Lessons of the Evil Son

            Following are two comments by Rabbi Y. M. Harlap (head of Rabbi Kuk’s yeshiva after Rabbi Kook’s death, my father’s Rosh Yeshiva), which demonstrate the greatness of the klal, the community of Israel.

            The Hagadah says of the rasha, the evil child, “because he excluded himself from the community, he has rejected the fundamental principle of Judaism”. The very fact of removing oneself from the community constitutes a repudiation of the fundamental principle of Judaism.

            After making its editorial comment about the rasha, the Hagadah presents the response which is directed to him: “had he been there, he would not have been redeemed. Rabbi Harlap stressed the word “there”, and explained: had this rasha been in Egypt, before Israel was brought out to stand at Mount Sinai, he would not have been redeemed. However, after the Children of Israel received the Torah, which is our constitution, the rasha would have been redeemed as part of the nation. Though the rasha wishes to exclude himself from the community, the power of the community is so great that even the rasha would be saved.