Published March 11, 2010
Ed. note: This article might seem to belong in the Pesach issue and that putting in for Shabbat HaChodesh is a bit too soon. Not so! First of all, Pesach is closer than you think. It has this way of bouncing on us, with our reaction being, “I can’t believe it’s Pesach already!” Second of all, as the Hagada suggests, from Rosh Chodesh Nisan there is a valid claim to the telling of the Exodus being appropriate. Although this was dismissed for the reason of the lack of the Seder mitzvot to point to, until THE special night, Hagada analysis and commentary is certainly “fair game” for now. Thirdly, Parshat HaChodesh paints the scene of the original Seder night, albeit more than two weeks early. With all that said, here is Rabbi Sprecher’s article…
K’NEGGED ARBAA BANIM DIBRA HATORAH:
The four children (Ed. note: Rabbi Sprecher’s article said SONS; we changed it to CHILDREN) occupy a key place in the Haggadah. The author states their questions and then spells out the answers, all of which are based on Biblical texts. The Torah is realistic; not all children are chachamim. Life presents us with a variety of children, ranging from the wise to the wicked. And parents cannot and should not ignore any of them. We have to listen carefully to the questions of all and seek to answer them. No matter what the pressure or provocation, we must maintain our relationship with all kinds of children. For so long as they sit at the Seder, ask questions and lend an ear to our replies and the teachings of the Torah, there is hope - and reason for optimism. This explains the rather unusual introduction to the passage of the four children.
BARUCH HAMAKOM. BARUCH HU. BARUCH SHENATAN TORAH L’AMO YISRAEL. BARUCH HU.
Four times the word BARUCH is repeated. This is to show that each child of the four, good or bad, is a blessing. Every child, no matter what his attitude is now, may potentially be a blessing. Today’s ‘Rasha’ may be tomorrow’s Chacham and today’s Tam may very well become the wise disciple the following year.
This optimistic approach is given additional emphasis by the story of the famous sages who are gathered in B’nei Brak on Pesach night. They were the leading men of the generation, the outstanding and revered scholars in Israel. But they were all not originally so. Rabbi Eliezer of whom it is said (in Avot d’Rabbi Natan):
MA HAYTA T’CHILATO SHEL R’ ELIEZER BEN HOKANUS? ESREIM V’SHTAYIM SHANA HAYA V’LO LAMAD TORAH
This person who is described in Pirkei Avot as, “He was like a cemented cistern which loses not a drop” began his studies at the age of twenty-two.
Rabbi Akiva, the leading scholar of his age, was a total Am Ha’aretz until forty.
Not only was he ignorant of Torah, he even hated the very sight of a Talmid Chacham (P’sachim 49b). But Rachel, his wife, with a BINA Y’TEIRA - woman’s intuition - saw in him great promise and potential. She recognized his qualities of scholarship and leadership. She would not give up on him. How right she was! Years later, because of her encouragement, Rabbi Akiva would occupy the most revered position in the Jewish Community.
Can we then measure the potential of people? Are we justified in becoming discouraged too easily? Of course not!
Let us then apply ourselves to all of our children - the bright and the simple, the devout and the difficult ones - The light of Torah may well perform wonders. Each and every child is a special blessing.
Further keep in mind that every person has a component of Chacham, Rasha, Tam, and the She’eino Yodei’a Lish’ol in his being. Relative percentages differ, but we are each all of the “Four Children”.
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