The Four Sons and How a Father Answers Each

"What are the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances?" (Deuteronomy 6:20). You find yourself saying: there are four sons, one wise and one foolish and one wicked and one who does not know how to ask. What does the wise one say? "What are the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances?" and so on. You too should tell him, in accord with the laws of the Passover, that one does not conclude after the Passover offering with an afikoman [a festive dessert or revelry that breaks up the gathering]. What does the foolish one say? "What is this?" (Exodus 13:14). And you shall say to him, "With a strong hand the LORD brought us out." What does the wicked one say? "What is this service to you?" (Exodus 12:26). "To you" and not to himself. And because he removed himself from the community, he denied the essential principle. You too should remove him from the community and say to him, "Because of this the LORD did for me when I went out of Egypt" (Exodus 13:8): "for me" and not for him; had he been there, he would not have been redeemed. And the one who does not know how to ask, you must open for him, as it is said, "And you shall tell your child on that day" (Exodus 13:8). Another interpretation of "What are the testimonies and the statutes": Rabbi Eliezer says, from where do you say that if a company of Torah scholars was gathered, they are required to sit and occupy themselves with the laws of the Passover until midnight? For this reason it is said, "What are the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances," and so on.