Difference between revisions of "Haggadah:Ha Lachma Anya/2"
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<p>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.</p> | <p>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.</p> | ||
<mekorot><multilink><a href="CommentaryattributedtoRashbamHaggadahShelPesach" data-aht="source">Commentary attributed to Rashbam</a><a href="CommentaryattributedtoRashbamHaggadahShelPesach" data-aht="source">Haggadah Shel Pesach</a></multilink><fn>The interpretation is also found almost verbatim in the <multilink><a href="OrchotChayyimSederHaHaggadah" data-aht="source">Orchot Chayyim</a><a href="OrchotChayyimSederHaHaggadah" data-aht="source">Seder HaHaggadah</a></multilink>, and Abarbanel cites it in the name of "וראיתי מי שפירש".</fn></mekorot> | <mekorot><multilink><a href="CommentaryattributedtoRashbamHaggadahShelPesach" data-aht="source">Commentary attributed to Rashbam</a><a href="CommentaryattributedtoRashbamHaggadahShelPesach" data-aht="source">Haggadah Shel Pesach</a></multilink><fn>The interpretation is also found almost verbatim in the <multilink><a href="OrchotChayyimSederHaHaggadah" data-aht="source">Orchot Chayyim</a><a href="OrchotChayyimSederHaHaggadah" data-aht="source">Seder HaHaggadah</a></multilink>, and Abarbanel cites it in the name of "וראיתי מי שפירש".</fn></mekorot> | ||
− | <point><b>Relationship between the lines</b> – 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,<fn>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".</fn> 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.<fn>According to this | + | <point><b>Relationship between the lines</b> – 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,<fn>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".</fn> 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.<fn>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:‏".</fn></point> |
<point><b>"לַחְמָא עַנְיָא"</b> – This approach understands "לֶחֶם עֹנִי" in the verse in <a href="Devarim16-3" data-aht="source">Devarim 16</a> 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 <multilink><a href="BavliPesachim115b-116a" data-aht="source">Bavli Pesachim</a><a href="BavliPesachim115b-116a" data-aht="source">Pesachim 115b-116a</a><a href="Talmud Bavli" data-aht="parshan">About the Bavli</a></multilink>, 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".</point> | <point><b>"לַחְמָא עַנְיָא"</b> – This approach understands "לֶחֶם עֹנִי" in the verse in <a href="Devarim16-3" data-aht="source">Devarim 16</a> 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 <multilink><a href="BavliPesachim115b-116a" data-aht="source">Bavli Pesachim</a><a href="BavliPesachim115b-116a" data-aht="source">Pesachim 115b-116a</a><a href="Talmud Bavli" data-aht="parshan">About the Bavli</a></multilink>, 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".</point> | ||
<point><b>"דִי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם" - when?</b> 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.<fn>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:<br/> | <point><b>"דִי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם" - when?</b> 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.<fn>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:<br/> | ||
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</ul></fn></point> | </ul></fn></point> | ||
<point><b>"כָּל דִּצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח"</b> – The word "וְיִפְסַח" describes the partaking in the Paschal sacrifice offered in Egypt.<fn>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".</fn></point> | <point><b>"כָּל דִּצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח"</b> – The word "וְיִפְסַח" describes the partaking in the Paschal sacrifice offered in Egypt.<fn>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".</fn></point> | ||
− | <point><b>Why in Aramaic?</b> 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.<fn>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.</fn></point> | + | <point><b>Why in Aramaic?</b> 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.<fn>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.</fn></point> |
− | <point><b>When do we pour the second cup?</b> This approach might maintain that we pour the second cup after this passage, since it is only then that the Maggid section begins.<fn>Cf. | + | <point><b>When do we pour the second cup?</b> This approach might maintain that we pour the second cup after this passage, since it is only then that the Maggid section begins.<fn>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.</fn></point> |
</category> | </category> | ||
<category name="">Prelude to Maggid | <category name="">Prelude to Maggid |
Version as of 05:30, 15 April 2015
Ha Lachma Anya
Exegetical Approaches
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.
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.
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.
Commemoration of Temple Times
This passage, at the beginning of the Seder, alludes to the way Pesach was celebrated in Temple times and expresses hope that it will soon, once again, be commemorated in the same way.
Instructions for the Seder Leader
- 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.16 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.