Answering Wickedness With Wisdom
The words in Hebrew for “chametz” and “matzah” are similar. They both have a “מ – mem” and a “צ – tzadi,” and the third letters are nearly identical in both appearance and pronunciation: the “ה – hey” and “ח – ches.” Likewise, actual chametz, leavened bread, and matzah, unleavened bread, often have the same ingredients, but taste very different. One of the distinctions that makes the night of Passover different from all other nights, is our ability to know the difference between things that appear very similar – but are really nothing alike.1
For example, one child asks “What are the testimonies, the statutes and laws, that the LORD our God commanded you?”2and we label them “wise,” while another asks “What is this service to you?” and we call them “wicked!” The space between the questions doesn’t seem to justify the distance between the appellations.
Upon closer examination, “wise” and “wicked” (חכם chacham and רשע rasha) seem like an odd contrast. Wouldn’t “wicked” and “righteous” be better points to plot on a spectrum? Actually, tradition sees a value of wisdom as including a predictive foresight “אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם – הָרוֹאֶה אֶת הַנּוֹלָד – Who is wise? One who sees the future [consequences of their actions.]”3 By juxtaposing the attributes this way, the Haggadah is reflecting the teaching that wisdom is a tool to combat, and even prevent wickedness. In other words, if we could make the wicked wise, then they would certainly become righteous.4 This is supported by Reish Lakish’s position that a person doesn’t sin unless they are overcome with a spirit of foolishness – “רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ אָמַר: אֵין אָדָם עוֹבֵר עֲבֵירָה אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן נִכְנַס בּוֹ רוּחַ שְׁטוּת.”5
The Chasam Sofer6 offers a numerical allusion to the process of making the wicked wise, from our strange response to the wicked son’s question in the haggadah: “הַקְהֵה אֶת שִׁנָּיו – blunt their teeth.” The Hebrew word for the “wicked child – רשע,” equals 570. If we subtract the numerical value of “שִׁנָּיו,” which adds up to 366, we are left with 204, the same as the word “צדיק – tzadik,” meaning righteous. Wisdom isn’t a function of how much we know, but of the influence it has on us to bring justice to the world.
That the wicked child takes themselves out of the collective indicates their foolish perspective on humanity. One can not be holy without caring about the wellbeing of others. The Haggadah declares “וּלְפִי שֶׁהוֹצִיא אֶת עַצְמוֹ מִן הַכְּלָל כָּפַר בְּעִקָּר – because they take themselves out of the community, they are a heretic.” The Haggadah views the lack of concern for others as the reason to judge them as an apostate, which is expressed in the order of first examining the misdeed, here an act of isolation, and then to source it in a heretical world view. It seems axiomatic to the Haggadah that the clarity provided by wisdom mandates a righteous experience, particularly those that reinforce our communal responsibility.
The text of the Haggadah posits that the best way to re-educate this wicked child is by bringing their attention to the working mechanism of their teeth. The top row assists with the bottom, and the bottom with the top.7 Just as having one solo tooth is not effective for chewing food, not connecting with others is not an effective way of engaging in spiritual pursuits.
The Talmud shares the story of how the struggle between good and evil concludes in this world. In describing the end of days, when the evil inclination is finally exposed and dispatched, both the righteous and the wicked will be crying.8 Rebbe Yehudah taught “The righteous weep and say: How were we able to overcome such a high mountain? And the wicked weep and say: How were we unable to overcome this strand of hair?” The Rabbis comment that it is only as a collective that the righteous can triumph. Through unity the righteous gather the power of good which is necessary to overcome an opposition that is as big as a mountain.9
Though communal action can be powerful, solitary action can be enervating. For those who surrender to the evil inclination to perceive the world as atomized and see everyone else as “other,” even something as insignificant as a single strand of hair becomes insurmountable! In Hebrew, the yetzer hara – יֵצֶר הָרַע – evil inclination, alludes to the impactful rebuke of the Haggadah as well. “שִׁנָּיו – shinov,” is also a language of the letter “shin – ש,” rendering the admonishment as “blunt their use of the letter shin.” The letter “shin – ש” has a numerical value of 300, the same as the word “יֵצֶר – yetzer,” and when used in place of the word to join the letters of “הָרַע – hara,” it can be arranged to spell “שַּׂעֲרָה – s’ara – hair.”
It is this tiny strand of hair, כחוט השערה, like the leavened bread, that is a placeholder for the corrupted view of one’s inflated self worth over others. At first, it is almost invisible, but over time this evil perspective permeates every choice and is easily identifiable by its destructive consequences. Wisdom, which is housed in humility, perpetually motivates us to continue advancing the cause of goodness as we remind the wise child “אֵין מַפְטִירִין אַחַר הַפֶּסַח – don’t stop [fighting for the liberation of all people] after Passover is over.”
The Torah also seems to acknowledge the appropriateness of disconnecting one child from the others. While the Haggadah groups all four of the children together, beginning with the wise one, in the Torah the wise one’s question appears in Deuteronomy, while the other three children’s questions are in Exodus, forty years earlier! With the wisdom gained by time and experience, the wise child’s question outshines their siblings because ultimately it is about equalizing the experiences of the collective. So too today, compelling statements and arguments about contemporary issues can easily be tested for goodness by seeing how they improve, or worsen, the lives of those affected by them.
1. [Also illustrated in the song “Who knows one?”]↩
2. [Many understand the wise child as asking adults about their Biblical obligation that they will grown into, as opposed to the wicked one that is asking about Divine service, which is already accessible to them and they are opting out.]↩
3. [Tamid 32a.]↩
4. [See Mattersdorfer Rebbe.]↩
5. [Sota 3a.]↩
6. [Moses Schreiber (1762–1839,) Slovakia.]↩
7. [See Vayaged Avraham.]↩
8. [ Sukkah 52a.]↩
9. [See Ben Yehoyada.]↩
Rabbi Mike Moskowitz is a founding builder at Bayit, author of several books, and scholar-in-residence for queer and trans Jewish studies at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah.
