Haggadah text

This is the bread of destitution that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Anyone who is famished should come and eat, anyone who is in need should come and partake of the Pesach sacrifice. Now we are here, next year we will be in the land of Israel; this year we are slaves, next year we will be free people.

You shall not eat anything leavened with it; for seven days thereafter you shall eat unleavened bread, bread of distress—for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly—so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live.

R. Shimon says: Why is it called "bread of affliction"? Because of the affliction that they suffered in Egypt.

Shmuel said that the phrase: “The bread of affliction [leḥem oni]” (Deuteronomy 16:3) means bread over which one answers [onim] matters, i.e., one recites the Haggadah over matza. That was also taught in a baraita: Leḥem oni is bread over which one answers many matters. Alternatively, in the verse, “leḥem oni” is actually written without a vav, which means a poor person. Just as it is the manner of a poor person to eat a piece of bread, for lack of a whole loaf,

And Rabbi Yosei HaGelili could respond: Do we vocalize the word as ani, as would be appropriate for a phrase meaning a poor man’s bread? In fact, we vocalize it oni, which means oppression, affliction, or mourning. And Rabbi Akiva could retort: The fact that we vocalize the word as oni is in accordance with a statement of Shmuel. As Shmuel said: The expression leḥem oni means bread over which many matters are recited [onin], an allusion to the Passover Seder, at which one recites the Haggadah and eats matza.

This resolution is reinforced in a unique case, as Rav Pappa said: Everyone agrees that while fulfilling the mitzva of eating matza on Passover, one places the piece inside the whole and breaks. What is the reason? With regard to matza the phrase “Bread of affliction” (Deuteronomy 16:3) is written, and the poor typically eat their bread in pieces. Therefore, eating matza on Passover evening, the broken matza is also significant.

In these Berachot (blessings) we bow down: the first Beracha (blessing) [of Shemoneh Esreh], in the beginning and at the end, and in [the paragraph of] Modim [in Shemoneh Esreh], in the beginning and at the end. And [as for] one who bows down in every [single] Beracha [of Shemoneh Esreh], we teach him that he should not bow down [in them]. We do not say [the Beracha] together with the one that says the Beracha [for you]. Rebbi Yehudah would say together with the one that made the Beracha, Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh Hashem Tzevaot Melo Kol Haaretz Kevodo (Isaiah 6:3) (Holy, Holy, Holy, Hashem Tzevaot, the earth is full with His glory) and Baruch Kevod Hashem Mimkomo (Ezekiel 3:12) (Blessed be the glory of Hashem from His place). All of these Rebbi Yehudah would say together with the one that made the Beracha.