Four Children for a Contemporary Passover Seder

Rabbi David Teutsch

At the heart of the Passover seder are questions asked and questions answered. The four children of the haggadah model the process of asking. Four contemporary people might ask their questions about what is happening in the State of Israel.

The wise child says, “Israel’s founding principles sound wonderful, but how can Israel be genuinely guided by them, recognizing the rights of Israelis and Palestinians, of Orthodox and secular, of Sephardi and Ashkenazi, of women and men, of poor and rich?”

The troubled child says, “How did you let all those settlements get built, and how do you tolerate the mistreatment of Palestinians by settlers and soldiers? And why have you allowed the protections for poor people to be gradually removed during Netanyahu’s term in office?”

The simple child says, “I love Israel. What’s wrong with that?”
The silent child is completely bewildered by all the contradictory news

and perspectives. They simply don’t know what to say.

As people who love Israel but understand all the complexities, how can we discuss this difficult situation with calm and mutual caring? How do we bring ourselves to face all of the facts? Can we start tonight?


haggadah Section: -- Four Children