Haggadah:Ha Lachma Anya/2

Ha Lachma Anya

Exegetical Approaches

This topic is still being developed and updated

Explanation of Yachatz

The passage comes to explain that we broke the matzah at Yachatz in order to commemorate how the Children of Israel hastily broke and shared their matzah with each other on the night of the Exodus.

Sources:Commentary attributed to RashbamHaggadah Shel Pesach¹

Relationship between the lines – According to this commentary, the first two sentences explain that we split the matzah exactly as the Israelites did on the eve of their departure from Egypt when, in their haste,² they divided and shared it with whomever had not yet prepared any.  The second and third lines thus reenact the nation's words in Egypt, as they offered to share their Matzah and Paschal sacrifice with all and expressed their hopes to be free people in Israel by the next year.³

"לַחְמָא עַנְיָא" – This approach understands "לֶחֶם עֹנִי" in the verse in Devarim 16 and "לַחְמָא עַנְיָא" in the Haggadah to refer to the broken bread which a poor person eats.  While a similar interpretation is recorded already in Bavli PesachimPesachim 115b-116aAbout the Bavli, the Commentary attributed to Rashbam differs in explaining that the Israelites ate this broken bread due to their haste, rather than because they were poor.  Accordingly, the commandment to eat "לֶחֶם עֹנִי" is elucidated by the continuation of the verse "כִּי בְחִפָּזוֹן יָצָאתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם".

"דִי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם" – when? This refers to the matzah that our forefathers ate on their way out of Egypt, rather than to the food they ate during their slavery.⁴

"כָּל דִּצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח" – The word "וְיִפְסַח" describes the partaking in the Paschal sacrifice offered in Egypt.⁵

Why in Aramaic? The "Rashbam" Commentary does not address this issue.  If much of the passage is supposed to represent the words of the Israelites themselves in Egypt, it is strange that specifically this section would be written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew or Egyptian.  It is possible, though, that the language simply reflects that the passage was first added to the Haggadah only in Babylonia, where Aramaic was the vernacular.⁶

When do we pour the second cup? This approach might maintain that we pour the second cup after this passage, since it is only then that the Maggid section begins.⁷

Prelude to Maggid

This paragraph introduces the retelling of the story of the Exodus and is intended to stimulate the children to ask why we eat Matzah.

Sources:RaavanPesachim 116aCommentary on Haggadah Shel Pesach attributed to Raavan, R. Shimon b. Tzemach DuranMaamar AfikomanAbout R. Shimon b. Tzemach Duran

Relationship between the lines – The Tashbetz explains that first sentence explains that we eat matzah to commemorate the conditions of our ancestors when they were enslaved. The first half of the second line then contrasts the impoverished state in Egypt with our current ability to invite others who are lacking to share in our meal,⁸ while its second half recalls how during the time of the Mikdash the Paschal Sacrifice would be shared by many families.⁹  Finally, the last line expresses our hope for a full future redemption,¹⁰ so that we will be able to then invite others to share in our Paschal Sacrifice as well.

"לַחְמָא עַנְיָא" – According to the Tashbetz, "לֶחֶם עֹנִי" describes the physical properties of the Matzah.¹¹

"דִי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם" – when? According to this opinion, the phrase refers to the Matzah eaten during the Egyptian bondage,¹² rather than to the matzah which accompanied the Pesach sacrifice on the eve of the redemption.

"כָּל דִּצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח" – The Tashbetz interprets this as a wish referring to the future Paschal Sacrifice which will hopefully be brought in the coming year.  Raavan, though, understands "וְיִפְסַח" to refer to the eating of the Afikoman which commemorates the Paschal Sacrifice.¹³

Why in Aramaic? Raavan and the Tashbetz explain that the short preface was aimed at the less knowledgeable participants who were likely to understand only the vernacular.¹⁴

When do we pour the second cup? According to the Tashbetz, as Ha Lachma Anya is an introduction to and part of Maggid, the cup is poured before reciting it.¹⁵  However, according to Raavan, the second cup is poured only afterwards, at the beginning of the main corpus of Maggid.¹⁶

Independent Unit

The passage stands on its own, and is not integrally related to either Yachatz or Maggid.  The approach subdivides regarding the specific purpose of the unit, with some viewing the passage as a reference to the celebration of the Pesach in Temple times, and others viewing the lines as stage directions for the Seder leader.

