Innocent by Association
Blessed is the Omnipresent One, blessed be He! Blessed is He who gave the Torah to His people Israel, blessed be He! The Torah speaks of four children: One is wise, one is wicked, one is simple and one does not know how to ask.
Who Put the Wicked Son Next to the Wise Son?
One of the main features of the Haggadah that we recite at the seder is about the Four Sons: The wise son, the wicked son, the simple son and the son who does not know how to ask questions. The Haggadah proceeds to detail what the father has to say to each of these sons according to their level of intelligence and capacity to absorb the message.
The author of the Haggadah lists the four sons in an unusual manner: The wise son, the wicked son, the simple son and the one who does not have the knowledge to ask. This order prompted the question by many a commentator, why was the wicked son placed next to the wise and presumably righteous son?
The previous Lubavitcher Rebbe answered that it is the duty of the wise son to associate himself with the wicked son and influence him to return to Judaism. By placing the wise son next to the wicked son, there is hope that something will rub off and the wicked son will ultimately change his ways.
It won’t Necessarily Rub Off
This answer begs for further clarification based on a story told of a certain young man, steeped in Torah knowledge, who began to associate himself with a group of rebellious youths, whose views were quite antithetical to the views of Judaism. When his rabbi apprised him of the danger in his associating with such individuals, the young student replied tongue in cheek: “Don’t worry. Just as all of my years that I have associated with your disciples didn’t rub off on me, the heretical views of these youths will also not affect me.”
The rabbis replied by referring to a law mentioned in the weekly Torah portion that is usually read before Passover. When the meat of a sacrifice touches something that is ritually impure it renders the meat likewise ritually impure ((Leviticus 7:19). Mere touch has the deleterious effect on the meat and renders it contaminated and unfit. On the other hand, when something holy touches something neutral, it does not confer the holiness on it with mere touch. In order for the neutral substance to become holy, the holy substance must permeate it.
If one wants to be influenced in a positive way, one must make an attempt to imbibe, absorb and internalize the positive influence. By contrast, when one makes “casual” contact with impure influences, it can have a negative effect.
This response is, in essence, what our sages intended when they said “Distance yourself from a bad neighbor.” Even if one’s contact with a bad person is of a purely superficial nature—he is only my neighbor— nevertheless, one must make an attempt to distance oneself from him.
Reconciling Contagious Evil with Standing Together with Rasha
Having made the case for keeping one’s distance from undesirable influences, we must now reexamine the answer of the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe to the question why the Haggadah text juxtaposes the wise son with the wicked son.
The Rebbe’s answer that it was intended for the wise son to influence the wicked son raises a question:
How does this reconcile with the preceding teaching that impurity can contaminate something with even the most casual forms of contact. Wouldn’t it pose a serious threat to the spiritual health of the wise son to associate himself with the wicked one?
Nothing to Fear
The answer lies in a basic distinction between the two scenarios. In the latter case, where the chocham-the wise son associates himself with the wicked son, his intention is to influence him. In doing so, he fulfills the most basic mitzvah of “Ahavat Yisrael-Love for one’s fellow.”
By demonstrating his love and concern for his fellow Jew, he is protected from being harmed by his closeness to the wicked son. There is a Talmudic principle that those people engaged in the performance of a Mitzvah shall know no harm.
On the contrary, the love and concern is so powerful that it will ultimately move and inspire even the most wicked of sons.
We have been guaranteed by our sages that when engaged in the process of helping our fellow Jew—materially or spiritually—that we will be impervious to the dangers that are normally associated with this relationship.
Moreover, R. Schneur Zalamn of Liadi (founder of the Chabad Chassidic movement, know as “the Alter Rebbe”) asserts that the one who expresses this measure of love and concern will be refined to the extent that “his mind and heart will become one thousand times more sensitive.”
Moreover, the Haggadah states that the wicked son is told that had he lived in the days of the Exodus he would not have been liberated from Egypt. Now, however, that the “wise son” has been sitting next to him and inspiring him, even he is guaranteed to be liberated from exile.
This was true in times gone by, when there were Jews who were actually characterized as “evil” and “heretics” and the like. Even they are Jews, whose soul yearns for G-d. It takes the effort of the Wise son to reveal the inner core of Jewishness in the Wicked son.
How much more so is this true nowadays, when there is virtually no such thing as a “wicked son.“ Our task is to mainly bring the warmth and light of Judaism to the many people who — through no fault of their own — have not received a good Jewish education, or who may not know of the beauty of Mitzvot.
No Jew will be Left Behind
This is why, the Prophets allude to the fact that no Jew will be left behind, when the Moshiach will liberate all Jews from exile.
Never before in history have we experienced such an outpouring of “Wise sons” and their desire to reach “in” to the hearts and souls of even the most assimilated Jew. And never before has the heart of even the most assimilated Jew been open to genuine Judaism presented to him or her with love.
All of these positive and loving efforts to reveal the inner spirit of every Jew will pay off very soon.
From the book Light from the Future: Haggadah Shel Pesach by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
