Preparing for Pesach with Love - Pre-Pesach 5785

I think it’s safe to say that Pesach is on all our minds.  Whether it is starting to clean the house, ordering supplies for the Holiday, creating a Seder guest list or deciding where to go for the Seder, planning menus or preparing interesting insights into the Haggadah, Pesach is now in the air.

So let’s take a look at an interesting, often questioned and discussed phenomenon in the Haggadah.  This issue relates to the Seder itself, but also has relevance to the time leading up to Pesach.  The first section of the Haggadah that we say after Kiddush, the vegetable and breaking the Matzah is Hei Lachma Anya (some say Ha Lachma Anya) - “this is the bread of affliction...”  The opening section of the Haggadah, even before the Four Questions, includes two lines that seem to be completely out of place: “Anyone who is hungry come and eat, anyone who is needy come and participate in the Passover service.”  

What is the purpose of saying this passage now that we are all comfortable seated at the Seder table?  Whoever is here is here already, and anyone who is not can’t hear the invitation!  I have never seen anyone say this passage outside the front door to passersby.  Maybe it should be recited in the Synagogue after services so that anyone who does not have a Seder can join us?

There are several answers to this question, and the following is based on a fascinating talk from the Rebbe that I saw this week while flying to New York for Shoshana Finkel’s wedding. The Finkels were long-time, beloved residents of Palo Alto.  

We open the Seder with this statement in order to make an announcement that we have cared for those less fortunate than us, because we cannot truly celebrate our freedom as long as we know that there is a fellow Jew who is not able to participate, because of a financial or spiritual lack.  In fact, caring for the needy is a prerequisite to a successful Seder.  Let me explain.  

The Seder is not just a meal celebrating a historic event.  Our mystical writings teach that the Seder is one of the holiest moments of the year, evoking great spiritual Divine revelations.  In general, our Holidays are not just historic events but a recreation of the first event.  Just as we receive the Torah again every Shavuot and evoke Hashem’s creation of the universe every Rosh Hashanah, Pesach is the time we relive the incredible miraculous revelation of Hashem in Egypt.  As we say in the Haggadah - Hashem descended into Egypt to redeem the Jewish people, “not by an angel, not by a Saraf, not by a messenger, but the Holy one blessed be He Himself.”

Kabbalah and Chassidus explain how each aspect of the traditional Seder helps bring this revelation to us in the physical world.  This is one reason that it is so important to follow the exact order of the Seder - which means order - to properly evoke the great spiritual energy that is available to us this night.  

Now, the greatest channel to receive Hashem’s blessings is love of our fellow.  Just as parents who see their children helping and showing love for each other want to give them more gifts, our Father in Heaven repays our love and care for one another with great blessings.  We see this in the Talmud’s recounting, as a lesson to all of us, that Rabbi Elazer would make sure to give a coin to a poor person and only after that would he pray (Bava Batra 10a).  This is also why at the very beginning of the daily prayers, we say: “I accept upon myself the Mitzvah of love your fellow as yourself.”  Before we pray for our needs, we express our love and willingness to help one another.  

This same sentiment is what we are expressing at the beginning of the holy and auspicious moment of the beginning of the Seder.  “We have made sure that all who are hungry and needy have  had their needs met, so now we can evoke the wondrous blessings of the Seder.”

As we say this passage every year, we are reminded of the importance of ensuring that all Jews have their Passover and Seder needs met.  It is indeed not enough to pay lip service at the Seder.  We need to be sure that before Pesach we have done all we can to see to it that in fact our brothers and sisters’ needs have been met.

This is why every community has a “Maot Chittim Fund”.  Maot Chittim literally translates as money for wheat, for Matzah, to ensure that everyone has Matzah, but in its broader intent it means to provide for all the Pesach food needs of people with financial challenges.  In addition, it means to provide hand-baked Shmurah Matzah - a requirement to observe the Biblical Mitzvah of eating Matzah at the Seder - to anyone who doesn't have it.

When we take seriously our obligation to love one another and act on it, by ensuring in advance that every Jew has their material and spiritual needs met for Pesach we can then comfortably sit down at the Seder and say that we have fulfilled “whoever is hungry come and eat, whoever is needy come and participate in the Pesach service.” 

If you would like to participate in the Maot Chittim fund at Chabad you can donate on our website.  We also have Shmurah Matzah that you can purchase for yourself or another person, as well as gift boxes that we are happy to share with a Matzah for anyone who doesn't have.  I wish you a “happy and kosher Pesach” preparation, and may I add to that traditional greeting “loving and sharing.”