Wicked Son

More is written about the Wicked Son than all the others. The question asked is almost the same as in Exodus 12:26-27 “And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.”

The Wicked Son has been called the Wise Son, the one who questions authority and makes us think, the one who encourages Judaism to grow and change with the times.

Another story:

A wicked person is called a rasha in Hebrew. The word for a pure person is tzaddik. The numerical value of rasha is 570. The numerical value of tzaddik is 204. The difference between them is 366.

Beneath every rasha is a hidden tzaddik. We just need to remove the layers of evil and we will find his goodness. Numerically, we have to remove 366 to get 204 from 570.

So we must blunt his teeth. "His teeth" in Hebrew is shinav and its numerical value is 366. De-fang the rasha, and you will find his inner tzaddik.

Some have added a fifth son to the four, the fifth one representing Jews who have abandoned their heritage or been assimilated into other religions. Others have added to the Seder. Women’s Seders and Feminist Seders have added Miriam’s cup on the table, filled with water and paired with Elijah’s cup of wine, as a symbol of redemption and possibility. Others have added an orange on the Seder plate, representing the need for gay and lesbian equality.

The editor has read dozens of theme Haggadahs including:

• Sustainable farming
• Vegetarian
• Ecology / anti-herbicide or pesticide
• Animal rights
• Jewish-Christian understanding
• Black-Jewish relations
• Israeli-Palestinian peace
• Labor rights and activism on behalf or workers
• Menopause
• Adoption
• Green
• Freedom for political prisoners
• 30 minute version

Are these things bad? No, but the statement of the Wicked Son is, “Of what use is this service to you?” Perhaps that also means, “How do you use this service for your benefit?” For one who sees himself as separate, the obvious continuation is, “How can I benefit from this service?”

At a different festival, Hannukah, the Menorah is lit. The light from the Menorah cannot be used for anything else, not even reading the Torah. Can the Haggadah be used?

If we go back to the story, over and over we see Moses saying the same thing to Pharoah, for example: Exodus 7:16 “And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.“

God calls us to serve Him, not Him to serve us.

One can look back and find copies of the Haggadah dating back to the 13th century. Each was based on oral tradition, then was written down, and then became liturgy. There is not one word anywhere in this Haggadah, or perhaps any other, that should be taken without question. The gravest disservice would be for this to become a liturgy, dogma, or doctrine, but that is the risk the editor must accept, or abandon the project. So no one except God can say what is in the heart of each Seder leader and celebrant. This and perhaps every writing other than the scriptures, must face the question of who it serves.