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Rabbi's Corner57655766 5767 bereshit noah lech_lecha vayera chaye_sarah toldot vayetzei vayishlach vayigash vayechi shmot bo terumah zachor ki_tissa shabbat_hachodesh vayikra hagadol tazria__metzorah acharei_mot_-_kedoshim emor behar-bechukotai bamidbar naso beha'ahlotekha schlach_lecha bereshit noah lech_lecha vayera chaye_sarah toldot vayetzei vayishlach vayeshev chanukah vayigash vayachi vayechi shmot vaera bo ki_tissa parshat_hachodesh |
Rabbi's Commentary on the Weekly ParshaParshat Hachodesh It shall be that when you come to the
land that God will give you, as God has spoken, you shall observe this service
(the Passover sacrifice). It shall be
that when your children say to you, “What is
this service to you?’ You shall say, ‘It is a Pesach feast
offering to God, Who passed over the houses of the Children of Exodus Why do the Rabbis describe the query “What is
the meaning of this service to you?” as specifically the query posed by the
wicked son (in the Haggadah)? Does not
the fact that in that context the “wise” son refers to “our God signify only
that the questioner sees in God the Creator, not necessarily the legislator who
has the right to legislate to those who had not been part of that historic
event? Akedat Yitzchak Since the question is posed by the wicked son,
surely he must be aware of what he is rejecting! ...The objections raised by
some members of later generations are based on the argument that commemoration
of the Exodus is acceptable to them.
What does not make sense to them is the requirement of the sacrifice
(the Pesach feast offering). This
they believe is an act of thanksgiving which applies only to the generation who
had actually been redeemed at the time.
The Torah instructs the parents to explain to their children that by
saving their forefathers, “God saved our (now generation) houses also.” Moshe Alshich The text reads simply “You shall say,” not “You
shall say to them.” The Word of God does
not expect that a generation mired in materialistic alienation from God will
mend its ways as the result of simple instruction. Such results can be expected only from
personal examples of earnest, enthusiastic compliance with the Law. Do not heed the disdainful protests of a
generation which, ossified in materialism, no longer understands the meaning
and the spirit of God-ordained practices. Samson Raphael Hirsch The most plausible explanation of the difference
(as to why this question is given to the wicked son) lies in an apparently
insignificant phrase that the wicked son “shall say to you.” The wicked son does not ask a question and
(thus) desires no reply. “Then when your
children say to you” – their attitude is already fixed and predetermined. They do not want to hear a reply. They are therefore called wicked. Nechama
Leibovitz The question of the wise son is prefaced by the
phrase, “when your son will ask you,” while this question is prefaced by, “and
when your sons will tell you.” The wise son is asking. He is engaged in a sincere quest for
knowledge. Not so the sons of the other
verse. They are telling you. They have all the answers. Their question is purely rhetorical… Don
Isaac Abravanel The gematria of “Rasha (wicked)” equals 570.
We are commanded to “blunt his teeth.”
When we do so, and subtract the gematria of “Shenav (teeth),” teeth, from “Rasha”,
we are left with “Tzaddik (Righteous),” 204. From another perspective, one can ask if the Wicked
Child is truly wicked. After all, he has
joined his family at the Seder, though his views are quite radical and even
heretical. …It should be noted that the Torah states, in connection with the
wise child, “When your child asks you tomorrow…” This indicates that the wise
child performs first and then asks. The
Wicked Child, on the other hand, questions first as a condition of his
performance and uses aggressive language as an excuse for his nonperformance. Shlomo
Riskin |
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