Haggadah:Ha Lachma Anya/2

Ha Lachma Anya

Exegetical Approaches

Part of Yachatz

The passage comes to explain to the children why the Matzah is split in half and saved for later rather than being eaten immediately.

Relationship between the lines – According to Rashbam the first sentence explains that we split the matzah just as our ancestors did in Egypt. On the eve of their departure from Egypt, they ate their matzah quickly, dividing it amongst themselves. The second and third lines reflect the words of our ancestors as they gave out the matzah.  They called to anyone who had not yet prepared it to share with them since there was not much time¹ and wished each other that the next year they would be free men in Israel.

"לחמא עניא" – Rashbam seems to understand this simply as a name given to matzah due to its poor quality, to distinguish it from rich bread.²

"דאכלו אבהתנא בארעא דמצרים" - when? This refers to the matzah that our forefathers ate on their way out of Egypt, rather than to food they ate throughout their days as slaves.

Why in Aramaic? These commentators do not address the issue.  If the passage is supposed to represent the words of the Israelites themselves, it is strange that specifically this section would be written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew.  It is possible, though, that the language simply reflects that the passage was first added to the Haggadah in Bavel³ where Aramaic was the vernacular.

When do we pour the second cup? This approach might suggest, as do R. Saadia Gaon and the Rambam, that we pour the second cup after this passage, since it is only then that the Maggid section begins.

Introduction to Maggid

¹ This emphasis on what was done due to the haste in which they left Egypt would work well with the version of the passage found in the Rambam and several Genizah fragments which begins, "בבהילו יצאנו ממצרים".

² Rashbam's words are somewhat ambiguous.  From the beginning of his comments it sounds as if "לחם עוני" refers to matzah that is split, which is the way of a poor person.  Afterwards, though, he uses the term to refer to matzah itself (even while whole) as לחם עוני.

³ It is one of the few passages not included in the Mishnah.