בָּרוּךְ הַמָּקוֹם, בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בָּרוּךְ שֶׁנָּתַן תּוֹרָה לְעַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל, בָּרוּךְ הוּא. כְּנֶגֶד אַרְבָּעָה בָנִים דִּבְּרָה תוֹרָה: אֶחָד חָכָם, וְאֶחָד רָשָׁע, וְאֶחָד תָּם, וְאֶחָד שֶׁאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ לִשְׁאוֹל.
Blessed is the Place [of all], Blessed is He; Blessed is the One who Gave the Torah to His people Israel, Blessed is He. Corresponding to four sons did the Torah speak; one [who is] wise, one [who is] evil, one who is innocent and one who doesn't know to ask.
~ What are the underlying assuptions of God being called "the Place"?
~ Where do these four children come from?
~ How do you deal with these four children in the haggadah?
(ט) וַיִּפְגַע בַּמָּקוֹם (בראשית כח, יא), רַב הוּנָא בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי אַמֵּי אָמַר מִפְּנֵי מָה מְכַנִּין שְׁמוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וְקוֹרְאִין אוֹתוֹ מָקוֹם, שֶׁהוּא מְקוֹמוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם וְאֵין עוֹלָמוֹ מְקוֹמוֹ, מִן מַה דִּכְתִיב (שמות לג, כא): הִנֵּה מָקוֹם אִתִּי, הֱוֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְקוֹמוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם וְאֵין עוֹלָמוֹ מְקוֹמוֹ. אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק כְּתִיב (דברים לג, כז): מְעֹנָה אֱלֹהֵי קֶדֶם, אֵין אָנוּ יוֹדְעִים אִם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְעוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָמוֹ וְאִם עוֹלָמוֹ מְעוֹנוֹ, מִן מַה דִּכְתִיב (תהלים צ, א): ה' מָעוֹן אַתָּה, הֱוֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְעוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָמוֹ וְאֵין עוֹלָמוֹ מְעוֹנוֹ. אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּא בַּר יוּדָן לְגִבּוֹר שֶׁהוּא רוֹכֵב עַל הַסּוּס וְכֵלָיו מְשֻׁפָּעִים אֵילָךְ וְאֵילָךְ, הַסּוּס טְפֵלָה לָרוֹכֵב וְאֵין הָרוֹכֵב טְפֵלָה לַסּוּס, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (חבקוק ג, ח): כִּי תִרְכַּב עַל סוּסֶיךָ. ...
And he encountered the place (Gen. 28:11) Rav Huna said, in the name of Rabbi Ami: ‘why do we change the name of the Holy One of Blessing to Place? Because God is the Place of the world, and God’s world is not God’s place, since it’s written “see, there is this place with Me” (Ex. 33:21) - therefore the Holy One of Blessing is the place of the world, and God’s world is not God’s place. Said Rabbi Yitzchak: It is written "The ancient God is a refuge" (Deut. 33:27) - we don't know if the Holy One of Blessing is the refuge of God's world or if God's world is God's refuge, but from whta is written "Ad-nai, You are a refuge" one understands that the Holy One of Blessing is the refuge of God's world and God's world is not God's refuge. Said Rabbi Abba bar Yudan: a hero riding on a horse with abundant weapons on this side and that - the horse is unimportant for the rider, but the rider is not unimportant to the horse, as it is written "[Are You so angry, O Ad-nai, with Neharim? Is Your anger against Neharim, Your rage against Yam] that You are driving Your steeds [,Your victorious chariot?]" (Habakuk 3:8)
~ The order of appearance in the Torah is: Wicked, Simple, Does Not Know How to Ask and Wise. What do you think the haggadah wants to point at, by changing the order?
This order conforms neither to the order in which the children are mentioned in the Torah (Wicked, Simple, Does Not Know How to Ask, Wise), nor to the order of their moral standing, in which the wicked child should be last.
The children are listed in order of their intellectual capacities: The wise child; the wicked child, who is also wise but whose insolence leads him to act wickedly; the simple child, who has at least enough intelligence to ask; and finally the one who does not know how to ask (Avudraham).
OR: the Haggadah first mentions the extremes, then the ones in the middle.
"כנגד ארבעה בנים דברה תורה. אחד חכם, ואחד רשע, ואחד תם, ואחד שאינו יודע לשאול" ~ הפירוש הפשוט הוא שד' הפסוקים שמצינו בתורה בנוגע לאופן ההגדה לבנים, הם ביחס לארבעה סוגי בנים, היינו, שלכל סוג צריכה להיות ההגדה בלשון המתאים לו. אמנם, כיון שכל התורה היא לכל בני ישראל, "תורה אחת לכולנו"– צריך לומר, שכל ד' הלשונות שבד' הפסוקים שכנגד הארבעה בנים שייכים לכאו"א מישראל, כיון שגם אצלו ישנם כל פרטי המדריגות דהארבעה בנים... ועד"ז יש לומר, שכאו"א מישראל מחוייב בכל ד' הלשונות שבהם דברה תורה, וגם אם אין לו בנים מחוייב הוא בכל ד' לשונות אלה, כיון שאצלו גופא ישנם כל פרטי המדריגות דחכם רשע תם ושאינו יודע לשאול.
The simple explanation is that the four verses we find in the Torah are seen in the haggadah as pointing to four children, in the connection to four different types of children, that is, to every type the story needs to be told in the language that corresponds to each of them. However, since the Torah is for all the children of Israel (as written in the Tanya) "one Torah for all of us" - we need to say that all the four wordings of the four children belong to every single person of Israel, since inside one there are all the details of all the levels of the four children... and through this one says that every single person of Israel is committed to each of the four wordings spoken by the Torah, and even if one does not have children s/he is still obligated to say all these four wordings, since it is inside oneself all the distinct levels are found: wise, wicked, simple and one who does not know what to ask.
R. Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, Torat Menachem vol. 2, 5713 (1953)
~ What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of those four children within you?
~ How can you harness those strengths for growth and spiritual progress?
Nursery School, Santiago, Chile ©Zion Ozeri