Prior to the Jews leaving Egypt they are told, “and it will be when you come to the Land that Hashem will give you…. and you shall do this Pascal Lamb service”. Continues the verse, “and it will be when your children say to you, “what is this service to you?”….” This question is probably familiar to you from the Hagadah. The question is identified as the question of the wicked son.
We are told that the expression, “and it will be” always denotes happiness. We readily understand the first mention “and it will be” where we are told about the coming to the Land of Israel – that is something that brings joy. But how can we use the expression that signifies joy when describing the question of the wicked son? What is joyous about having a wicked son sit at the Seder and poke fun and question with no desire for an answer – the service of Hashem?
Let us take a further look at the wicked son as presented to us in the Hagagdah. “What is this service to you?” implying “to you” but not to him. We respond, “By excluding himself from the community he denies the basic principle of Judaism. Therefore blunt his teeth and tell him: “It is because of this that Hashem did so for me when I went out of Egypt. “For me” but not for him – had he been there, he would not have been redeemed.”
A number of questions need to be addressed. Firstly he denied the basic principle of Judaism. What principle? None of the 13 principles of faith as outlined by the RaMBaM seem to have been transgressed by what he asked. Secondly, if he has nothing to do with the redemption why is he mentioned in the Hagadah? Lastly how are we to understand the seemingly harsh response “to blunt his teeth”? What exactly is this going to achieve?
“By excluding himself from the community he denies the basic principle of Judaism”. Excluding himself from the community by speaking about “your service” is the denial of a great principle. The RaMBaM writes, “one who separates from the community…. but goes his own way as if he were one of the nations and does not belong to the Jewish people – such a person has no share in the World to Come”. Belonging is the first step to believing.
The community is not just the sum of the parts that make it up – it is an entirely new being. And it includes everybody, even the wicked one. Many have noted that the word ‘Tzibbur’ (community) is itself made up of the three letters that stand for ‘Tzaddik’ (righteous), ‘Beinoni’ (average) and ‘Rasha’ (wicked). All levels of the spectrum are present and part of any community.
Before the Jews left Egypt this concept did not yet exist. Therefore 4/5ths of ‘individual’ Jews did not get out of Egypt. The wicked person who is now present at our table would not have been able to get out. But then we became ‘Am Yisroel’ – a nation, a community. Now things are different. ‘We blunt his teeth’ – we remove the sharp biting sarcasm and cynicism. How dare you speak like this as if you are an outsider? This is not just “our service” that you are not part of like you claim – indeed back in Egypt this would have ensured your death. But now – after the creation of ‘Am Yisroel’ you are intrinsically part of us. Your mitzvah’s, yes even yours, that which you may consider as small and insignificant are needed to complete the collective unit of the Jewish community. Now you cannot really step away from the group. Our seemingly harsh response is actually one that is embracing and accepting.
The biggest proof we have to the wicked son is that he is at a Seder table! He could be anywhere else tonight. But instead as uncomfortable as it is to sit among family members who do not think like him, he comes to a Seder. This itself is an expression of his innate feeling of belonging to the family that is the Jewish Nation. The fact that as unaffiliated and anti as he is he has turned up to a Seder – and even cares enough and is brave enough to speak his mind is the surest proof that somewhere deep inside he has the feelings that make him part of the community. This is the reason for the ‘happiness’ described in the verse. Seeing a wicked son turn up at the Seder when he could have shirked it entirely is cause for ‘simcha’. We are reminded of a deep concept that unites every single Jewish Soul, and drives them – each in their own way – to still keep a connection to that which they innately knows exists – Am Yisroel.
Let us finish with a great story:
One year the ‘Netziv’ (Reb Naftoli Tzvi Yehuda Berlin) found himself away from his hometown Moscow for Yom Kippur. He turned up to the local shul for Kol Nidrei and found it empty and silent. No one was putting on a kittel and tallis, no one was sitting in contemplation of the day to come. He davened alone.
The same scene repeated itself the following morning. Soon it was late afternoon and then several men started to arrive; they looked dirty, actually they were caked with dirt, as if they had come straight from working in the fields. It was hard for Reb Naftoli to imagine these Jewish men working on Yom Kippur, but their appearance surely pointed in that direction. Until one man who recognised the great rabbi came forward and explained.
“Yesterday evening the Russian Army came to town and forcibly demanded that every adult male come and do some forced labour. We begged to be let off, for us to pray on this holy day but it was useless. We had no choice, we worked and dug ditches – that is why we look like this.” The man spoke in between sobs, clearly shaken by the ordeal.
Reb Naftoli asked the brave and broken individuals if he could address them. He approached the bimah and began with a story of two neighbours who once had a dispute over who owned a certain chicken. Both their homes were on opposite sides of a small patch of land and the beis din decided that to resolve the matter they would take the chicken and place it in the middle of the patch of land. There they untied its feet and waited to see where it would go.
Reb Naftoli turned his eyes heavenward and spoke in an emotion-filled voice. “Hashem, look what children you have. When their feet are tied together they have no choice but to go to work. But the moment they are set free look where they run – they don’t even go home to rest for a few minutes. They come straight home to You – to shul to daven. This is the greatest proof that these people belong to You.
Concluded Reb Yechiel, “Think about the wicked son. Tonight he can run anywhere – his feet are untied and he can do whatever he wants. But what does he do He chooses to come home , to be with his family and his Father …..He might be ‘caked with mud’ but he is here now…”
Good Shabbos, Yaakov