We own many Haggadot. But when we get to this time of the year, I always think about the one my father used. He just loved the Szyk Haggadah. Clearly he loved the artwork. This year in preparation for the Seder I look another look at his version of the Four Children:

Here we see it as some form of critique on modernity. The wise child is the traditionalist. The wicked child is an upper-class man who has assimilated. The we have the pure hearted simple child depicted as a hassid. He has an umbrella for some reason that makes no sense unless it is to contrast the wicked child’s riding crop. And finally we have the thoughtful working class man who has dressed for the Russian revolution who is the child who does not know how to ask. Does Szyk’s take still work today?

In a moment when there is a war being waged in Israel and a huge spike in antisemitism world wide, what does it mean for a Jew to publicly come out against Israel? Since 10/7, in our hyper divided world, it is easy to depict the wicked child as the turncoat who has left the flock. It is easy to see this person depicted by Szyk’s wicked child, but is that what the text says?

There in the Haggadah it says:

The wicked child, what do they say? ” What is this service to you?” “To you,” they say, not to them. When they set themselves apart from the community, they deny the very core of our belief. (Haggadah)

As we prepare for the Seder many of use fear the difficult conversations that might happen. It is important to remember that the wicked child is not wicked because of their divergent world view, but rather because they count themselves outside of the group. That is the problem.

It is also important to remember that at the center of Seder is our saying Hallel. Hallel is an expression of our gratitude for our salvation from slavery. This is interesting to me in the last half of a year in that I think we have been forgetting to check our privilege. I make this statement to the left and to the right. Where would our community be right now if we all did a better job of checking our privilege? In understanding our privilege we understand our perspective, power, and responsibility. In doing this we are finding a way to express our gratitude and understanding our relationship the group. Once we do this work we are not being wicked, we are just stating an opinion from our perspective as being part of the group.

But maybe we also need a break from being so serious all the time. So I wanted to offer a light hearted alternative for the Four Children:

How you deal with the TP is also how you count yourself as part of the collective.

Can you spare a square?

Chag Kasher V’Sameakh