>> 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