As the 5th child, I’m not sure how I feel about this new, electronic Passover Haggadah. For those who don’t know, the Haggadah is a book written by old Jewish men to tell the Exodus story during Passover. Old Jews are a predoiment feature in Judaism. Don’t get me wrong, as a huge nerd I am all for technology entering aspects of religion and culture. Except when technology creates its own artificial intelligence. That’s not cool. God does not approve.
The ‘Fifth child’ is a play on words of the 4 children that exist in a passage within the Haggadah. One child is wise, one is evil, one is simple, and one is too young to ask. With life experience as the 5th child, if I had to give him a title (it is always a him, as the ancient Jews foretold), I would say he was the child who is spoiled and whines alot.
Yeah, the electronic Haggadah may be cool and sleek. It even works on the iPhone. But it’s like the fat kid in dodgeball. Nobody wants him so he’ll be picked last, and he will still lose the game for his team. So too will ‘the 5th child’. At the end of the day, there is a reason why we have 4000 years of tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax. We are living in the f-ing past, and I’d prefer to keep it that way. So says Walter from The Big Lebowski. Amen.
