New Age Seder

I attended a Seder at a friend's house over the weekend. We had a good time, but his modern, touchy-feely Haggadah was weird after being exposed to decades of the original. There was less about being freed from slavery and more about spreading love and peace.

The most startling difference was the questions from the four different types of children. In particular, the question from the wicked child. The Haggadah provides answers to deal with any type of kid regarding the Passover service. What the "wicked" child asks is "what's this service mean to you?" It's the "to you" part that's so bad--in saying it, he removes himself from the community.

The traditional answer is "well, since you're not part of the community, guess what--if you'd been a slave back in Egypt, you wouldn't have been saved!" The answer in this new Haggadah was "well, you feel you're not part of the community, so why not join with us and learn a little more and maybe you'll think differently?"

I don't know. I like the first answer better. Put him in his place.