THE FOUR CHILDREN THE FOUR CHILDREN

In the magid (narrative) section of the Passover Seder, we read about four children: one wise, one wicked, one simple, and one who does not know how to ask. Sometimes these are referred to as “The Four Sons,” but the Hebrew word banim could mean "sons" or "children"andthereisnoneedtoexcludehalfoftheJewishpeople.

Additionally,theBiblicalBookofProverbssaysthatoneshouldteachachildaccordingto their way (22:6), and this may have been consciously or sub-consciously on the mind of theauthorofthispartoftheHaggadah.Similarly,theMishnahsaysthataccordingtothe abilitiesofthechilddoyouteachthemabouttheExodus(Pesachim10:4).

There are four times that the Torah says that you should tell your child about Passover, perhaps the rabbis assumed that this must mean there are four different types of childrenwhowere inneedofdifferentanswers.Otherwise,theTorahcouldhavesaidthis onceandbeendonewithit.

THINKING OF THE CHILDREN, AT YOUR PASSOVER SEDER:

• If you were to rewrite this narrative tool using four adults, what would their architypes be?

• Reflecting back to your own childhood, if you participated in Seders as a child, how did you understand the four children?

• If there are children at your Seder table this year, ask them how they feel about this simplistic breakdown of types of learners.