כִּֽי־יִשְׁאָלְךָ֥ בִנְךָ֛ מָחָ֖ר לֵאמֹ֑ר מָ֣ה הָעֵדֹ֗ת וְהַֽחֻקִּים֙ וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוָּ֛ה יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ אֶתְכֶֽם׃
Apabila di kemudian hari anakmu bertanya kepadamu: “Apakah arti peringatan-peringatan, ketetapan-ketetapan, dan peraturan-peraturan yang diperintahkan Yang Mahakekal, Allah kita, kepada kamu?”
Minchat Ani
The Jerusalem Talmud states, "Bar Kapara taught: 'Silence is fitting for the wise; how much more so for the foolish. “Solomon taught: 'Even a fool, if he keeps silent is deemed wise; intelligent, if he seals his lips.' (Prov. 17:28) (J. Pesachim 9:4) Further the Talmud states: Rabbi Hiya taught: the Torah speaks of four types of people, one is wise, one is wicked, etc…" (J. Pesachim 10:4)
At first glance these statements are problematic since they say that it is good for the wise to keep silent. Yet the wise child asks the longest question of the four children. This contradicts the previous statements.
This, however, is not a contradiction since King Solomon also said: "The mind of a wise person makes his speech effective and increases the wisdom of his lips." (Prov. 16:23) From this verse we learn that that a wise person need not remain silent at all times. Rather he should use his lips wisely, knowing when to speak and when to remain silent.
Why does the author of the Haggadah preface the questions of the four sons with the word echad (echad chacham, one wise, echad rasha, one wicked…), and why does he answer the wise son by saying "We do not eat anything after the Afikomen…" (In the Jerusalem Talmud this answer is presented to the foolish/simple son.44Actually Rabbi Ettlinger says that this is the answer given to the wicked son in his commentary.)
Furthermore, why does the Haggadah answer the wicked child with the verse, "It is because of what the Lord did for me when I went forth from Egypt?” The Torah has a different answer for the wicked child: "And when your children ask you, 'What mean you by this rite,' you shall say, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, because He passed ove’” (Ex. 12:26-27)
To the simple child the Torah states, "And it shall be when your son asks you on the morrow saying, “What is this?” You shall say to him, “With a strong hand, the Lord took us out of Egypt …” (Ex. 13:14), and to the one who doesn’t know how to ask, the Torah says "You shall tell your son on that day saying, “It is because of what the Lord did for me when I left Egypt. (Ex. 13:8) ” (The answers to these two sons are the same in the Haggadah and in the Torah) Why are the answers found in the Haggadah different from the ones found in the Torah (for the other two children?)
Why does the Haggadah change the order in which they are found in the Torah: The wicked (Ex. 12:26-27), the one who doesn’t know how to ask (Ex. 13:8), the simple (Ex. 13:14) and the wise son (Deut. 6:20-21)?
Finally, why does the wise child say "Which the Lord our God has commanded you?" This would seem to be superfluous since we have another passage in the Torah that makes this statement, "And you shall tell your son on that day saying, “It is because of this, that the Lord did for me when I left Egypt.” (Ex. 13:8)
To answer these questions, we must begin with the following from Proverbs, "Do not rebuke the scoffer for he will hate you; reprove the wise person and he will love you." (Prov. 9:8) Alshikh explains that one should be gentle when criticizing the scoffer and not too harsh. If one finds oneself in the presence of a scoffer who rejects the Torah and a wise person, it is better to criticize the wise person rather than the scoffer, as the verse says, "Do not rebuke the scoffer … reprove the wise person."45That is why the Haggadah reverses the order of the four children and puts the wise one first and the wicked one last - we criticize the wise before the wicked. The author now goes on to explain their order in the Torah. Rabbi Ettlinger also does not appear to explicitly answer all of his own questions.
