פסחים-לח

We can read הא לחמא עניא די אכלו אבהתנא במצרים in two ways. The first is the standard translation: “This is the bread of affliction that our forefathers ate in מצרים.”  The second reading is based on the translation of the word הא as “give,” as in (הא לכם זרע (בראשית מז, מג, “Give us לחמא, bread,” which means פרנסה.  This presents an internal contradiction because עניא refers to poverty, as Chagigah 9b states, יאה עניותא ליהודאי, poverty is becoming to the Jewish people.  Clearly, we are not asking for the bread of poverty.  Rather, we say give us פרנסה; it’s enough די אכלו אבהתנא במצרים, that our forefathers ate לחם עוני in מצרים. 

05/07/2020