The Four Children

adapted from a d'var by Rabbi Kalonymous Kalman Shapira

"The Torah speaks of four children: one wise, one wicked, one simple, and one who does not know how to ask . . . to that child, you should say. . . " (Passover Haggadah).

The response the Torah recommends for the wicked child is quite similar to the one for the child who does not know how to ask. The recommended answer for both children is "You shall tell your child on that day, saying, ëIt is because of this, that God did so for me when I came out of Mitzrayim/Egypt.í" (Shemot/Exodus 13:8)

Why give both children the same response? Because the Torah does not intend to exclude either of them. Both children are in the same category: they do not know how to access holiness. One child has no idea at all of how to begin. The other, the so-called wicked child, is filled with unhelpful knowledge.

Torah commands us to help all kinds of children - wise, wicked, simple, and those unable to ask - to draw close to holiness. When we take on this responsibility, all children respond and draw close. God observes this commandment as well, even reaching out to a person who is, God forbid, wicked.

Perhaps this is why the Maggid (telling the story of the Exodus) portion of the Haggadah begins with the words "originally our ancestors were idol worshippers, but now the Omnipresent has brought us near. . ." and then continues immediately with the discussion of the four children. The Haggadah is telling us that this process is always at work. We are all like the four children: at times we are far, far away, and the Omnipresent reaches out and brings us near.

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