Based on this verse we can understand why the father who is sitting with his four sons addresses them in the order suggested by the Torah. First the father addresses the wicked son. When the wicked son asks about the Seder, the father explains the meaning of the Passover offering. He explains that this is not avodah, work, ("what is this avodah to you?") by telling him that the Pesach offering is a reminder of the miracles, through which God saved us.46“It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, because He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but saved our houses." This is a fitting answer in the spirit of Proverbs for the wicked child who is a scoffer. The answer in the Torah is gentle and not confrontational – but when the father turns to the child who cannot ask, the second child in the Torah, his comments have an implied criticism not for this child but for his older and wicked brother.
He then explains the reason for the bitter herbs to the one who doesn’t know how to ask by telling him that the Egyptians embittered our ancestors’ lives. Despite the bitterness, our ancestors continued to trust God and because of this God took us out of Egypt.47“It is because of this that the Lord did for me when I left Egypt. By answering the silent child in this way, the father also alludes to the answer that he would give to the wicked son: God would take me out of Egypt but not you.
The simple child (the third child mentioned in the Torah) has heard his father explain the Passover offering and the bitter herbs so he now asks about the meaning of the matzah, "What is this (zot) – the matzah?"48The word zot, this, is feminine, as is the word matzah, so when the simple child says "What is this - this is a direct reference to the unleavened bread. The father now answers him in the exact words of the Torah, telling him that the matzah is a symbol that, “With a strong hand, the Lord took us out of Egypt …” When we left Egypt there was no time to allow the dough to become leavened.
The wise child has heard all that his father has said including the reasons for the Pesach, maror, and matzah, and he has remained silent until now. When he hears the implied criticism that the father offers the wicked child, "God took me and not him out of Egypt," he begins to think, "Maybe I am not worthy of being redeemed49Why would the wise child have such a thought? Possibly because he also says “Which the Lord commanded you.” This implies that like the wicked child he has removed himself from the community. ." So he immediately says, "What commandments made the Israelites worthy of redemption, and I will perform them."50"What are the testimonies, statuyes, and laws which the Lord our God commanded YOU?" The father then went on at length explaining all the commandments until the very last one, "One may not eat anything after the Afikomen," so that the taste of the Afikomen would remain in his mouth.
We see, that the Torah's ordering of the four children and their answers teaches us that silence is befitting for the wise, as Solomon said. In the Torah, the wise son comes last so that he can listen to the answers offered to the other three sons, and so he can hear the rebuke which is given to the wicked son. But in the Haggadah, the wise son comes first in fulfillment of the verse, "Do not rebuke the scoffer … reprove the wise person."
We see in the Torah, on the other hand, that the father does not directly rebuke the wicked son but merely hints at his rebuke. In the Torah there are hints of his criticism of the wicked child in his answer to the son who does not know how to ask (God took me out of Egypt but he would not have taken you out). In this way, he fulfills the teaching, "Don’t rebuke the scoffer lest he hate you."51Rabbi Ettlinger does not appear to explain why a different order appears in the Haggadah – only why the Torah has the order it does and how the answers relate to one another. It could be that the four children in the Haggadah reflect the amount of knowledge each child has.
At first glance these statements are problematic since they say that it is good for the wise to keep silent. Yet the wise child asks the longest question of the four children. This contradicts the previous statements.
This, however, is not a contradiction since King Solomon also said: "The mind of a wise person makes his speech effective and increases the wisdom of his lips." (Prov. 16:23) From this verse we learn that that a wise person need not remain silent at all times. Rather he should use his lips wisely, knowing when to speak and when to remain silent.
Why does the author of the Haggadah preface the questions of the four sons with the word echad (echad chacham, one wise, echad rasha, one wicked…), and why does he answer the wise son by saying "We do not eat anything after the Afikomen…" (In the Jerusalem Talmud this answer is presented to the foolish/simple son.44Actually Rabbi Ettlinger says that this is the answer given to the wicked son in his commentary.)
