Page 27 - haggadah_2017.pub

The Chacham ‐ Sascha Ayach (7th Grade)

The Chacham asks “what are the laws that Hashem has commanded you?” and his father answers him, “one may
not eat any more after the final taste of the Passover offering.” My question is how is not eating after the Pesach
sacrifice answering the Chacham’s question?

The Sages say that the Afikoman, (the broken piece of matzah that is hidden) is the last food we can eat, this
way the taste stays in our mouths and we honor the memory of the Pesach offering. We learn that by savoring
eating the piece we can be thankful of being able to come out of Egypt, and we should remember it always. This
is the hidden response to the Chacham’s question, as the commandments of Hashem should always remain with
you just like the Afikoman tastes remains with a person at the Seder.

The Rasha: Does The Haggadah Encourage Violence? ‐

Gabri Kupferman (10 Grade)
th

In the Haggadah, when the four sons are mentioned, we learn how to respond to the questions that each type of
child asks at the Seder Table. When discussing how to deal with the wicked son, the Haggadah writes that,
“accordingly, you will blunt his teeth.” It seems to be somewhat odd that the Haggadah would utilize language
that seems to condone violence.

Aron Moss of Chabad explains that the numerical value of the word Rasha (the Hebrew word for “wicked”) is
570, and the numerical value for Tzadik (the Hebrew word for “righteous”) is 204. If you subtract one from the
other, you are left with 366, which just so happens to be the value of the Hebrew word for "his teeth"- Shinav.
Therefore, to reach the level of righteousness of a Tzadik, you must remove, or blunt the teeth of the Rasha. Un-
derneath every seemingly wicked person, is a righteous person attempting to escape. All we must do is “blunt
their teeth,” and help them to pull the righteousness out from inside of them.

The Wicked Son ‐ Stav Chen (7th Grade)

What is the nature of the Wicked Son?Does he try to be wicked? Why does he act this way? Imagine the wick-
ed child as a nerd and the seder as a party. The nerd feels that he doesn't belong in this party and acts differently
toward the people there, even though they did nothing wrong to him. Same as the evil child: he states “What's
up with all this stuff you do?” He says “you,” excluding himself from the Pesach discussion. Therefore we see
that he is not fully evil, but just feels excluded and is curious but shows it differently. This teaches us that if
someone seems negative at a ceremony , we should try to explain to them the reasons behind the rituals and
make this person feel included. Maybe he or she will have a change of heart.