The Fifth Son

The Fifth Son is a term coined by the Rebbe in connection with the Passover Seder, borrowing from the "Four Sons" mentioned in the Passover Haggadah. This term describes the descendants of the Jewish people who do not participate at all in the Seder table, since they have distanced themselves and lost all connection and hope that they can be influenced.

The Rebbe issued a call to make arrangements in advance to also include "the Fifth Son" at the Passover Seder table.

History

Throughout history, the children of Israel were divided into four types, where even those who strayed from the path of Torah and mitzvot still saw themselves as Jews and maintained a connection with their Jewish brothers. This is expressed in the text of the Passover Haggadah which refers to the Four Sons, where even the Wicked Son sits around the table.

Following world events during the period of the First and Second World Wars in particular, an approach of shaking off Jewish identity emerged, which led to distancing from Torah observance and mitzvot among many segments of the Jewish people.

Before Passover 5717 (1957), the Rebbe sent a general letter to all Jewish people with emphasis on educators, strongly rejecting this approach and reflecting the fact that this approach caused millions of Jews to disconnect from their source. He called the descendants of that generation with this approach the children of "the Fifth Son" who is not mentioned in the Haggadah at all because, due to his distance and disconnection, he does not participate at all in the Seder table.

The Rebbe wrote that alongside returning to traditional education, care should be taken in advance to ensure that as many Jews as possible from this category participate in the Seder, which will strengthen their Jewish connection and awaken hope that they will fully return to their source.

Rabbi Avraham Alashvili notes that in a letter to the Rebbe before his thirty-sixth birthday, his father Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson mentions that "there is another fifth son" and brings Torah parallels to the matter. Rabbi Alashvili speculates that the Rebbe drew this idea from his father. But he qualifies this with the fact that the Rebbe explains the concept of the Fifth Son differently than explained in his father's letter.

Rabbi Uri Sherki noted that the concept appears in one of the notebooks of Mr. Shoshani who was in contact with the Rebbe.

Impact

The Rebbe's call aroused much interest and resonated even in circles outside of Chabad Chassidim.

Many Chabad Chassidim act in the spirit of this call to host Jews who are distant from Torah observance around the holiday table, and the Rebbe's emissaries around the world conduct special public "Seder Nights" in which hundreds of thousands of Jews around the globe participate every year.

Over the years, the expression has spread to the general public and has taken on a broader meaning in various contexts, serving as a metaphor to describe people who are not included in the regular count for various reasons.

See Also

• Public Seder Night
• Four Sons

External Links

• The Fifth Son, the Rebbe's general letter before Passover 5717 (1957), in which he coined the expression and gave the instruction
• Talk of the Second Night of Passover 5717 (1957), in which the Rebbe explained the concept of the Fifth Son on the Chabad Lubavitch Library website
• The Fifth Son, the Rebbe's words about the Fifth Son, produced by JEM
• Moni Ender Live on IDF Radio: The Rebbe's Teaching on the Fifth Son
• Rabbi Weitzhandler, The Fifth Son
• Menachem Brod, Finding 'the Fifth Son', in Sichat HaShavua, Issue 900