The Four Children at the Seder Table: Which Child Am I?

As we celebrate this Holiday of Freedom, the ending of slavery, we ask, "Who am I, when I hear of human rights abuses? Who will I choose to be when I know that others are suffering?"

Will I be one who does not ask? Will I close the newspaper or turn off the television, the computer or the mobile device so that I do not hear or see? Will I turn my head and heart away?

Will I ask only simple questions? "What is this?" Will I ask what, but never why?

Will I let the evil impulse, my yetzer hara ask: "What has this to do with me?" Will I let the problem belong only to the victims and the do-gooders? Will I distance myself from those in need? Or will I strive to act in wisdom, to ask: "What are the underlying causes of the problem and what needs to be done to stop the abuse and free the oppressed? What are the laws and what does God expect of me?"

May God open the eyes of those who do not see, the mouths of those who do not ask, and the hearts of those who do not care, and grant us the wisdom to open our hands to our fellow humans when they are in need - the hand of generosity, the hand of support, the hand of peace and friendship.


haggadah Section: -- Four Questions
Source: http://rhr.org.il/eng/wp-content/uploads/Rabbis-for-Human-Rights-Haggadah-Supplements-5775-English-American-letter.pdf