The next of the 48 ways to acquire Torah is asking and answering. Judaism is all about asking questions but there are different ways to ask. There is asking a question because one is curious and wants to know the answer and there is asking a question to ask a question but the answer does not have any relevance to my life.

We also know that sometimes the question is better than the answer that we receive. In any case, the purpose of questioning to get to the crux of the issue to know what the truth is. Sometimes though, the answers to our questions may be difficult to comprehend and understand.  At the same time, we have to be ready to handle the answer even if it may be difficult to accept.

We also have to be careful when answering questions as well. It is important to know who is asking the question and what is behind it, only then can we give a truthful answer. We see this clearly by the answer given to the evil son in the Passover Hagadah.

We are told to blunt his teeth. What kind of answer is that? After all, there is not much difference between the question that the evil son and the wise son ask. The difference is what the intention of their question is.

The wise son asks his question because he is seriously interested in the answer. The evil son is really giving an answer and it is impossible to answer and answer! This is why the Hagadah tells us to blunt his teeth because since he is not interested in an answer, we only add fuel to the fire!

In answering someone's query, we also have to be aware of what the implications may be. This means that our answer must be to what the questioner is asking. If someone asks us for directions and we are not sure and send them the wrong way, we have just wasted their time and caused them to go out of their way for nothing.

We also have to have proper guidance to make sure that we give proper advice to those that require it or send them to someone that can. This is a tremendous responsibility and we have to be ready to say I don't know and ask someone who is more knowledgeable than us. This not only shows humility on our part but it helps the person who needs the information!