Furthermore, why does the Haggadah answer the wicked child with the verse, "It is because of what the Lord did for me when I went forth from Egypt?” The Torah has a different answer for the wicked child: "And when your children ask you, 'What mean you by this rite,' you shall say, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, because He passed ove’” (Ex. 12:26-27)
To the simple child the Torah states, "And it shall be when your son asks you on the morrow saying, “What is this?” You shall say to him, “With a strong hand, the Lord took us out of Egypt …” (Ex. 13:14), and to the one who doesn’t know how to ask, the Torah says "You shall tell your son on that day saying, “It is because of what the Lord did for me when I left Egypt. (Ex. 13:8) ” (The answers to these two sons are the same in the Haggadah and in the Torah) Why are the answers found in the Haggadah different from the ones found in the Torah (for the other two children?)
Why does the Haggadah change the order in which they are found in the Torah: The wicked (Ex. 12:26-27), the one who doesn’t know how to ask (Ex. 13:8), the simple (Ex. 13:14) and the wise son (Deut. 6:20-21)?
Finally, why does the wise child say "Which the Lord our God has commanded you?" This would seem to be superfluous since we have another passage in the Torah that makes this statement, "And you shall tell your son on that day saying, “It is because of this, that the Lord did for me when I left Egypt.” (Ex. 13:8)
To answer these questions, we must begin with the following from Proverbs, "Do not rebuke the scoffer for he will hate you; reprove the wise person and he will love you." (Prov. 9:8) Alshikh explains that one should be gentle when criticizing the scoffer and not too harsh. If one finds oneself in the presence of a scoffer who rejects the Torah and a wise person, it is better to criticize the wise person rather than the scoffer, as the verse says, "Do not rebuke the scoffer … reprove the wise person."45That is why the Haggadah reverses the order of the four children and puts the wise one first and the wicked one last - we criticize the wise before the wicked. The author now goes on to explain their order in the Torah. Rabbi Ettlinger also does not appear to explicitly answer all of his own questions.
Based on this verse we can understand why the father who is sitting with his four sons addresses them in the order suggested by the Torah. First the father addresses the wicked son. When the wicked son asks about the Seder, the father explains the meaning of the Passover offering. He explains that this is not avodah, work, ("what is this avodah to you?") by telling him that the Pesach offering is a reminder of the miracles, through which God saved us.46“It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, because He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but saved our houses." This is a fitting answer in the spirit of Proverbs for the wicked child who is a scoffer. The answer in the Torah is gentle and not confrontational – but when the father turns to the child who cannot ask, the second child in the Torah, his comments have an implied criticism not for this child but for his older and wicked brother.
He then explains the reason for the bitter herbs to the one who doesn’t know how to ask by telling him that the Egyptians embittered our ancestors’ lives. Despite the bitterness, our ancestors continued to trust God and because of this God took us out of Egypt.47“It is because of this that the Lord did for me when I left Egypt. By answering the silent child in this way, the father also alludes to the answer that he would give to the wicked son: God would take me out of Egypt but not you.
The simple child (the third child mentioned in the Torah) has heard his father explain the Passover offering and the bitter herbs so he now asks about the meaning of the matzah, "What is this (zot) – the matzah?"48The word zot, this, is feminine, as is the word matzah, so when the simple child says "What is this - this is a direct reference to the unleavened bread. The father now answers him in the exact words of the Torah, telling him that the matzah is a symbol that, “With a strong hand, the Lord took us out of Egypt …” When we left Egypt there was no time to allow the dough to become leavened.
The wise child has heard all that his father has said including the reasons for the Pesach, maror, and matzah, and he has remained silent until now. When he hears the implied criticism that the father offers the wicked child, "God took me and not him out of Egypt," he begins to think, "Maybe I am not worthy of being redeemed49Why would the wise child have such a thought? Possibly because he also says “Which the Lord commanded you.” This implies that like the wicked child he has removed himself from the community. ." So he immediately says, "What commandments made the Israelites worthy of redemption, and I will perform them."50"What are the testimonies, statuyes, and laws which the Lord our God commanded YOU?" The father then went on at length explaining all the commandments until the very last one, "One may not eat anything after the Afikomen," so that the taste of the Afikomen would remain in his mouth.
