Happy Passover! Ha Lachma Anya by Rabbi Rachel L. Joseph Associate Rabbi Passover provides us a sacred time to reflect on our own people’s wanderings. Yet, within the seder itself we are commanded not only to reflect through memory, but to act. In fact, each year, before we tell the story of the exodus from Egypt, before we ask the four questions or drink our four glasses of wine, before we make a Hillel sandwich or recount the ten plagues, before any of this, we hold up a piece of matzah and we say: Ha Lachma Anya. This is the bread of poverty. This is the bread of poverty and persecution that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. As it says in the Torah, “seven days shall you eat matzot, the bread of poverty and persecution” so that you may “remember that you were a slave in Egypt.” Let all who are hungry, come and eat. Let all who are in need, come and share the Passover meal. What a strange and powerful way to open our story! At its most fundamental level, the Passover seder is meant to remind us that we know firsthand the suffering and degradation faced by those who are poor. We know the sharp pain of hunger, the slavery that is poverty and persecution. And we also know that this memory, this shared experience, compels us to act. Ha Lachma Anya. This is the bread of poverty. We are a community that acts. Year-round, we serve meals, distribute food, call on our elected officials to enact just laws.
Bulletin April 2016 Adar II - Nisan 5776 Vol. 65, No. 7
And on May 1, we will come together as a congregation for Mitzvah Day. This tradition is an opportunity for each one of us to make a difference individually and communally. For the past several months, an amazingly talented group of us have been meeting to plan our annual event. Please visit www.bethisrael-pdx.org/ calendar/mitzvah-day-2016 to learn more and sign up for a project. Ha Lachma Anya. This is the bread of poverty. Too many still suffer! Thus we retell our people’s story, not just to remember—but to inspire us to act with vision. We retell our people’s story to remind us of the sacred work still ahead of us, to identify with the strangers among us, for we were once strangers. Our storytelling at the Passover seder begins with recognizing the bread of poverty and affliction that our ancestors ate in foreign lands.
Photo courtesy of Rabbi and Cantor Cahana
Ha Lachma Anya. This is the bread of poverty. All who are hungry may come and eat, but only if we live our lives and structure our society in such a way that the entire human family is cared for. This Passover, we say Dayenu. We have had enough. This year, we will work together so that all who are hungry can finally come and eat. This year, we will work together to create a world filled with more justice and peace.
Do a Mitzvah with us!
See p. 5 for details about Mitzvah Day and check out the CBI website for registration and more: www.bethisrael-pdx.org/calendar/mitzvah-day-2016