ספר שמות

The ‎sages in the Talmud Pessachim 119 phrased it ‎thus: “It is imperative that at the end of the ‎‎seder we retain the “taste” of the ‎‎matzah in our mouths when going to bed. ‎‎[This halachah, of course applies only when we ‎do not have a Passover lamb due to being in exile. ‎Ed.] All these steps of the Passover ritual are ‎necessary in order that we retain these impressions ‎firmly engraved on our consciousness. These ‎impressions are valid for every Jew, whereas the ‎recognition of G’d and all He stands for without the ‎ritual, prompted by one’s mind only, is something ‎reserved for very few elitist Jews only. The importance ‎of remembering G’d’s miracles is also at the root of ‎the commandment that the King must have a Sefer ‎Torah with him at all times, from which he can ‎refresh his memory of all the miracles G’d has ‎performed. This also answers the question why the ‎Torah did not have the “smart” son preface his ‎question with the words: ‎על מה‎, “what for,” but has him ‎ask ‎מה‎, ”what,” i.e. what is the intrinsic value of this ‎ritual year after year?‎By reliving what our forefathers had experienced at ‎the time of the Exodus, and what had brought them to ‎a level of seeing the greatness of the Creator and His ‎relationship to us by the miracles He performed for us, ‎we hope to prevent these lofty feelings from fading ‎into oblivion. Rabban Gamliel had therefore said that ‎even people who serve G’d on a “higher” level, must ‎perform the three basic mitzvoth on the ‎‎Seder night by both mouth (words) and deed ‎‎(eating). ‎