There are four sons: one wise, one wicked, one simple, and one unable to ask any questions. (You learn which you were on the first day of Hebrew school from the sorting hat. Always an exciting day.)
Before going further, let me remind you of the old adage "ask two Jews, get three opinions." So please understand that my interpretations of a song published in the 50s adapted from parts of the Torah is not meant to be the ironclad word of the Lord that every Jew would agree with. That being said, here's the verse in question:
Then did sneer the son so wicked,
"What does all this mean to you?"
And the father's voice was bitter
As his grief and anger grew.
"If yourself you don't consider,
As a son of Israel
Then for you this has no meaning,
You could be a slave as well!"
When I say this part sticks out, understand that in the previous verse the father tells the wise son that he has to stop eating at midnight. Seriously, that's what he tells the wise son, I'm not joking. So we go from a Cinderella/Gremlins type situation to a dad writing his own child off as a slave.
The result of this zero to sixty for me was to focus on this part of the song more than the rest. I didn't think much of the wise, simple, or quiet sons other than cringing a bit at "simple" as I got older. My thoughts on the wicked child have evolved over the years but here's where I'm at now:
The main purpose of the Passover Seder is the retelling of the Exodus story. It's the original "Never Forget." What is the real point of remembering that we were slaves? It can't just be that God is great for saving us and we are to be eternally thankful. The problem with that go-to reason is that the rest of the Torah does that too, over and over again. God is great, don't forget. God is great, tell your friends. Why this extra focus from the Torah on teaching your children about Passover more than we see for other holidays? This commitment to always remembering we come from slaves—what is to be gained? The reason is clear to me. We remember that we were once in need to understand that others are in need of our help today.
At some modern Seders you'll see the story of Exodus lead into a discussion of current events, of oppression and modern day slavery in all of it's forms. Remembering the exodus can't simply be for mourning the past and enjoying the present. Many Jews see it as a call to action, a reminder that we can make a difference for others. A reminder that rescuing yourself is not always possible. God delivered us from Egypt. The allied forces liberated us from Nazi Germany. It's not much of a stretch to say a basic tenant of modern Judaism should be the quest to help those in need.
You could be a slave as well. The meaning is obvious to me. If you don't care about the plight of the oppressed, if you care only about your own joy and can ignore the suffering of anyone else, you might as well be a slave. Even worse, if you can justify the suffering of others, maybe you deserve that fate. The wicked son lives like he never was, never could be, a slave. He thinks he deserves his freedom more than others, that those without freedom must somehow deserve their fate. The wicked son is the son that did forget.
When I think about the American Jews today that continue to support Donald Trump, this strange children's song always pops into my head. Now, I'm not shocked to see Trump's displays of blatant racism. We've known of his bigotry for years. This is the man who kept black people from renting at his properties until the Federal government intervened. (A simple sting operation of sending people of different skin colors to try and rent a Trump property produced rather damning evidence. That's how blatantly racist his policies were.) This is the man who still believes the Central Park Five shouldn't have been released from prison despite the DNA evidence that matches the man who confessed to the crime. He'd rather see innocent black men in prison than admit he was wrong about something. What a guy.
He's an awful person and nothing he does will surprise me. What continues to shock me is that any Jew would still have his back. (Of course, there's no reason for anyone to support him Jewish or not, but I'm sticking to a theme here.)
When he rallies his base by celebrating his camps filled with foreigners—when you hear of children separated from their parents with no promise of being reunited, how does that not ring any bells for you?
When Trump tells four Congresswomen "go back where you came from," how could it not occur to you that Jews have suffered this same attack in every country they've ever lived in, including both the U.S and Israel.
When he talks about crimes committed by immigrants, (both the actual crimes and the ones he makes up) the same tactics used to stoke hatred of Jews in Nazi Germany, how can you not sympathize?
I don't understand how a Jew could be fooled by scapegoating tactics. I'm not saying I payed attention in Hebrew school all the time—or even most of the time—but apparently I picked up more than some other Jews did.
I am thrilled to see Jewish groups protesting Trump's policies and ICE under the banner "Never Again" and "Never Again is Now," and to see the Anti-Defamation League constantly fighting back against Trump's rhetoric and policies. But to know that any jew would still support this man is something I cannot comprehend.
So to my fellow Jews, religious or not, orthodox, conservative, reform, whatever—here's my message to you. If you still support Trump after everything we've seen, if you can justify all of it and still plan to vote for him in 2020, you might as well skip out on the Seder next year. Passover isn't really for you anymore. "For you this has no meaning, you could be a slave as well."
