Pesah- Repairing the Broken Masa

Toward the beginning of the Pesach Seder, we break one of the Masot on the table, and then announce, “Ha Lahma Anya Di Achalu Abhatana Be’ar’a De’Misrayim” – “This is the bread of poverty which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.” For what reason do we break the Masa into two pieces, and why do refer to Masa as “Lehem Oni” – “the bread of poverty”? An insightful explanation of the “Ha Lahma Anya” proclamation was offered by the Berach Moshe (Rav Moshe Teitelbaum of Satmar, 1914-2006). He writes that, as earlier commentators have noted, the Egyptian exile resulted from the sin of the sale of Yosef. Our ancestors first went to Egypt because the brothers turned against their brother and sold him into slavery. And it is this same ill – strife and in-fighting among our nation – that has kept us in exile for so many centuries. The Shela Ha’kadosh (Rav Yeshaya Horowitz, d. 1630) famously taught, “Mahloket Ahat Doha Me’a Parnasot” – a single fight can ruin one hundred opportunities for earning a livelihood. Many people mistakenly think that they benefit financially by “playing tough,” by insisting on fighting for every bit of money they feel they deserve. But our tradition teaches us that to the contrary, nothing is more destructive to the pursuit of a livelihood than fighting. One of the most important things we should be doing to ensure the success of our efforts to earn a respectable Parnasa (livelihood) is avoiding conflict, making sacrifices for the sake of peaceful relations with people, and trying to get along with those around us. On this basis, we can explain the meaning of Yahatz – the breaking of the middle Masa at the Seder. As we prepare to tell the story of our ancestors’ enslavement and eventual redemption, we break a single Masa into two pieces, symbolizing the breaking of unity, the split in Yaakob’s family which is what led to the Egyptian exile. The Berach Moshe explains that when we proclaim, “This is the bread of poverty which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt,” we are actually saying that we continue to experience “the bread of poverty,” the hardships of exile, because we are guilty of the same ill of strife and disunity that plagued our ancestors. The reason why our “Masa” is “broken,” why we still face so many difficult challenges, is the sin of fighting and divisiveness. The Berach Moshe adds that this is why we immediately proceed to announce an invitation, welcoming anyone who needs a place to eat: “Whoever is hungry shall come and eat; whoever is in need shall come and observe the Pesach.” As we reflect upon the sin of in-fighting and disunity that has caused and prolonged or exile, we resolve to work toward correcting this wrong by extending an invitation to everyone in need. We do not invite only those people whom we like, only those people who are similar to us, who think like us, who act like us, and who observe Misvot the same way we do. We invite anyone in need, no matter who they are, because this is how we correct the sin of baseless hatred – by loving and cherishing all our fellow Jews, even if they are different from us. This paragraph concludes with the prayer, “Now we are here – next year, in the land of Israel; now we are slaves – next year, free people.” The Berach Moshe explains that we express our confident hope that in the merit of our efforts to increase unity among our people, to extend love and respect to all our fellow Jews, regardless of our differences, we will be worthy of our final redemption, may it arrive speedily and in our time, Amen.