>> Torah portion
In this 19th-century
drawing of the Four
Sons, a contrary
"Americanized" son
is defiantly smoking
at the seder table of
p)no ni3nn
Tamarack Camps
ilind il) AAHRUE . OLUZY
his immigrant par-
ents. (Illustration from
an 1883 Haggadah
by Chaim Lieberman
of Chicago. Source:
The Way Jews Lived
by Constance Harris,
McFarland & Co., 2009.)
Your 'Wicked' Son
Passover, Day 1: Exodus 12:21-51, Numbers
28:16-25; Joshua 3:5-7, 5:2-6:1, 6:27.
C
an I talk to the maitre d'? I
mean, who made the seating
chart for the seder? The Wise
Son next to the Wicked Son?
Are we looking for a food fight with
flying horseradish? Put the latter in
the corner with a dunce
cap and let him stew in his
wickedness.
Passover, however, is not
only the story of who we
are historically, but who we
are spiritually. It is the birth
of the Jewish soul, the inner
fire that drives us. It is a
time for questions — but
the question behind the
questions is: How can we
become more soulful?
The Exodus from Egypt provides
the model. Our souls descend from
the spiritual realms into "exile" in
the physical world — a world built
of self and self-centeredness, inher-
ently blocking deeper spiritual access.
Freedom from this exile is the free-
dom from ego, a transcendence of the
inherent selfishness of the world.
The rock band The B-52's sang
about the spiritual confinement of liv-
ing in a "Private Idaho." We sing about
our own "Private Egypt:' The way out,
says the Haggadah, is through Torah.
We talk about good and evil, saints
and sinners, wise and wicked. But
these are old English translations,
rusty with "religiosity" and, frankly,
not very Jewish. The terms in Hebrew
shade far closer to words like selfless
and selfish, connected and discon-
nected, humility and arrogance.
The Wicked Son is not "evil," but
disconnected, lost in his own Private
Egypt ("had he been there, he would
not have been redeemed"). He does
not see beyond the physical world,
protecting his fenced-in, self-centered-
ness like a snarling junkyard dog. So
we "blunt his teeth:' taking the snarl
out of his arrogant stance.
And that requires wisdom.
The aim of wisdom is
love ("its ways are pleasant
ways, and all its paths are
peace"), pushing it to its
fullest expression. Torah
teaches us to see the good,
to aim toward it and to
work for it — to engage
and elevate our relation-
ships and the world. To do
so is the mark of wisdom.
We sit the Wise Son next to
the Wicked Son in order to
engage him, and to love him, soul to
soul, like a brother.
Here's what Maimonides says about
a wise person, adapted here (with rab-
binical license) in imagining the Wise
Son at work:
"He does not squawk like a chicken.
He does not raise his voice. He always
speaks gently, with a welcoming body
language. He embraces everyone with a
warm 'hello. He is likable and non-judg-
mental, seeing the good in everything.
He gushes praise and never puts anyone
down. He loves peace and pursues it'.'
True, we could let the Wicked
Son stew in his own Egypt. But on
this night ("different from all other
nights"), we sit him next to a living
example of a spiritual Jew, a true
brother — and we imagine, that by
the end of the seder, they are soul-
mates, dancing arm-in-arm, singing,
"Next Year, together, in Jerusalem!" ❑
Boruch Cohen is rabbi of the Birmingham-
Bloomfield Chai Center.
Conversations
• The Four Sons are listed in the following order: Wise, Wicked, Simple,
Does Not Know How to Ask. What reasons can we suggest for this?
• Jewish mysticism suggests that, spiritually, the order is reversed –
the highest son is the One Who Does Not Know How to Ask, followed by
the Simple Son, the Wise Son and the Wicked Son. Can you explain this?
461 AtAa.w.cil,
"SEND A KID
TO TAMARACK"
Ktecie off evetivt
Featuring
Je ff rej seller
Tamarack Alumnus and Tony
Award-Winning Producer of Rent,
Avenue Q, and In the Heights
Interviewed by
(xrct B,ervvtia
Tamarack Alumna and
Detroit News Columnist
SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2012
7:00 ritt,
Berman Center for the Performing Arts
Jewish Community Center
D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building
Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus
6600 'N Maple Road, West Bloomfield
Dessert 1;w/a wi,tA,e Reoe-pti-ovx,
following the program (dietary laws observed)
Valet Parking
Space is limited. RSVP at
www.tamarackcamps.com
or 248-647-1100.
A gift to the "Send a Kid to Tamarack' Annual campaign helps ensure that
no child is denied a Jewish camp experience,
1744300
April 5 . 2012
53