WHAT DOES THE ACTIVIST CHILD ASK?

The Torah says "justice, justice, you shall pursue", but how can I pursue justiice?

Empower her always to seek pathways to advocate for the vulnerable. As Proverbs teaches, "Speak up for the mute, for the rights of the unfortunate. Speak up, judge righteously, champion the poor and the needy".

WHAT DOES THE SKEPTICAL CHILD ASK?

How can I solve problems of such enormity?

Encourage him by explaining that he need not solve the problems, he must only do what he is capable of doing. As we read in Pirke Avot- The Ethics of our Ancestors, "It is not your responsibility to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.

WHAT DOES THE INDIFFERENT CHILD SAY?

It's not my responsibility.

Persuade her that responsibility cannot be shirked. As Abraham Joshua Heschel writes, "The opposite of good is not evil, the opposite of good is indifference. In a free society where terrible wrongs exist, some are guilty, but all are responsible."

AND THE UNINFORMED CHILD WHO DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO ASK....

Prompt him to see himself as an inheritor of our people's legacy. As it says in Deuteronomy, "You must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."


haggadah Section: -- Four Children
Source: American Jewish World Service