Page 26 - RMBA Upper School Haggadah 2018

The Four Children - Dr. Paul Oberman
In the Haggadah we read of the 4 sons--the wise, wicked, simple, and one who is unable to ask a
ques on. One understanding I like is comparing the sons to genera ons.
The first genera on (wise) came over from the old country and was fired from their jobs every
Shabbat because they would not work on Shabbat. They would find new jobs on Sunday. They
were commi ed to their Judaism 100%.
The next genera on (wicked) just wanted to be American. They rejected the values of their
parents and were embarrassed by them. They pushed away all Jewish values.
The next genera on (simple) were not raised with much Judaism. Because their parents
rejected Judaism, they did not know much about their own faith. The li le they were exposed
to came from their grandparents, whom they visited for the occasional Shabbat or Seder meal.
Finally the next genera on (unable to ask a ques on) had no connec on at all to Judaism
because their grandparents had rejected Judaism and their parents simply didn't know much
about their religion. They didn't even know what they didn't know, and couldn't really ask
meaningful ques ons.

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