Hungry Hearts
by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback

Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are in need come and celebrate Passover.

.כָּל דִכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכֹל, כָּל דִצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח

The telling of the story of our exodus from Egypt is known as the “Maggid (מַגִּיד)” section of the Haggadah. We begin by holding up the matzah and saying:

“This is the bread of affliction. Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are in need come and celebrate Passover.”

This simple formula reminds us of two different types of need: material and spiritual. This past year especially, we’ve been forced to learn so many lessons about these different needs—from everyday concerns like how to safely procur essentials such as flour, sugar, and toilet paper for our homes to more elevated matters like finding ways to worship, study, perform acts of tzedakah and kindness, and connect with our community.

As we gather together at our seder tables this year, we understand these two types of needs differently and more profoundly perhaps. And we feel these two complimentary motivations keenly, especially right now. We so long to be together, to break the bread of affliction with one another, to share a meal together and satisfy our hunger for a shared meal after more than a year of isolation. We long, too, to engage together in our annual re-telling of our people’s master story—the story that satiates our very soul.

We must be patient and remain hopeful as we can now see a light at the end of this dark tunnel. We know that, soon enough, we will be able to find ways to satiate both our material and spiritual hunger together, in community.
As we look forward to what life post-pandemic will be, let’s think about the lessons of this past year that we most wish to carry forward with us. Perhaps it’s the lesson of slowing down, appreciating life’s simpler pleasures like homemade bread or family walks in our neighborhood. Perhaps it’s a renewed commitment to the importance of Shabbat. Maybe it’s a deeper awareness of how little is actually in our control.

May our hearts and our homes be open so that we might help one another fulfill both our material and spiritual needs—now, in this especially challenging time, and always.

Read more from the Wise clergy and congregants in What We Carry Forward, Wise’s 2021 Haggadah supplement.