Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

The purpose of this blog is to increase satiety at the Shabbat table ....please print, share, and forward.

You've got one week to prepare.

Here's a prep question for your table:

Where in the Torah does it say, "This is the bread of poverty that our ancestors ate in Egypt; whoever is hungry, come and eat!"

The answer of course is that it's not in the Torah, it's in the Haggadah. 

But why does the Haggadah start with this invitation? What does it actually mean?

A few problems:

- Why would someone eat if they're not hungry? Why not just say, "Everyone come and eat!"
- By the time we're saying it, everyone is already at the table; why say "come"?
- We're actually not going to eat right now, there's a story to tell before we get to eat, so why talk about eating right now? Are we teasing everyone?

Perhaps we're just trying to get their attention? After all, it's been a year since we ate matzah. Holding it up and saying, "Come and eat" grabs my attention!

But the Haggadah was written by a master teacher some 2,000 years ago. I suspect there is additional depth to every line. 

Perhaps the call to "whoever is hungry" is didactic. I think it might be telling us: you should only come and eat if you're hungry; i.e., you should be at the Seder with a hungry spirit. You should approach Pesach with a desire to gain something, to learn something, to grow in some way.

That's who's (supposed to be) coming to dinner - hungry people.

So here's 4 pre-Pesach questions for your table:'

What are you hungry for this Pesach? What questions do you hope to get answered? What do you hope to learn? How do you hope to grow?

I'd appreciate your sharing with me your own answers, or any answers you receive.

(Suggestion - if you're running a Seder, and you want everyone to come "hungry", send them these 4 questions in advance. Let them know that you'll invite them to share their answers at the Seder.)

Shabbat Shalom

and in case I don't get this email out next week, wishing you a Happy and Holy Pesach!

PS - Speaking of hunger, click here to help actual hungry people in Israel.
PPS - If you'd like our 2022 Pesach prep kit (47 mb download), send an email.
PPPS - The Jews of Ukraine, and Jewish refugees from Ukraine, are still in great need. Click here to help.
PPPPS - Yes, the image above is clickable .

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