Is matzo poor man's bread or the food of free men? Can it be both? If we regard it as halachma anya, the Bread of Affliction, why are we eating it now, when we are free, when we can choose to eat this matzo? Can one Matzo be both a symbol of wretchedness and deliverance?

Matzo is a paradox.

The matzo enables us to taste slavery— to imagine what it means to be denied our right to live free and healthy lives. We eat this matzo to relive the oppression our ancestors experienced, but in doing so, we also exercise our privilege. We exercise the privilege of suffering, the opportunity to feel pain for a moment but not have it last for longer than we wish. We can break our bread of affliction, just as we can choose to end our suffering.

But, while we will soon enjoy a large meal and end the seder night as free people, millions of people around the world can not leave the affliction of hunger behind. As we break the middle matzo, let us awaken to their cries and declare:

Kol dichfin yeitei v’yeichol—let all who are hungry, come and eat

Let us bring autonomy to all people over their sources of sustenance.

Let us end the exploitation of natural resources so that the land may nourish its inhabitants.

Let us assist communities in bolstering themselves against the destruction wrought by our own community.

Let us bring our world leaders to recognize food as a basic human right and to implement policies and programs that put an end to world hunger.

Hashata avdei—this year we are still slaves. Leshanah haba’ah b’nei chorin—next year we will be free people.

This year, hunger and malnutrition are still the greatest risks to good health around the world. Next year, may the bread of affliction be simply a symbol, and may all people enjoy the bread of plenty, the bread of freedom.


haggadah Section: Yachatz
Source: Alida Liberman