jew also asks "Who am I? What do I know about being Jewish? I can't even read Hebrew, let alone find my way through the prayer book. Everything here is so foreign to me."

The answer given to Moses is the same answer we must give to him: start with the fact that you are a Jew. You were born into a peoplehood, into a covenant. Just like Moses in the Bible, by virtue of your birth, God chose you ... you have ancestors who were prophets and sages, priests and lawgivers. As foreign as all of this seems, it is already part of you.

To Moses' second question, God gave him his "bag of tricks," the signs and wonders that he showed Pharaoh. For us, we also have something to show ... perhaps almost as miraculous as the rod ... we have our dedication, as small as it might be, it is a sign that makes us more believable. Whether it be giving a day for minyan, working on a committee, doing a Haftorah, taking a course, sponsoring a kiddush, giving to UJA ... these are the little signs that can be multiplied, and before you know it you are part of Jewish life.

To Moses' plea to be disqualified because of his inability to speak, the response was ... there is Aaron your brother. He is already on his way to meet you.

This should be the very same response we might give to those who say that they should be disqualified from Jewish life because of a lack of knowledge or understanding. There is Aaron your brother! We are all brothers and sisters ... no one is expected to do the whole job, but what are you good at? We'll find a brother to help you. By working together, we can become great.

As individuals there is little we can do, but as a congregation we can achieve great things. The last question is the most theological and most difficult: How do I know that it is God who sends me? Moses received his answer at the Burning Bush and every time that God appeared to him. But except for the mystics among us, few of us can have the certainty of faith that was given to Moses.

But at least we have the Torah, we have the commandments, we have the examples of the lives of our great teachers ... through study, practice and imitation, even we can come to a level of belief.

On the eve of the first Passover, Moses had four questions that needed to be answered. He had to know who he was, and whether anyone would listen to him. He needed to be reassured that he had what it takes to be a true Jew, and he had to feel that it really was the spirit of God who moved him.

We also have these same questions. It is our prayer that the answers given to our prophet of the Exodus help us as well, as we enter this season of asking and receiving answers.

Wishing all of our friends and neighbors a very happy Passover, and to our Christian friends, a most happy Easter.