Page 28 - RMBA Upper School Haggadah 2018

The Order Of The Four Sons - Shani Yanowitz (7th grade)
The Haggadah talks about the four sons, the ‫ ושאינו יודע לשאול‬,‫ תם‬,‫ רשע‬,‫( חכם‬the wise one, the
evil one, the innocent one, and the one who doesn’t know how to ask), but why is it put in that
specific order?
The ‫ חכם‬is a smart child who asks “what are these laws that our G-d has commanded you?” He
is seeking more knowledge and also including himself by saying “our G-d”. The ‫ רשע‬is an evil son
who uses his intelligence to exclude himself and says “what is this worship to you?” He excludes
himself and wants to make excuses to not do the Mitzvot of Pesach. The ‫תם‬, the simple son asks
“what is this?” because he isn’t knowledgeable enough to fully understand the story of Pesach.
The ‫ שאינו יודע לשאול‬doesn’t know anything, so he doesn’t have a ques on to ask. Therefore, as
Rabbi Stephen Baars says, the order of the 4 sons isn’t based on merit but based on how smart
there ques on was, because as the Sages teach us, a good ques on is be er than a good
answer.
We learn from this that you should always ask good ques ons but also not try to use your
wisdom to exclude yourself by making excuses to not do the Mitzvot. Rather, use your wisdom
to ask good ques ons so you can learn more and do Mitzvot with even more ‫כוונה‬.
The Wise Son - Orlee Vorzman (6th Grade)
There were four sons: the simple son, the wise son, the one who does not know how to ask,
and the wicked son. Why does the Haggadah place the wicked son immediately a er the wise?
The wise son will gain from going first. It will help him overcome his inner wicked self. The
wicked son is the immediate neighbor of the wise son. The wicked son will hopefully correct his
evil like the wise did right before him. One should learn to be the opposite of the wicked son
and be kind or wise. Inside everyone there is a li le wicked, but that's normal. Our job is to
recognize that aspect and to try to get rid of the nega vity within us.

The Rasha - Noah Frydberg (7th Grade)
Why does the Rasha say ‘what is this service of yours?’ instead of ‘ours’?
The reason that the Rasha says ‘yours’ and not ‘ours’ is because he doesn’t iden fy with the rest
of the Jewish People and our customs, so by saying ‘yours’, he is implying that it is not for him.
By excluding himself from the community, he denies the essen al principle of Judaism: the
obliga on to fulfill the commandments of the Torah.
The Haggadah says that you should ‘blunt his teeth’, meaning you should speak harshly to him
and say: “It is a Passover offering to G-d, Who passed over the homes of the Children of Israel in
Egypt, when He smote Egypt and saved our homes.”
Message: Where it says ‘blunt his teeth’, the word for tooth, shen, is spelled like the Hebrew
le er shin, the middle le er of the word for wicked, rasha. Blun ng the “tooth” of the rasha

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