Larry (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} larryv) wrote,@ 2008-04-18 16:50:00 |
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In the Haggadah we read about the 4 sons and their inquiry about the Passover ritual. One wise, on wicked, one simple and one who does not even know to ask.
The second son is the wicked son. He asks "What do these customs in which you engage mean, which the Lord commanded you to observe". He is still asking about the passover, but specifically he is excluding himself form the proceedings. He's kind of a dick asking "So... what's all this stuff matter to you?" The translation of the response you give him varies in translation from Haggadah to Haggadah. All agree that you tell him that had he been in Egypt at the time of the Exodus, he wouldn't have been saved. But the preface to it is what varies. Some sidestep it by saying "Get his attention" or "Set him on edge". But literally translated its "Punch him in the teeth"
This amuses me to no end every year (as do several other bits of the seder that usually can only be enjoyed in the context of being at my mothers house and laughing loudly with my brothers). The thought of a religious text condoning belting someone in the mouth. The picture of a righteous old Rabbi knocking out his jerk kids incisors. This is made even more amusing as many of the ornate illustrated haggadahs out there have illustrations of the four sons. My mother has a really fancy one that has painted pages. Man that kid looks like a jerk and MAN do I wanna punch his teeth out.
I stumbled on some interesting reading this year about an explanation of this all. Its from the Chabad Lubavitch. See in hebrew there is this concept of gematria. Sounds kinda like geometry right? Its actually numerology. Each hebrew letter translates to a numerical value. The sum of those letters means each word also had a numerical value. A wicked person is called a rasha in Hebrew. The word for a pure person is tzaddik. The numerical value of rasha is 570. The numerical value of tzaddik is 204. The difference between them is 366. "His teeth" in Hebrew is shinav. Its numerical value...366. So essentially telling you to "take out his teeth" is actually saying get past his wickedness to his purity.
Neat
The second son is the wicked son. He asks "What do these customs in which you engage mean, which the Lord commanded you to observe". He is still asking about the passover, but specifically he is excluding himself form the proceedings. He's kind of a dick asking "So... what's all this stuff matter to you?" The translation of the response you give him varies in translation from Haggadah to Haggadah. All agree that you tell him that had he been in Egypt at the time of the Exodus, he wouldn't have been saved. But the preface to it is what varies. Some sidestep it by saying "Get his attention" or "Set him on edge". But literally translated its "Punch him in the teeth"
This amuses me to no end every year (as do several other bits of the seder that usually can only be enjoyed in the context of being at my mothers house and laughing loudly with my brothers). The thought of a religious text condoning belting someone in the mouth. The picture of a righteous old Rabbi knocking out his jerk kids incisors. This is made even more amusing as many of the ornate illustrated haggadahs out there have illustrations of the four sons. My mother has a really fancy one that has painted pages. Man that kid looks like a jerk and MAN do I wanna punch his teeth out.
I stumbled on some interesting reading this year about an explanation of this all. Its from the Chabad Lubavitch. See in hebrew there is this concept of gematria. Sounds kinda like geometry right? Its actually numerology. Each hebrew letter translates to a numerical value. The sum of those letters means each word also had a numerical value. A wicked person is called a rasha in Hebrew. The word for a pure person is tzaddik. The numerical value of rasha is 570. The numerical value of tzaddik is 204. The difference between them is 366. "His teeth" in Hebrew is shinav. Its numerical value...366. So essentially telling you to "take out his teeth" is actually saying get past his wickedness to his purity.
Neat
