On the Wise Son

In the Haggadah, the wise son asks about the laws of Passovor (מה העדות והחקים והמשפטים אשר צוה ה' אלהינו אתכם) and is referred to the laws concerning the Afiqoman. The word "afiqoman" (אפיקומן) is not of Hebrew or Aramaic origin, i. e., it does not originate in an ancient Jewish language - but it comes from the Greek expression, ἐπὶ κῶμον, referring to an "after dinner past-time" or a "dessert," particularly a dessert eaten at the conclusion of a συμπόσιον, or a "drinking together" held by the Greeks. The Symposium of the Greeks was a religious ceremony that involved drinking four cups of wine in honor of a particular Greek god. The drinks were consumed in a lying down or reclining position. Often speeches were made in honor of the god in between the drinking of the four cups of wine. In Plato's Symposium, one such ceremonial, religious symposium is described where Socrates, Aristophanes and some others make speeches in honor of the Greek god of love, Ἔρως. In Hellenistic times - during which the Haggadah was undoubtedly composed, symposia took on philosophic themes, following the example of Plato's Symposium. The themed discussion of the Exodus and freedom coupled with praises of God, four cups of wine, reclining, and ending in the consumption of the afiqoman in no doubt based on the Hellenistic symposium.

Another source on wine popular in Hellenistic times was Plato's Laws (see esp. Book II), familiar to medieval Jewish thinkers including Maimonides through its Arabic translation and commentary by Alfarabi. In the Laws, wine is said to encourage people to sing and dance. Thus, it can be used to encourage the young to sing and dance to songs about virtue. In this way, wine can be used to encourage the imitation of the virtues, especially the virtues promoted by the laws. Wine can be used as a teaching tool. But wine must be used in this way in moderation, not "for amusement only." Otherwise, it would encourage immoderation and make it harder to follow the laws. It is perhaps following this model that the seder has only four cups of wine, but much singing and discussion of the laws.

The wise son's question concerned the laws surrounding the seder. Perhaps he is wise because he understands that the drinking is to inculcate the laws in him. He is, nevertheless, pointed to the Greek part of the seder, i. e., the part outside of the purview of the Law.