The Four Kups - Pesach

The Four Kups
Chag Ha'Pesach 

The Pesach holiday is all about education. The Seder is steeped with special things that we do in order to engage the children and have them ask many questions. In fact, one of the biblical Mitzvot of Passover is the Mitzvah of education. As the Torah states  והגדת לבנך - and you shall relate it to your children (Shemot 13:8).

Another theme of Passover eve is the number four. Four cups of wine represent the four expressions of freedom, and the four exiles that the Jewish people endured. Finally, the four sons are enumerated in the Haggadah. These four sons; the wise son, the wicked son, the simple son, and the son who does not know how to ask, represent not only four positions in our spiritual realities, but also how we all possess each one of these characteristics. Sometimes we are wise, yet sometimes we are simple, etc. We are all of these different children, albeit not all together at the same time.

Many years ago I attended a lecture on education by a well known educational psychologist. In his lecture he focused on a phenomenon known as The Four Quadrants of the Mind. These four quadrants or mental attitudes are categorized as (1) The Subjective (2) The Objective (3) The Inter-subjective and (4) The Inter-objective. In simpler terms, these four perspectives are what makes us (1) Followers (2) Leaders (3) Producers and (4) Achievers.  The point of this workshop was to emphasize that human beings can be divided into four general categories, and the way we process information and learn is also broken down into four categories as well.

As I listened to this lecture, two thoughts came to my mind. First, I thought about the verse from Proverbs (Mishlei 22:6) when King Solomon tell us "Educate a child according to his path, he will not turn from that path even as he grows old." My second thought was of the Passover Haggadah and the Four Sons that we speak about in the Seder. Modern Science and psychology had figured out what we have known for thousands of years.

The greatest mistake we make as a society is when we lump all people together. We set one expectation or one path for everyone. Both the Torah and Science reject this idea. In fact, every person is different, and we process information, experiences, and spirituality in different ways. As we clearly see people have different interests, styles and modalities of learning.

As we celebrate Pesach and prepare to sit at our Seders with our loved ones, let's not forget to interact with all the different types of learners at our Seder table. With a bit of effort we can engage everyone at our table and celebrate the reality that while a beautiful explanation on the Haggadah may inspire one person, a beautiful Niggun (song), or skit will inspire another.

May we all be blessed with a Chag Kosher V'Sameyach-a happy healthy and kosher Passover.

Rabbi Y. Marrus