The Wise Child, what does he ask…So too you must tell him the detailed laws of Pesach: The word V’af, “so too…” seem unnecessary and extra in this statement. To explain this word, we begin with two relevant passages from the Talmud. The first text is from Pesachim. TheTalmuddiscusses whether the taking of the Passover lamb on the tenth day prior to the sacrifice was performed only at the time of the Pesachoffering in Egypt or whether it was performed during subsequent observances of Passover in generations to come. Since the Torah says “On the tenth day of this month,”⁴² this is taken to mean on the original Egyptian Passover observance and not on later observances of Pesach. We also learn from the verse, “Any slave a man has bought may eat of it once he has been circumcised,” ⁴³ that if one is not circumcised one cannot eat the Pesachoffering, and that if the son is not circumcised then the father cannot eat it either⁴⁴. The use of the word bois taken to mean ‘it,’ that is, specifically the Passover sacrifice in Egypt, that is, the law applies only to Pesach Mitzrayimand not Pesach Dorot. This conclusion is rejected, however, because the Torah also says, “You shall observe in this month the following practice”⁴⁵ which the sages take to mean that in this regard Pesach MitzrayimandPesach Dorot should be the same. The second text is found in Yebamot. We learn that during the forty years in the wilderness, the people of Israel were not circumcised. The Tosafot ask, how, then, could they eat the Passover sacrifice since one must be circumsized in order to partake of it.⁴⁶ They explain that the Israelite men were circumcised before they left Egypt but those who were born in the Egyptian were not circumcised, so could not eat the offering. But if we say that the non-performance of circumcision prevents not only the sons but even the fathers from eating the Passover offering and that this law applied to Pesach Dorot as well asPesach Mitzrayim, shouldn’t the fathers also have been prohibited from eating the offering in the wilderness along with their children? We can now understand the Wise Child’s question: “What is the meaning of the testimonies, statutes and judgments which the Lord our God commanded you?” The Wise Child presents his father with a problematic dilemma.⁴⁷an objection in which two or more alternatives of a case or an opinion are shown to be equally objectionable. The child sees his father eating the Passover offering and is surprised. He asks: “Did God really command you to eat this offering?” If on the one hand you are eating the Passover offering because you were commanded to eat this offering and I can’t because I was not circumsized in the wilderness, then, how is this correct since the non-circumcision of the son should also prevent the father from eating the sacrifice. But if on the other hand this law only applied during the Pesach Mitzrayim and not in later years, then shouldn’t the same be applied to the issue of circumcision – that non-circumcision only prevented someone from eating the Pesach offering in Egypt but not in subsequent observances of Pesac?You can’t have it both ways – either both laws apply after the Exodus – both circumcision and the prevention of the father – or both laws don’t apply, in which case the child should be able to eat the Pesach offering.⁴⁸objection! He is uncircumcised and wants to know why his father can still eat the Passover sacrifice. To this objection, the Haggadah answers, “So too you shall explain the detailed laws of Passover…” Since the Wise Child raised a dilemma (mah nafshach), we answer him with in a similar style. First, we explain to him that in all the years in the wilderness the Israelites only observed one Passover. And since the non-circumcision of the males was not by choice but because they were traveling in the wilderness, this was not a reason to prevent the men from eating the Passover offering. Since circumcision was prohibited in the wilderness, God in fact commanded those who were already circumcised but not those who weren’t. And if he holds the other point of view – that not being circumcised only prevented those in Egypt from eating the Passover offering but not subsequent generations – we can answer him that this is incorrect since the Torah says: “You shall observe in this month the following practice.”⁴⁹ This implies that the practices of the Pesach Mitzrayim andPesach Dorot are supposed to be the same in this regard. That the laws of Passover are the same both for Pesach Mitzrayim and Pesach Dorotcan also be proven from the statement in the Haggadah: “They do not proceed to any dessert after eating the Afikomen.” If the reason we do not eat after the Afikomen – that is the Passover lamb offering – is a concern that we might break the bones of the offering (which is prohibited by the Torah), then when the Afikomenis matzah in lieu of a sacrifice then we should not be prohibited from eating after the final bit of matzahwhich we eat as the Afikomen.Again, the rabbis apply the verse to this situation “You shall observe in this month the following practice”⁵⁰ and conclude that the same law applies in all these situations. This supports the idea that that the laws ofPesach MitzrayimandPesach Dorotshould be the same. We include this example in our answer to the Wise Child to teach him this lesson. In order to correct the Wise Child, then, we teach him all the laws of Passover. The laws regarding the breaking of the bones of the offering as well as the question of the uncircumcised male are the same for both Pesach MitzrayimandPesach Dorot. When we say, “So too you must tell him…” what the Haggadah is telling us is teach this law too so he will compare it with the question he raised.

footnotes: ⁴² Exodus 12:3 ⁴³ Exodus 12:44 ⁴⁴ The father is prevented from eating it since his indulgence in this ceremony might lead the son who is prohibited from doing so to participate as well. ⁴⁵ Exodus 13:5 ⁴⁶ Exodus 12:48 ⁴⁷ A mah nafshach, is ⁴⁸ Key to the argument here is Rabbi Ginsburg’s assumption that the Wise Child’s question was being asked in the wilderness and therefore raises this Halachic ⁴⁹ Exodus 13:5 ⁵⁰ Exodus 13:5