At Passover each year, we read the story of our ancestors’ pursuit of liberation from oppression. When confronting this history, how do we answer our children when they ask us how to pursue justice in our time?


Group Member:   
I am the wise child. The wise child asks,  What are the testimonies and laws which God commanded you?

Altogether: 
We talk with this child about the nature of freedom and justice and about the need to act to transform the world. It is the wise who want to know the service is theirs to do. 

Group Member:

I am the wicked child. The wicked child asks,  What does this service mean to you?

Altogther:

Be with us, become part of us. Then you will know what the Seder means to us. It is the scornful who withdraw themselves from everything; and so, from the joy of redemption. 

Group Member: 

I am the simple child. The simple child asks,  What is this?

Altogether:

To this child, answer plainly: We are remembering a time long ago in another land when we were forced to work for other people as slaves. “It is not your responsibility to complete the work of freedom, but neither are you free to desist from it.”

Group Member:

I am the child who doesn't know how to ask a question. 

Altogether:

With one who has not started to inquire, you must begin to awaken the mind.


haggadah Section: -- Four Children