FOR DISCUSSION Look again at the Four Sons, for the simplicity of the account is deceptive.

What makes the Wise One wise? If he's wise, why must he ask a question?

Who is this Wicked One? Why is he at the table, instead of staying home on Seder night? What is his wickedness? Why does the text say, "were he in Egypt, he would not have been freed?" Is cynicism a form of slavery? What is the motivation for his cynicism? How do you suppose he became wicked? What turns children against the values of their parents?

Is the Simple One's simplicity a reflection of innocence and wonder, or indifference and apathy? Is there really ever such thing as an "innocent bystander' in life? Can one claim to be an "innocent bystander" to poverty, war, slavery, genocide?

Have you ever been "The One Who Does Not Know How To Ask?" So thoroughly confused, baffled, or overwhelmed by life that you couldn't even form the question?

Which one of these is you, now, in your life? Are you the Wise, the Wicked, the Simple, or the Silent?


haggadah Section: -- Four Children
Source: Valley Beth Shalom Haggadah