The Four Sons! Remember the old saying "children should be seen and not heard?" Never is that more untrue than on the Seder night. In fact, the Bible not only encourages the younger generation to ask about the Exodus -- "And when your child will ask you what do you mean by this?" (Exodus 13:18), it also urges adults to respond to their offspring."And you shall tell your child on that day saying. . . ." (Exodus 13:8)
Four separate injunctions exhorting parents to tell their children about the deliverance from Egypt have fostered any number of pedagogic devices to stimulate any child, however astute he or she may be. Indeed, the rabbis noted that the more we talk about the Exodus and its manifestations on Seder night, the more meritorious is the fulfillment of the command to do so.
The story of the Exodus is embedded in the book appropriately named the Haggadah, from the Hebrew word to tell or relate. The Seder was conducted at the time of the Paschal Sacrifice, and after this Sacrifice was abandoned following the destruction of the Temple, the Seder remained as the prime opportunity for people to remember the Exodus on the first night of the festival, and became, in essence, a sort of talk-feast.
The rabbis like to tell us that the very name of Passover in Hebrew, Pesach, sounds like the words Peh Sach "a mouth that discusses" -- giving recognition to the importance of the dialoging between generations, so that "They might know that I took them out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm."
What's It All About?
The Haggadah is a collection of narrative sources interspersed with ritual, legend, prayers, blessings and songs of thanksgiving and joy. Parts of this collection are very old and some of the passages can be traced back to the Mishnah (C. 200 CE) and even to the Maccabean period. The product of many hands, the Haggadah was probably compiled finally as a separate book by one of the Geonim in the 8th century CE.
Adults - and children too - are encouraged to read and comment on the various passages in the Haggadah which are excerpted from the Bible, Mishnah and Midrash, and to search for all possible interpretations of past history and future aspirations.
Traditionally, the rabbis urge those present at the Seder to imagine that they personally participated in the Exodus drama centuries ago. As the story of the deliverance from slavery to redemption unfolds, participants in the Seder may also recall similar escapes from servitude and oppression in our times. Such contemporary comparisons aid the process of identifying with the Exodus experience.
In this vein the extent of the Divine deliverance is better appreciated and the hopes of all are raised as one of the opening lines of the Haggadah is chanted: "This year we are slaves; next year [we shall be] free men.'"
Endeared to Jews the world over, the Haggadah has appeared in innumerable editions - printed, illuminated and illustrated - and even electronically in five languages! One Haggadah has even appeared with no less than 238 commentaries!
For children and adults alike the world over, the Haggadah represents a perpetual link in the Jewish educational process and a spur to contemplation of the historical processes of redemption, the central theme that pervades this ancient tome.
