Reply To: The Wicked Son, and the Kiruv System

@Iacisrmma: are you saying that I am misquoting the Lubavitcher Rebbe

I am not accusing you of anything. I was arguing the point.

Are you saying the Baal Haggadah didn’t say that

In דרך הפשט, the Baal Haggadah is not saying that. The Ba’al Haggadah refers to four different types of children (or four prevalent attitudes in children), and how best to be mechanech them. The word בנים refers to sons. Whether or not the Wicked Son we are discussing fits the category of the Rambam depends on how you define כפר בעיקר. Before extending the meaning from its literal meaning to the realm of metaphoric, the Haggadah does not say what you quote.

I understand that Chassidus has a different Mesorah involving reading things into sources even though they don’t fit the literal definition; I will not argue with the Lubavitcher Rebbe about Chassidic explanations I know less than nothing about.

BTW, if my choice is between your interpretation and the Rebbe, I choose the Rebbe (and I am not Lubavitch)

I wouldn’t expect anything else! Just wondering (not facetiously, just curious!) – if I could prove definitively that the Rambam would disagree with the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s interpretation, would you choose the Rambam over the Rebbe? Or does the fact that you hear the Rambam from an unknown anonymous lurker on a Internet forum change things?