In this special podcast to celebrate Passover we talk about the Haggadah teaching of the Four Sons: the wise one, the wicked one, the simple nature, and the one who does not know how to ask the question. This conversation explores the dimension of the Sons as children to be told the story of salvation in the way they can understand, and as the four sons that are within each of us. Above and containing each son is the Omnipresent one, G-d, who anticipated the human condition in Exodus 12:26, "What does this rite mean to you?" Please join us for this beautiful conversation that tells the story of who we are.

Magid, The Four Sons

Blessed is the Omnipresent –

blessed is He.

Blessed is the One

who gave His people Israel, the Torah –

blessed is He.

The Torah relates

to four types of sons –

one who is wise,

one who is wicked,

one with a simple nature,

and one who does not know how to ask.

The WISE SON

what does he say?

“What are the testimonies, the statutes and laws,

that the LORD our God commanded you?”

And you must tell him the laws of Pesaḥ:

“After eating the Pesaḥ offering

one does not eat anything more.”

The WICKED SON

what does he say?

“What is this service to you?”

“To you,” he says, not to him.

When he sets himself apart from the community,

he denies the very core of our beliefs.

And you must set his teeth on edge and tell him,

“Because of this

the LORD acted for me when I came out of Egypt.”

“For me,” and not for him;

had he been there he would not have been redeemed.

The SIMPLE-NATURED SON

what does he say?

“What is this?”

And you must tell him,

“With a strong hand the LORD

brought us out of Egypt,

from the grip of slavery.”

And the ONE WHO DOES NOT KNOW

HOW TO ASK

you must open [the story] for him,

as it is said:

“And you shall tell your child

on that day,

‘Because of this the LORD acted for me

when I came out of Egypt.’”