[Avodah] On the Four Sons

[Danny Schoemann]

RMB wrote:
> I am enamored on a different take on the four sons, but one which
> requires seeing the tam as an ideal. This is actually very defensible,
> given "veYaaqov ish tam yosheiv ohalim".
>
> The four sons involve two contrasts: the intellectual vs the experiential,
> and good vs lacking. If you get this in a fixed-width font (eg the web
> archive), here is the table I'm envisioning:
>
>             | intellectual | experiential
> ---------+--------------+--------------
> positive |   chakham    |     tam
> ---------+--------------+--------------
> lacking  |   rasha      |   shyl"sh
>
>

Brilliant, as usual! Using this approach, one can see how each child
is a hybrid of all 4 types.

This solves the problem of : But my son doesn't fit into one of the 4
types mentioned in the Torah.

I would go so far as to say that in diferent areas, the same son will
be somewhere else on the graph: One will be a Tam for Shabbos, but a
Chakham for Tzitzis,