Ha Lachma
Although they may initially seem redundant, the two invitations we issue in Ha Lachma Anya – “Let all who are hungry, enter and eat” and “Let all who are in need, come and celebrate the Passover” – in reality are not. “All who are in need” means those who are in need – but not in need of bread. Whoever is in need of bread is hungry. “All who are in need” refers to one who is alone, who has a lot of Matza and wine but no home or family. There are indeed many ways to be included among those “who are in need.” The invitation to “all who are in need” is not “to eat with us;” rather it is to spend the Pesach with us, “to celebrate with us.” It is an invitation addressed to unfortunate and lonely people. They might be millionaires; it is completely irrelevant. Whoever is in need should come and celebrate.
Ha Lachma Anya is the renewal of a pledge of solidarity among the Jewish people – solidarity between individual and individual, and between the individual and the Jewish community as a whole. It is a proclamation that we are one people, and that we are ready to help one another. Pesach night is a time of sharing; if the sense of solidarity, responsibility, unity and readiness to share and to participate are not manifested and demonstrated, the whole Seder becomes meaningless.
- Rabbi Joseph B. Solveitchik
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