We see, that the Torah's ordering of the four children and their answers teaches us that silence is befitting for the wise, as Solomon said. In the Torah, the wise son comes last so that he can listen to the answers offered to the other three sons, and so he can hear the rebuke which is given to the wicked son. But in the Haggadah, the wise son comes first in fulfillment of the verse, "Do not rebuke the scoffer … reprove the wise person."
We see in the Torah, on the other hand, that the father does not directly rebuke the wicked son but merely hints at his rebuke. In the Torah there are hints of his criticism of the wicked child in his answer to the son who does not know how to ask (God took me out of Egypt but he would not have taken you out). In this way, he fulfills the teaching, "Don’t rebuke the scoffer lest he hate you."51Rabbi Ettlinger does not appear to explain why a different order appears in the Haggadah – only why the Torah has the order it does and how the answers relate to one another. It could be that the four children in the Haggadah reflect the amount of knowledge each child has.
Ibn Ezra
Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi, may His memory be an honor, asked me why it mentioned, "I am the Lord, your God, that took you out of the land of Egypt," and it did not state, "that made the heavens and the earth and I made you." And this was my answer to him: Know that the levels of people’s faith, in which they believe in the glorious God in their hearts, is not equal. As the masses believe that which was heard by their ears, that their Master told them this. And above them are those that saw it written in the words of the Torah that God gave to Moshe. And if a heretic comes to challenge that there is no God, they will place their hands on their mouths, as they will not know [what] to answer. And the one whose heart has elevated him to learn the sciences – which are like stairs to rise up upon to the place of his desire – will recognize the work of God in the patterns and the plants and the animals, and in his own human body - that he will know the function of each limb, according to its development, and why it is [made] in such a pattern. And his heart will elevate him afterwards to know the matters of the planets, that they are the works of God in the intermediate world – that he should stand and know the time of when the sun should appear or the moon and how much [of that time] the sun will appear. And he will also know why the moon appears and Who caused it [to do so]. And all of this, he will know with clear proofs that have no doubt. And from [these] ways of God, the enlightened one will know God. And so did Moshe say (Exodus 33:13), “show me Your ways and I will know You.” And behold the glorious God mentioned in the first of the statements (of the Ten Commandments), “I am the Lord, your God” – and this can only be understood by someone who is an outstanding sage. As I have already explained in Parshat Veeleh HaShemot (Ibn Ezra on Exodus 3:15) that this God is alone and He exists without change and there is none besides Him who is eternal and there is none like Him that 'dwells from the beginning always.' And He supports the higher world with His power and the intermediary world with the power of God, and His holy angels that are in the higher world. And this lowly world that we are in, He supports with the power of God and with the power of the two higher worlds. And behold, the statement, “I am the Lord, your God,” suffices for the enlightened one in every nation. As [while] only Israel concedes to the making of the heavens and the earth which today is close to five thousand years ago, the sages of the nations of the world do not deny that God alone made the heavens and the earth; just that they say that God always makes [them] – without a beginning and an end. And behold, God made signs and wonders for Israel in Egypt until He brought them out of there, ‘to be for them a God.’ And so did Moshe say (Deuteronomy 4:34), “Or did God venture to come and take for Himself a nation.” And the explanation is that God did to Israel that which He did not do to all nations, since God created the intermediate world that it govern the lowly world according to the [astrological] system [over] everything – whether it is from the good or the bad, so will it happen, since so did God apportion it to the [constellations]. And behold it was in the system for Israel – according to the stars of their constellation – to still be slaves. And God with His power – because of His love for the forefathers – introduced signs in the lowly world that were not in the power of the intermediate world, and He took Israel out from the control of the constellations, so that they be a people that is an inheritance for Him. And because of this, our ancestors said (Shabbat 156a), “There is no constellation (mazal) for Israel.” And I will also elucidate this in a metaphoric fashion in Parsht Ki Tissa (Ibn Ezra on Exodus 33:21). And behold, because of the signs that God did in Egypt, Moshe said (Deuteronomy 4:35), “You have been shown, to know” – that all saw this: the sages and those that are not sages, the adults and the children. And he also added about the matter of the stand at Mount Sinai, that they heard the voice of God. Hence afterwards, he said (Deuteronomy 4:36), “From the Heavens, He made you hear His voice to instruct you.” And he said at the end [of this], that there is complete knowledge that a person can place into his heart until it is clarified