Tradition has it that one of the main functions of the Pesach seder is an educational one. During the service, we encourage our children to ask questions by triggering their curiosity with narratives and customs. The Torah allows that every child is unique and thus each must be reared according to his own personality. Thus the Haggada lists four types of sons who grace the seder table every Pesach: a wise son and a wicked one, a simple son and one who does not ask any questions.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe opened our eyes to the reality of a fifth additional son who differs from the others. While the first four are all present at the Pesach seder, their brother wanders about, oblivious that Pesach has even arrived. The fifth son, explains the Rebbe, is not necessarily a child, but an adult Jew exclusive to our generation, lost in its modernity and technology, foreign to all things Jewish.
The Rebbe devoted his life to reaching out to all the fifth sons of the world, dispatching thousands of emissaries worldwide to locate these individuals and cater for their Jewish needs. Thus, today it is possible to attend a Pesach seder in almost any city on the globe.
It was during the Pesach of 2000 that I was privileged to lead one such seder in Kathmandu, Nepal. The city boasts the largest seder in the world with over two thousand attending annually. It was by far one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Walking around the room one could hear practically any language, with Jews originating from exotic places like France, Australia, Morocco or Brazil. Sure, there were a great many differences between us, but the electricity in the room was generated by a certain knowledge that that there is so much more that unites us than what separates us.
As a yeshiva student I would often travel the globe scouting these “fifth sons” hoping to familiarize them with their Jewish roots. The summer of 2000 was thus spent in Eastern Europe. It was in the city of Varna, Bulgaria that a Jew named Haim invited my friend and me into his home for a chat. Toward the end of our visit, Haim donned tefillin and promptly broke down during the recitation of the shema. Amidst sobs he explained his life story. As a child he attended a local Bulgarian cheder right until his bar mitzvah. Around that time the country turned communist, the transformation washing away all remnants of his Judaism.
Retrieving a family album, he showed us photos of his family. “I married a non-Jewish woman,” he explained. “My children will never be Jewish and my grandchildren too, will never know the beauty of our faith. I have a lived a life devoid of Judaism. Not once have I put on tefillin, no Rabbi officiated at my wedding, and I have never behaved remotely Jewish since I was a child.” Yet despite the total alienation with all things Jewish, one thing intrigued Haim. “Rabbi, now as the tefillin are strapped to my arm and head, I feel such an intense connection to G-d…”
Such is the nature of these fifth sons. Although far removed from anything Jewish, at the core each one nurses a tiny G-dly spark, waiting to be nurtured and fired into a flame. And each one, no matter his level of observance, can always find his place among the fold. For Judaism is not defined by a set of actions, rather it is a state of being, an irreversible fact of life.
P.S. Wherever you may find yourself this coming Pesach, don’t spend your seder alone. In almost any location, your Jewish brothers are looking to welcome you into their homes, please see our website for details on sedarim around the world.
Jess wrote...