ה א ל ח מ א ע נ י א Ha Lachma Anya
This is the Bread of Affliction
Welcoming the Stranger, Upholding the Law
Arnie Draiman
” ה א ל ח מ א ע נ י א … כ ל ד כ פ י ן י י ת י ו י י כ ו ל““ Let all who are hungry come and eat.”
On Pesach night, we open our doors, but we do not dissolve our boundaries. The invitation is generous— and it is ordered. There is a table, a story, a structure – the entire“ seder” means order and structure. Freedom unfolds from within law.
The Torah commands us no fewer than thirty-six ו א ה ב ת ם א ת“. stranger times to love the ger— the
( Devarim 10:19.( Our” ה ג ר כ י גרים הייתם ב א ר ץ מ צ ר י ם memory of Egypt forms the foundation of Jewish empathy. We know the soul of the stranger because we were strangers.
But the Torah’ s ger is not lawless. The ger of the תורה אחת“. framework Torah joins the covenantal
( Bamidbar 15:16)— there” יהיה לכם ו ל ג ר ה ג ר ב ת ו כ כ ם shall be one law for you and for the stranger among you. The Torah’ s vision of welcome is not chaos; it is shared responsibility under law.
When we recall Egypt, we remember two truths. First: oppression is evil.“ ו י מ ר ר ו א ת ח י י ה ם”— they
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