in his heart that God is alone. Therefore, he said (Deuteronomy 4:39), “And you will know today and place it upon your heart.” And David said (II Chronicles 28:9), "And you Shlomo, my son, know the God of your father and serve him [with a complete heart]" - and knowledge is in the heart and not with the admission of the mouth. And behold it mentioned for the enlightened one, "I am the Lord"; and it added, "that took you out," so that the enlightened and the unenlightened one would [both] understand. And it said, "your God," since you are obligated because He took you out of a house of bondage 'to be a servant to Me, that you should serve Me and that you should be a people for Me, and I will be for you a God.' And Moshe explained this in the section, "And when your son will ask you" (Deuteronomy 6:20), since the explanation of the question is, "Why are we obligated to do the commandments of God more than every man? And is there not one Creator to all of us?" And behold, he mentioned three answers.The first is that ‘we were slaves to Pharaoh’ and He did us this great good; therefore we are obligated to keep all of what He commanded us, even if we don’t know the explanation of His commandments. And the second is because these commandments are not for His need, but rather ‘to benefit us all of the days and to keep us alive.’ And the third is that we should be righteous [so as] to inherit the world to come. And the men of research have found that all physical things are ten, and these are the main categories and there is none above them. The first one is the essence of everything and it is permanent, and the [other] nine things are all contingent, and they all rely upon the first and accompany it and come from it. For it is like measurement of one in the calculation of ten, since all of the calculation comes from it and every calculation is found in it, as it is the foundation. And behold, this first statement (of the ‘Ten Commandments’) that the glorious God said includes all of the commandments of the heart and the tongue and the deed, as one who does not believe in God in his heart has no commandment upon him. And a person is obligated to remember Him at every moment to honor Him; since all that he does, he should only do for the sake of His honor. And he [likewise] should only prevent himself from [transgressing] negative commandments for the sake of the honor of God alone. As a man who gives charity to a poor person should not give it for the honor of the sexton and not in order that people will praise him – as then, the level of man will be higher in his eyes than the level of the honor of God, who gave him assets – and he should prefer to [use] his money to give what he can to receive reward from God. And so [too], one who does a sin in secret so that it will not be made known to the king or that people [not] see him and he become light in their eyes. And someone who thinks this is crazy, since so is it written (Psalms 94:9), “if he creates the eye, does he not observe.” And behold, God sees in secret places that which people are not able to see in the open, since God knows his thoughts and his secret. And behold, he was afraid of the king that will die tomorrow, that he should not punish him, and was not afraid of the true King, in whose hand is his soul - in this world and in the world to come. And Rav Saadia Gaon authored “The Commandments (Azharot)” and categorized all of the commandments in these ten statements (‘Ten Commandments’) and found the glorious Name of God in the first five statements. And I have already explained that the first statement is the foundation, and all of the structures of the commandments [lay] upon it. And after it is written, “There shall not be.” And the sin of one who does not believe in the great God is greater than the sin of one who worships idolatry. As there are many that believe in God and they [nonetheless] sacrifice and burn incense to idolatry, like the ones that burn incense to the ‘queen of the Heavens’; as they think that it will cause good to be done to them, like they said (Jeremiah 44:18), “And since we have stopped burning incense to the queen of the Heavens, we have been lacking everything”; and it is written (II Kings 17:33), “The Lord they feared, but their gods they would worship; and so [too] Na’aman (II Kings 5:18), “in my bowing down in Beit Rimon.”And behold, these admitted [the existence of] God, however they combined another with Him. Therefore the Name of the glorious God is written in this statement. And in the third statement, It is also written, as the sin of swearing falsely is less than idolatry. He just disgraces the Name of God openly – perhaps he did this because of anger or a need, as in his heart, he believed in God and he does not combine another with Him. And in the fourth statement, the Name of God is written, as He rested on the seventh day. And behold, one who does work on Shabbat is denying the story of Creation. And this sin is less than the one who takes up His name in vain. And in the fifth statement, the Name of God is written, since parents partner with Him in [a person’s] creation. And if he does not honor them, it is as if he does not honor God. And the remaining five statements correspond to man – the first is the most difficult, as it is to separate the soul from on top of the body. And that which is after it is not in the body, and that which is after that – not to steal – is with money; and afterwards, it is with the tongue; and afterwards coveting is in the heart.