Instructions for the Seder Leader

Sources:AbarbanelCommentary on Haggadah Shel PesachAbout R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, R. Y. Reifman¹⁷

Relationship between the lines

• Invitation – Abarbanel views all three lines as part of an invitation from the Seder leader to any needy who want to join the Pesach celebration.  He explains that in order not to embarrass the poor, the leader begins by pointing to the poor bread eaten by our ancestors, as if to say, you are not alone in your poverty; our ancestors too ate just matzah.  Afterwards he actively invites them to join.  The leader ends by pointing out that though he has mentioned the "Pesach", due to the exile they cannot actually offer the sacrifice, but hopefully next year they will do so in Jerusalem.
• Distinct directions – R. Y. Reifman suggests that really there is no connection between the lines because they were not originally meant to be said together. The first line accompanied "Yachatz" and represents the words spoken when breaking the matzah.¹⁸  The second line was said at the start of the meal, when the Seder leader invited others to join. Finally the last line was originally said at the very end of the Seder, where we now say "next year in Jerusalem" and played a similar role. There are no textual witnesses, however, which support such a  hypothesis.

Why here? If this is an invitation, one must wonder why it is first being proffered now, rather than before Kadesh or at Shulchan Orekh. Abarbanel suggests that the invitation comes here since this would normally be where one begins the meal.  The leader acts as if he is about to eat, breaking bread (Yachatz) and offering an invitation, but instead stops to tell the story, so as to arouse the curiosity of the children.

"לַחְמָא עַנְיָא" – Abarbanel understands this to be bread fitting for one who is poor, as was eaten by the Israelites in Egypt, and as poor men eat even in contemporary times.

"דִי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם" – when? This refers not to the matzah eaten during the redemption but that eaten while they were impoverished slaves.

"כָּל דִּצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח" – According to Abarbanel, this refers to the Afikoman which is in memory of the Pesach, rather than to the Pesach itself, which was no longer brought when the passage was written.

Why in Aramaic? Since these lines are not really part of the story but rather instructions for the leader, it is natural that they are said in the vernacular. Abarbanel adds that if this is an invitation, it needs to be understood by its primary audience, the needy, who would not have known Hebrew.

¹ The interpretation is also found almost verbatim in the Orchot ChayyimSeder HaHaggadah, and Abarbanel cites it in the name of "וראיתי מי שפירש".

² 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".

³ A similar interpretation is found also in the commentary on the Haggadah attributed to Rashi.  According to this understanding, it is as if "‏כָּל דִּכְפִין...‏" is preceded by "‏ואמרו:‏".

⁴ Rashbam could have suggested more simply that breaking the matzah imitates how poor people split their food and save some for later, and that it thereby commemorates the period of enslavement when the Israelites had meager sustenance and did not know where their next meal would come from.  However, there are three disadvantages of this reading which may account for why Rashbam preferred his own novel interpretation:

• It does not explain why the verse in Devarim links the "לֶחֶם עֹנִי" with the "חִפָּזוֹן" of the Exodus.
• It does not resolve the connection between the various lines of Ha Lachma Anya.
• There is no evidence that the Israelites had a limited food supply in Egypt.  In fact, when they recall the period in Bemidbar 11, they speak of the abundant fish, squash, onions etc.

⁵ R. Katzenelenbogen, in his notes (in Haggadat Torat Chayyim) to the Commentary, suggests that the "Rashbam" Commentary may understand "וְיִפְסַח" as to hasten.  As support, he points to Rashi Shemot 12:11 who appears to connect the root "פסח" with "חפזון":‎ "לפיכך תאכלו אותו בחפזון משום ששמו מורה על חפזון".

