In advance of Passover, our clergy have been reflecting on elements of the Passover Seder in each of their Daily Kavanot. The entire collection is now available online in our 5782 Haggadah Supplement.
Ha Lachma Anya
We Jews are storytellers. The Bible itself is a vast compendium of stories told by our ancestors over a span of 1,000 years. The stories we told then—and the stories we’ve told since—have become a part of us, shaped our identity, and, indeed, crafted that complex quality that we call Judaism. Surely, at the pinnacle of our stories is the account of the Exodus from Egypt. Despite being set in the distant past, it conveys truths that capture all of our accounts of dispersion, exile, return, and redemption. It is the story of my grandparents fleeing Lithuania for the Golden Land, and from Germany in a desperate flight to save their lives. It’s your story of fleeing mullahs to Pakistan or Turkey, from the USSR’s oppressive secularism. Stories of liberation include the ending of failing relationships, leaving untenable jobs, affirming gender and sexuality, making career changes, and managing mental illness. Sitting at the Passover Seder, we tell our people’s stories and the account of our own personal search for—and encounter with—liberation.
At the center of our story is Ha Lachma Anya:
הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִּי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם. כָּל דִכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכֹל, כָּל דִצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח. הָשַּׁתָּא הָכָא, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּאַרְעָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל. הָשַּׁתָּא עַבְדֵי, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין
This is the bread of destitution that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Anyone who is famished should come and eat, anyone who is in need should come and partake of the Pesach sacrifice. Now we are here, next year we will be in the land of Israel; this year we are slaves, next year we will be free people.
All those places that starve us—whether they be hostile lands or oppressive conditions—compel us to seek liberation. Our starvation is physical and spiritual. When we achieve our liberation, we are not only grateful, but our souls cry out with joy. Who among us has not felt the oppressive weight of circumstances that crush us? We long for the liberation expressed in this aspirational prayer. Israel here is not just a land, but a symbol of where eternal hope can lead us.
The beauty of these Aramaic words is that they transcend the confines of the Passover story and reach into the expanse of our lives. Wherever we find ourselves, whatever circumstances we are in, the story of matzah and its gift of liberation fills us with hope that we can overcome obstacles and truly become בְּנֵי חוֹרִין “children of freedom!”
Rabbi Ron Stern