Tevele Bondi
The Wise Child's Question, and the Haggadah's Answer Translator's Introduction: The four children in the Haggadah are based on four biblical passages in which a child asks a question and we are commanded to answer or in which we are simply told, "You shall tell your child on that day." But the Haggadah does not necessarily give the answer associated with each question in the Biblical passage. In the case of the wise child, the answer to his question (Deut.6:20) appears after the Mah Nishtanah, the four questions, and not in response to his query . Instead the Haggadah speaks about the obligation not to eat after the Afikomen. We explore the reason for this particular answer to the wise child's question.
Ein Maftirin achar hapesach afikomen - Don’t take leave after the Pesach - Afikomen: Why do we mention the Afikomen when answering the wise child's question?
In order to finish the Seder ritual at the proper time, the parent might rush through the ceremony and abbreviate his explanations in order to finish at the allotted time. This might lead the child to think that we are not supposed to tell the story of the Exodus at length. Therefore, the parent should make it clear to his child that it is a commandment to devote sufficient time to the Exodus on this night. Still, one must make sure to eat the Pesach, matzah and maror and recite Hallel before midnight.
Since the telling of the story and all the questions and answers might cause them to run late, the parent begins by saying, "We must fulfill the commandment of eating the Passover meal. Afterwards, I will tell you all about the laws of Passover in a more comprehensive manner. This is the intention of the author of the Haggadah when he says, "You are commanded to tell him all the laws of Passover, until Ein maftirin achar haPesach afikomen: We won't take leave after the Pesach - Afikomen." The word maftirin, means to leave, as in niftar mei-chaveiro, taking leave of one's friend.
"We are taking leave of the Passover meal but not story and explanations after the Pesach offering. Instead, Afikomen, comes from the Aramaic word, afik - "Let us take leave from commenting on the Passover until we have finished eating and then I will tell you about all the laws of Passover and thus fulfill the commandment of answering your questions." In this way the child will not cause them to pause during the rituals.
Ein Maftirin achar hapesach afikomen - Don’t take leave after the Pesach - Afikomen: Why do we mention the Afikomen when answering the wise child's question?
In order to finish the Seder ritual at the proper time, the parent might rush through the ceremony and abbreviate his explanations in order to finish at the allotted time. This might lead the child to think that we are not supposed to tell the story of the Exodus at length. Therefore, the parent should make it clear to his child that it is a commandment to devote sufficient time to the Exodus on this night. Still, one must make sure to eat the Pesach, matzah and maror and recite Hallel before midnight.
Since the telling of the story and all the questions and answers might cause them to run late, the parent begins by saying, "We must fulfill the commandment of eating the Passover meal. Afterwards, I will tell you all about the laws of Passover in a more comprehensive manner. This is the intention of the author of the Haggadah when he says, "You are commanded to tell him all the laws of Passover, until Ein maftirin achar haPesach afikomen: We won't take leave after the Pesach - Afikomen." The word maftirin, means to leave, as in niftar mei-chaveiro, taking leave of one's friend.
"We are taking leave of the Passover meal but not story and explanations after the Pesach offering. Instead, Afikomen, comes from the Aramaic word, afik - "Let us take leave from commenting on the Passover until we have finished eating and then I will tell you about all the laws of Passover and thus fulfill the commandment of answering your questions." In this way the child will not cause them to pause during the rituals.