There are a lot of explanations for what the four sons may represent: four kinds of jews, the four questions of ma nishtana, the four cups of wine, maybe even the four matriarchs. For me the best explanation of the chacham, rasha, tam and she’einoh yodea lishol is that they represent the four stages of a persons life:

You are born a she’einoh yodea lishol. A baby is innocent, doesn’t know anything yet and is not capable of asking. Nonetheless you tell him stories, teach him.

The next stage is tam, childhood. A child can ask questions, but he doesn’t know much yet, so he asks simple things and you answer him with simple answers.

Then comes the rasha, puberty. A teenager already knows a lot, but does’t want to know what you are trying to teach him. You need to fight with him (as te hagada says „break his teeth”), but it doesn’t help, so you just leave him.

Last is the chacham, adulthood. You know how to live your life in a good way, you can take care of yourself. That doesn’t mean you stop learning: you learn from living your life, asking the right questions and also getting the right answers, even for the smallest details.


haggadah Section: -- Four Children