Ha Lachma Anya ("This is the bread of poverty ("affliction")" is a declaration that is recited at the beginning of the Magid portion of the Passover Seder. Written in Aramaic, the recitation serves as the first explanation of the purpose of the Matzah during the Seder. [1]
Although portions of the Haggadah quote the Torah, scholars trace the origins of the Haggadah to the Talmudic era. [2] [3] Specifically, scholars have identified two major versions of early Haggadot: an Eretz Yisrael version and a Babylonian version. [2] Modern Haggadot are based on the Babylonian version, the earliest complete copies of which are found in the siddurim of Rabbis Amram Gaon and Saadia Gaon. [4] Over time, Ashkenazic, Sephardic, and Mizrahi "sub-versions" developed; however, "there is relatively little difference in the basic text of the Haggadah within the descendants of the Babylonian versions". [5]
According to Rabbi Yaakov Lorberbaum's Ma'aseh Nissim, Ha Lachma Anya was first recited after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem; according to Maimonides, Ha Lachma Anya was not recited before the Temple was destroyed. [6] Shibbolei ha-Leket states that Ha Lachma Anya was instituted in Israel, while the Malbim and Ra'avyah trace the origins to Babylon. [7] David Arnow notes that some sources state that Ha Lachma Anya originated during the Gaonic period (circa 750-1038 CE), while others trace it back as far as the first or second century CE. [8] Some medieval Haggadot added the phrase "we left Egypt hastily" (biv'hilu yatsanu m'mitsrayim) at the beginning of Ha Lachma Anya. [8]
Some Haggadot say K'Ha Lachma or Ha K'Lachma, [9] "This is like the bread of poverty ("affliction")", to indicate that the matzah at the Seder is only a replica of that which was eaten by the Israelites in Egypt. Professor David Daube suggests that the wording, “This is the bread” might be misread as a hint of the Christian doctrine of transubstantiation, so some texts altered it to “This is like the bread”. [10]
During the Magid portion of the Passover Seder, participants retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. [11] The Magid begins with the uncovering and lifting of the matzah on the Seder table and the recitation of Ha Lachma Anya. [12] [13] The words Ha Lachma Anya are written in Aramaic, [14] and it begins with the proclamation that "this is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in Egypt". [15] This recitation is based on Deuteronomy 16:3, which states that "[y]ou shall eat unleavened bread, bread of 'oni' (distress) — for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly", and the recitation serves as "the first official explanation for matzah in the Hagaddah". [1]
Abravanel teaches that Ha Lachma Anya should be recited at the entrance to the house, with the door open, so that paupers can hear the invitation and enter". [6] Sol Scharfstein also notes that in times past, the head of the household would go out to the street to say Ha Lachma Anya, thus inviting poor people to join him at the Seder. [16]
Anisfeld, Mohr, and Spector have suggested that Ha Lachma Anya adds "a sense of immediacy and urgency to our telling" of the story of the Exodus, and that the recitation "establishes the intimacy of our connection to the ancient Israelites" because participants in the Seder will "eat the same bread they ate" and will "experience the taste and texture of their lives as slaves". [15] Zion and Dishon have also suggested that the reference to matzah in Ha Lachma Anya "is a memorial not of liberation, but of slavery". [1] Isaacs and Scharfstein have also stated that the process of beginning the Magid by looking at matzah "is a visual reminder of events in Egypt" and that the Ha Lachma Anya "also stresses the importance of opening one's house to the poor and sharing one's meals with them, because it is through such generosity that one can aspire to redemption". [14] [16]
| Aramaic [17] | Transliteration [18] | Translation [19] |
|---|---|---|
הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם. כָּל דִכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכֹל, כָּל דִצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח. הָשַׁתָּא הָכָא, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּאַרְעָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל. הָשַׁתָּא עַבְדֵי, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין. | Ha lachma anya di achalu avhatana b’ara d’mitzrayim. Kol dichfin yeitei v’yeichol, kol ditzrich yeitei v’yifsach. Hashata hacha, l’shanah habaah b’ara d’Yisrael. Hashata avdei, l’shanah habaah b’nei chorin. | This is the bread of poverty ("affliction") that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. All those who are hungry let them enter and eat, all who are in need let them enter and celebrate Passover. This year we are here, next year [Heb] let us be in the land of Israel. This year we are slaves, next year [Heb] let us be free people. |
Matzah, matzo, or maẓẓah is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which chametz is forbidden.
Passover, also called Pesach, is a major Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar. The day falls in late March or in April of the Gregorian calendar. Passover lasts for seven days in Israel and, among most customs, eight days in the Jewish diaspora. Where seven days of Passover are observed, a seder is held on the first night; where eight days are observed, seders are often held on the first two nights, the 15th and 16th of Nisan. The Seder is a ritual involving a retelling of the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt, taken from the Book of Exodus in the Torah. The Seder itself is based on the Biblical verse commanding Jews to retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt: "You shall tell your child on that day, saying, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'" At the seder, Jews read the text of the Haggadah, an ancient Tannaitic work. The Haggadah contains the narrative of the Israelite exodus from Egypt, special blessings and rituals, Talmudic commentaries, and Passover songs.
The Haggadah is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to recount the Egyptian Exodus story to their children on the first night of Passover.
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The Passover Seder plate is a special plate containing symbolic foods eaten or displayed at the Passover Seder. It is used to show all the symbolic foods that are used for the Passover Seder.
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Afikoman based on Greek epikomon [ἐπὶ κῶμον] or epikomion [ἐπικώμιον], meaning "that which comes after" or "dessert"), a word originally having the connotation of "refreshments eaten after the meal", is now almost strictly associated with the half-piece of matzo which is broken in two during the early stages of the Passover Seder and set aside to be eaten as a dessert after the meal.
Ki Tavo, Ki Thavo, Ki Tabo, Ki Thabo, or Ki Savo is the 50th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the seventh in the Book of Deuteronomy. It comprises Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8. The parashah tells of the ceremony of the first fruits, tithes, and the blessings from observance and curses from violation of the law.
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Over the matza and the second cup of wine, we tell of the Exodus in answer to children's questions.
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