⁶ In contrast, much of the rest of the Haggadah derives from the texts of the Mishna and other works written in the land of Israel, and thus it is in Hebrew.  Cf. the פירוש קדמון cited in the note below that the Aramaic language also serves to set apart "הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא" from Maggid.

⁷ Cf. the פירוש קדמון (published in הגדה של פסח: תורת חיים) who explains that the cups of wine come to celebrate our redemption ("כוס ישועות"), and since "הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא" speaks only of our affliction, it is proper to pour the cup only after the recitation of this passage.  According to him, it is in Aramaic to underscore that it is a separate unit.

⁸ This contrast is found in the earlier commentary of the Ritva.  The Tashbetz also brings the option that "כָּל דִּכְפִין" refers to all of the Seder participants who had not yet eaten a big meal so as not to diminish their appetite for eating Matzah ("כדי שיאכל מצה לתיאבון").  This interpretation is found also in the commentary attributed to Rashi and in the פירוש קדמון (published in הגדה של פסח: תורת חיים).

⁹ This interpretation follows the approach which the Shibbolei HaLeket218 cites in the name of his brother, R. Binyamin.  It is as if the passage opened with: "כך היו אבותינו אומרים בזמן שבית המקדש היה קיים...‏".  The Shibbolei HaLeket notes that there are other passages on the night of the Seder (such as R. Gamliel and Koreich) which also commemorate the times of the Mikdash.  R. Binyamin's approach struggles a bit in explaining why this line would be written in Aramaic (see his suggestion cited later in the Shibbolei HaLeket).
The Shibbolei HaLeket also offers that the passage refer to all three components of the sacrificial meal:  Pesach ("כָּל דִּצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח"), Matzah ("הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא") and Maror ("כָּל דִּכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכֹל").  As support, he points to Mishlei 27:7 which suggests that one who is hungry is bitter of soul. This, though, is not a simple reading.

¹⁰ As such, the passage refers to enslavement, salvation, and future redemption, three main themes of the evening.  Nonetheless, the formulation is somewhat awkward for a synopsis, and the various sentences do not flow smoothly into one another.

¹¹ He cites Ramban Devarim 16:2.  Alternatively, it could refer to the poverty of the Israelites in Egypt. Either way, the term is employed to highlight the hardships of the slavery.

¹² See also the Orchot ChayyimSeder HaHaggadah who writes in the name of Ibn Ezra that captives in India were fed Matzah even in his day.

¹³ Raavan also raises the possibility that "וְיִפְסַח" refers to partaking in the Paschal sacrifice itself, and that therefore the word is omitted when there is no sacrifice (see also the Rid).  [This option seems to assume that "הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא" was originally authored during the Babylonian Exile (and was thus written in Aramaic), and that the word "וְיִפְסַח" was added during the era of the Second Temple, when there was still a Pascal Sacrifice.]  Alternatively, one could explain that "וְיִפְסַח" speaks of general Passover supplies.

¹⁴ Cf. R. Natronai Gaon (cited by the Ritz Giat) and the Orchot Chayyim who state that one should also recite Ma Nishtanah and Avadim Hayyinu in the vernacular (and see also the Shibbolei HaLeket218's citation of his cousin, R. Yehuda's interpretation).  The Raavan similarly explains that Kol Nidrei was recited in Aramaic to ensure that all would understand it and make the necessary arrangements to annul their vows.

¹⁵ Cf. Seder Rav Amram Gaon, Siddur Rashi, Rambam's Nusach HaHaggadah, Shibbolei HaLeket218, Ritva Hilkhot HaHaggadah, and others.

¹⁶ This is also the opinion of R. Saadia in his Siddur, the Geonim cited by Ritva in his Hilkhot Seder HaHaggadah, the Haggadah commentary attributed to Rashi, and many others (see note above regarding the פירוש קדמון).

¹⁷ See his איגרת ביקורת על סדר ההגדה של פסח, (Jerusalem, 1969): 7-9.

¹⁸ Y. Reifman suggests that the before the matzah was broken it was raised for all to see, and at that point the leader proclaimed, "This is the bread…".