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The Four Sons ‐ Sophia Collins (9th grade)

In the Haggadah, there are many stories and lessons. The Haggadah discusses four sons. There's a son who does
not know how to ask, a simple son, an angry rebellious son, and a knowledgeable son. Why is the Haggadah
telling us about them?

There are many opinions on what the sons represented. One opinion tells us that the sons are all different peo-
ple. A more complex and thought-provoking opinion states that they are all just one person developing through-
out their life. The "son" who does not know how to ask is a baby who has not yet learned and therefore does not
know how to ask. The son who asks simplistic questions is a child who is only learn the basics but is eager to
learn more. The rebellious son is just a person in their teenage years that is exploring their religious state and is
just being a "typical" teen. The last side, the knowledgeable son, is an adult who has been learning Torah for a
very long time and is, therefore, aware of what questions to ask. He knows how to fulfill the mitzvah of asking
questions on Passover. In life, you go through many different stages and, on Passover, you ask many different
kinds of questions. We learn on Passover that every different kind of person should be excepted.

Wise and Wicked Sons ‐ Aileen Sar Shalom (10th Grade)

When you look at the Haggadah and think of the four sons, you imagine the order to be from the nicest to the
meanest, but in which order do they actually go?
One reason why the sons are not in the order people think, is so that people know that each son had something to
learn from the others.
One person can’t just be nice without working for it, so that is why the wicked son goes after the wise, to remind
him that it takes work to be the wise son. Similarly, the wicked son needs the wise son to remind him that he
needs to be nicer and not wicked all the time and that because he is next to the wise son he also has a possibility
of being nice one day by learning from his ways

We learn from these two sons that you can be whomever you want to be if you work for it and if you surround
yourself with people who help you be better.

Ari Meckley—2nd grade