Rabbi Joshua Heller’s Message for Passover 2026

Very early in the seder, we describe four children: wise, wicked, simple, and the one who does not even know how to ask. It is all too easy to see these four children as archetypes through which we might categorize the Jews around us, or even ourselves. The wise child is deeply engaged in the minutiae of the tradition and concerned with fulfilling every responsibility. One might stereotype the wise child as a Jew with a particular type of observance, knowledge or affiliation, a “good Jew.”

The simple child is largely ignorant of the traditions but brings curiosity. We could argue that this, too is a “good Jew.”

Then there is the child who “does not know how to ask.” This is a Jew so distanced that they do not even know that there is a question to ask. How can you judge such a person as good or bad? They don’t even know what they don’t know.

Finally, there is the wicked child, who asks a sharp question (drawn from a Biblical verse) which mocks the tradition. It is implied that the wicked child excludes himself from the community, and we are instructed to respond aggressively and let that child know that indeed, they are outside the fold and would have been left behind in Egypt. It is tempting to see that child as the paradigm of the “bad” Jew.

Today, we might each picture the wicked child as being the opposite of whatever kind of Jew we idealize. One of us might see that person as someone in the same mold as that of the seder, someone who rejects even the most basic aspects of Jewish observance. Some of us might even look in the mirror with guilt and say, “I’m a bad Jew.” But someone else’s vision might be more broad. They might see their “anti-Jew” as someone who does not feel the same way about Israel, does not place enough emphasis on “Tikkun Olam,” or voted for the wrong political party.

However, what is striking about the four children (in the Haggadah anyway) is that they are still at the seder. They are all still in conversation with the Torah and each other. Even the “Wicked” child who rejects so much is still holding on to the language of the Torah. That child might be a wrong Jew, a sinful Jew, a rebellious Jew, but there is still hope. As long as they are willing to sit at the table, they might ultimately come to be worthy to leave Egypt.

Rabbi Joshua Heller is the Senior Rabbi for Congregation B’nai Torah.