[Avodah] The Wise Son vs the Wicked Son and the word ''you''

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Apr 25, 2023 at 06:30:59AM -0400, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
> Fortunately, the Author of those pesukim did give us a clue about the
> nature of the speakers.
> UNfortunately, the editor of the Haggada left out some critical words.
...
> The quote from the Rasha comes from Shemos 12:26: "Your children will say
> to you, 'What is this work to you?'"

R Riskin (1970s, speaking to us in MHS) took this idea in the opposite
direction.

Hashem's answer in Shemos 12:27 is "This is a zeach Pesach to Hashem,
Who spared [pasach] the homes of BY..." Nothing about haqheih as shinav or
"baaur zeh". So RSR posted the question as why the answer was so different
than in the pasuq?

And he suggests that the child asking the question in p' 26 isn't
the Rasha of the Haggadah. That child may have been OTD (as we'd say
nowadays), but there was a logical reason for it other than assuming
his rish'us. See p' 25. The child calls it "ha'aodah hazos" because the
parents perform their qorban as "ha'aodah hazos".

RSR suggested that these pesuqim happen shortly before or after
"venoshantem baaretz" (Dev' 4:25). The excitement and warmth have left
the Qorban Pesach and the Seder and they have become work (avodah in
that sense of the word). The son naturally asks why bother, if they
aren't beinging you any closer to Hashem or to the ideal you? And that
son gets a Pesach story 101 answer. Which forces the parent to reengage
as well

Unlike the Haggadah, who uses this pasuq to describe the child who sees
it all as pointless work the parents do out of rish'us, a kid looking
for a reason to reject.

I was a HS kid, so I didn't think then to ask: But the intro is "keneged
arba banim diberah haTorah". Doesn't that imply that the Baal haHaggadah
is looking to explain the pasuqim as Hashem describes the four sons?


Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Today is the 19th day, which is
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   2 weeks and 5 days in/toward the omer.
Author: Widen Your Tent      Hod sheb'Tifferes: When does harmony promote
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF                       withdrawal and submission?