א י נ ע א מ ח ל א
ה Ha Lachma Anya
This is the Bread of Affliction
Because We Were Strangers
Rabbi Dorit Edut
In the early part of our Passover Seder, just before the Four Questions, we lift the matzah and say,
“ Ha Lachma Anya – This is the bread of our affliction which our forefathers ate in the land of Egypt. Let those who are hungry enter and eat with us; let those who are forlorn come and celebrate the Passover with us ….”
It is a time for inviting guests to our homes for we are told then not only to remember the Exodus from Egypt in joy because of God’ s great care for our lives – but also to remember our very humble beginnings as a people. In fact, we are repeatedly told – more than 30 times in the Bible – that we are to behave towards others, especially the“ strangers in our midst”, with kindness and compassion, generosity and fairness – for after all“ we were strangers in the Land of Egypt”.
In other words, the experience of being“ the other”, the outsider is one that we must never forget. Certainly, this has been our position in many societies throughout much of the 2,000 years of our existence. But the value that we draw from this is not to embitter us or make us hate those who treated us this way; rather, we are to be sensitized to other human beings, especially
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