The 4 (Dozen) Children

As we move to the next part of the Maggid, the child of the Four Questions is multiplied by a factor of four. Now, we have four children questioning us, each with her own distinct personality: our tradition gives us the Wise Child, the Wicked Child, the Simple Child, and the Child Who Is Unable to Ask. These children absorb the story of Exodus in the light of their particular worldview.

Each of us contains all four of these children — they manifest in our reactions to the world around us. Sometimes our responses are wise; sometimes they're wicked; sometimes they're simple, and sometimes we don't even notice the situation before our eyes, so we don't have the ability to respond. Each of us, then, carries all four of these children — and many more. We're fanciful and we're realistic; we're energized and we're sacred; we're bored and we're brave. We're a world of children unto ourselves, endlessly processing the world around us.


haggadah Section: -- Four Children