Background The next passage introduces one of the best-known sections of the Haggadah: the four children. Let’s try not to call them the four ‘sons.’ It begins with a brief but lovely poem in which the Maggid praises God who is present everywhere (HaMakom) and who has given the Torah to His people (Sh’natan Torah Li’amo Yisrael.) While it does not appear to relate directly to the story of the Exodus or to the four children, it is most significant that it also contains four verses (like the four sons). Each verse begins with the word Baruch, “Praised.” The number four figures prominently throughout the Haggadah but especially in the next passage that begins, “The Torah speaks of four types of children…” The commentary asks, is there a connection between these four verses that is deeper than a simple numerical correlation? Rabbi Lorberbaum tries to answer this question by drawing on the writings of Bakhya Ibn Pakuda and Moses Maimonides. He goes much farther and draws an entire structure for the Haggadah based on the number four. While the rabbi does not begin this discussion with several questions, as he does elsewhere in the commentary, he attempts to answer three basic questions to clarify his understanding of the Haggadah.

Praised is the One who is present everywhere: What is the reason for the four statements of praise that precede the four children in the Haggadah? In “The Duties of the Hearts,” Bakhya Ibn Pakuda suggests that there are four levels at which people can connect with the divine. These four levels are directly connected to the four children and the four statements of praise that introduce them in the Haggadah. The Haggadah praises God who redeemed all four types of children from Egypt whether or not they were worthy of redemption. After all, we know that God redeemed many people who were not completely worthy of redemption. For instance, Datan and Aviram, the two Israelites who constantly rebelled against Moses and encouraged the Israelites to return to Egypt, were taken out of Egypt despite their wickedness. Even the wicked ones who were undeserving of redemption experienced the Exodus. Words of praise are offered on their behalf. The words of praise differ, however, with each person’s spiritual and intellectual attainment.

Blessed is “The Place.” The highest level of faith is attained by the one who comes to faith through reason and meditation just as our forefather, Abraham, did. To such a person God is HaMakom, literally “The one who present everywhere” because he experiences God’s presence and providence as a power that fills the entire universe and surrounds the entire universe. In the words of Jewish philosophers, “God is the place of the universe and the universe is not God’s place.” Blessed is He. The heretic denies the truths of Torah and refuses to contemplate the existence of God through the intellect. For this person, God is merely Hu, “He,” or, better yet, “It.” While he experienced God’s power in the Exodus from Egypt, he continues to deny it. He was really redeemed despite himself and even against his own will. Had it been left up to him, he would have remained behind in Egypt. So we praise God for redeeming him, but his connection to God is distant. God is a “distant cause” in his life and not an immediate presence. Blessed is the one who gave Torah to His people Israel. This blessing is for those who come to faith through the study of the Torah and the insights gained through the contemplation of our tradition. The simple child learns Torah and comes to his faith through the text and not through the exertion of reason and the intellect. The Torah allows him to have an understanding of God. So too, some of the Israelites were worthy of redemption because they would eventually accept the Torah at Sinai. In his praise of God, we say, “Blessed is the one who gave Torah to His people Israel.” Blessed is He. The final level of faith is the person whose faith is based on that which he has witnessed his forefathers doing. It is not based on an intellectual or rational commitment, but on simply mimicking the generations that came before them.

Why is God referred to as HaMakom, - “the Place” - in this poem and what is the connection between the name HaMakom and the wise child? The word HaMakom is a common name of God used throughout rabbinic literature. Rabbi Lorberbaum sees a connection between divine providence and the divine name, HaMakom. According to Moses Maimonides (The Guide, Book 3, Chapter 17-18), divine providence exists for a person only to the extent that the person has the intellectual and spiritual faculties with which to experience it. In other words, the wise person experiences divine providence more than the other three people in this Midrash and in Bakhya’s typology. That is why the first statement in this poem applies to the Chacham. The wise person experiences God as the place of the world. In contrast to the wise person who refers to God as the “Place of the World,” the wicked and the one who does not know how to ask have not used their intellect to attain an understanding of God’s existence and therefore are not the beneficiaries of Divine providence. For them God is distant. God is Hu; God is “it,” or “He.”

Is there a connection between the four statements of praise, the four children, the four cups of wine and the four promises of redemption in the Torah? All the fours in the Seder are interconnected. Each of the four children of the Haggadah was the recipient of redemption for a different reason and each one receives a different promise of redemption from God. The four cups of wine, then, each celebrate a different aspect of the redemption and are connected to the four different children in the following Midrash: The wicked person was redeemed because of the covenantal promise of redemption and not because he was truly deserving of redemption. God had promised our forefathers that he would take their children out of Egypt after four hundred years, and God did so even when they were not worthy. For this child, we find the promise, “I took you out of Egypt (even though you were undeserving).” The one who does not know how to ask was redeemed because of the merit of our forefathers (Zechut Avot). Because he chose to remain faithful to the traditions of his forefathers even when he didn't understand all of them, he merited redemption. To this child, God made the promise “I saved you (from servitude).” The third child, the simple person, was redeemed from Egypt because of the merit of Torah. Some of the people of Israel were redeemed not because of what they did but because of what they would do. He knew that they would accept the Torah and therefore merited redemption even before they had done so. To this child, God said, “I will take you to be my people (by giving you the Torah).” Finally, the wise person was redeemed because of the merit he accrued through the performance of Mitzvot. Because he showed his commitment and even self-sacrifice by maintaining the covenant of circumcision and by sacrificing the Paschal Lamb, he was deserving of redemption. And, finally, to this person God promised, “I will redeem you.” The final promise will be fulfilled in the future and is expressed in the last part of the Haggadah, which speaks of the ultimate redemption. The Chacham is promised the full and complete redemption in the end of time. The basic themes of each of these promises are expressed when we drink each of the four cups of wine as well. When we make Kiddush and drink the first cup of wine, we speak of Pesach as Z’man Hayrutaynu, “the Season of our Freedom.” This is a reference to the first step in Israel’s redemption. According to the Midrash, six months before the actual Exodus, the Israelites were liberated from slavery and no longer had to serve the Egyptians. This is the fulfillment of the promise “I will save you.” The second cup of wine comes at the end of the Maggid, the telling of the story of the Exodus before the meal, and concentrates on the plagues and the other miracles in Egypt. It is an expression of the promise, “I will take you out.” The third cup of wine comes at the end of the Birkat HaMazon, which speaks of the gifts of the land and the gift of the Torah. It is an expression of gratitude for the third promise, “I will take you to be my people,” which we have already seen is a reference to the gift of Torah. The final cup of wine is an expression of gratitude for the future redemption that God has promised us: “I will redeem you”. Later Rabbi Lorberbaum will explain how the second half of the Haggadah refers to future redemption.