This is our last thought on Ahavat Yisrael before the Seder tonight. When say Ha Lachma Anya, we invite the guests in and tell them that this is the bread of affliction. Why do we have to announce this to them?
Why can’t we just invite the guests and let them sit down and go through Ma Nishtana?
Why explain that this is the bread of affliction?
The Hida gives an unbelievable explanation.
There is a Mishna in Masechet Bava Metzia that tells the story of a rabbi named Yochanan ben Matya, who told his son to go out and hire workers. But when the son hired them, he promised them lunch.
His father told him that they were trouble now, because Once you offer to make them a meal, even if it would be like that of Shlomo HaMelech in his heyday, where it describes the tremendous amounts of flour and wheat and all kinds of delicacies, you could not fulfill your responsibility.
What does “meal” mean? Is it sushi? Is it prime beef?
Whatever you give them would not be enough, because they are Bnei Abraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov.
You must tell them before they start working that you’re only going to give them bread and beans. Otherwise we’ll be in trouble.
We see from this that we have a responsibility, when we have Jewish guests, to serve them what they deserve.
The Hida explains that when we invite guests into our homes, we are inviting the children of Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov. This is especially true on the night of the Seder, when we realize how special the Jewish people are.
How can we bring them to our tables with these dry crackers? The Bread of Affliction is not suitable for the respected level of the Jewish person. Therefore, we excuse ourselves, “Really based on your level of kavod, we should be giving you tremendous delicacies now, because you are the sons of the kings. But, we have a responsibility on this night to remember Yetziat Mitzrayim, to act out the poverty that our forefathers endured, and in this way we come to praise our Creator for the redemption. This does not in anyway indicate a lack of respect to you, the person that I invited to my house.
This is an unbelievable Hiddush, to strengthen ourselves in what it means to respect a fellow Jew, and to remind us about how careful we have to be with the dignity of our fellow Jew.
We have to make sure that he remains dignified, and we have to understand the amount of dignity that he deserves. How careful we must be with his respect and honor! He is a son of Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov.
Therefore, we start off the Seder by properly excusing ourselves for any lack of dignity that we subject our guests to, due to the restrictions of the seder night.
Have a wonderful day and a
Hag Kasher V’Sameach.
May we all grow, and take these wonderful lessons in Ahavat Yisrael to heart.