Matzah Mindset
Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein
When performing the Pesach Seder, we recite from the Haggadah, “Rabban Gamliel says: Whoever has not said these three things on Pesach has not fulfilled his obligation – the Pascal sacrifice, matzah and bitter herbs.” Obviously, as Rabbi Broide, Rosh Yeshivat Chevron points out, merely articulating the words does not fulfill one’s obligation, but one must try to understand the significance of each of these symbolic elements of the Seder. For our current study, we will focus on the matzah and the verses that bring matzah into the Pesach narrative.
When Bnei Yisroel were commanded to prepare the Pesach meal in anticipation of their imminent exodus, they were told to eat the lamb with matzoth and bitter herbs. Obviously, this is the source of the aforementioned directive by Rabban Gamliel. But as the narrative continues, the Torah states: “The people picked up its dough before it could become leavened, their leftovers bound up in their garments upon their shoulders.… The Children of Israel journeyed from Ramses to Succoth… They baked the dough that they took out of Egypt into unleavened cakes, for they could not be leavened, for they were driven from Egypt for they could not delay, nor had they made provisions for themselves.”
The narrative raises many questions, all relating in some respect to the timing and process of baking matzah versus baking bread. Perhaps the overarching question remains that since Bnei Yisroel had advance notice of their redemption, could they not have prepared for it and baked their bread in advance and prepared provisions for the journey? How do we then explain the timing of the matzah baking? Did their being chased out of Mitzrayim play a significant role in the baking of the matzah for their journey, as seems to be the focus of the Haggadah?
Rabbi Broide, quoting the Ramban notes that the Jews were commanded not to eat leavened bread both the night and day of the exodus. In fact, they were not even allowed to have leavened bread in their possession. The Jews were therefore preparing to bake Matzahs when they were rushed out of Egypt, and therefore had to make them in Sukkot. The Ra"n however, argues that they were allowed to have leaven in their possession, and hence they were baking bread for the following day, when they were rushed out of Egypt.
Nevertheless, there was quite a distance between Ramses and Succot. How was it possible that the dough did not ferment, and that they continued to bake matzoth and not bread when they reached Succot? The Seforno explains that the exodus occurred in the blink of an eye, and the journey itself was also instantaneous so that the dough had no time to ferment. Further, as the Haggadah explains the significance of the matzah, the dough did not have time to ferment until the King of Kings revealed Himself to Bnei Yisroel. Where and how did the King of Kings reveal Himself? At Succot when Hashem surrounded Bnei Yisroel with the Clouds of Glory. Hashem had refused to reveal Himself amidst the impurity of Egypt, waiting until Bnei Yisroel were distant from that impurity before He allowed His presence to descend among them. It was the specialness of that experience, notes the Seforno, that although they could have baked bread for the morrow; they opted to make Matzahs that take a shorter time, to enjoy Hashems's presence.
Rabbi Matityahu Salomon, basing his interpretation on the writing of the Maharal, explains that it was specifically in the timing of the events that God’s presence was revealed. Bnei Yisroel had in fact been trying to bake bread for the journey, but Hashem orchestrated the events so that they would not be leaving on their timetable, but on Hashem’s. The fact that they did not have time to complete their preparations was proof that their redemption was totally God’s doing. As theSifsei Chaim, Rabbi Friedlander notes, Hashem is above nature and the natural order of the world He created. Matzah is about recognizing that Hashem is the key element in any scenario that occurs in the physical world. By being commanded to eat matzah as part of the Seder when we need not eat matzah for the rest of the holiday, (although we may not eat chametz) we are attesting to this reality. Therefore is matzah called the bread of faith and of healing as well as the bread of affliction.
But why did we need to leave Egypt so quickly? It was not only that another moment of impurity would have had an irreparable effect on us, but rather that time itself was a problem, writes Rabbi Tatz in Living Inspired. In order for the exodus experience to remain spiritual, it was necessary that it occur in the blink of an eye. Time would have reinforced the idea that the redemption was somehow natural rather than spiritual. Bnei Yisroel, as a spiritual nation, had to be born in a moment of complete spirituality. Our physical existence has always been precarious, and it is only through Divine intervention that we continue to survive. Hashem decides our lives and our fate, both nationally and individually. Therefore, writes the Sifsei Chaim, while we must exert effort on our own behalf, we must never forget to daven, for Hashem alone controls the outcome.
Rabbi Schwab offers another dimension to the dough remaining unfermented. When Hashem reveals Himself, time itself stands still. Since fermentation requires not only flour and water, but time, the dough could not ferment. It resembled the “bread” Bnei Yisroel were forced to eat in Egypt, for as slaves, their time was not their own, and they couldn’t wait for their dough to ferment. Now, with time in suspension, the dough that Bnei Yisroel took out of Egypt remained unfermented. So while Bnei Yisroel were forced to eat the unleavened bread while in servitude to Egypt, they now ate that same bread as a symbol of their servitude to Hakodosh Boruch Hu in freedom. The eating of matzah therefore represents the intensity of Hashem's revelation, that stopped the fermentation process. Indeed, each Pesach seder we once again experience Hashem's presence in our midst.
We are now left with Bnei Yisroel leaving Egypt without taking provisions for the road, other than the unbaked dough in their knapsacks. This is the source of those beautiful verses from Jeremiah which explains Hashem’s love for our nation: “I recall for you the kindness of your youth, the love when you were a bride, your following Me into the wilderness into land not sown.” This faithfulness is then followed by its reward, “Israel is holy to Hashem, the first of its wheat, all who devour it will be held guilty. Evil shall come upon them,” Bnei Yisroel’s following Me into the desert was testimony to their complete faith in Me.
Rabbi Gedaliah Schorr discusses this reciprocal relationship between Bnei Yisroel and Hakodosh Boruch Hu by using the words of Shir Hashirim, the deeply enigmatic love story symbolic of this relationship. “Medaleg al hehorim, He comes leaping upon the mountains,” quickly, to show Himself, but He also caused us to leap (medaleg is also causative) after Him, “Draw me, after You I will run.” The two mitzvoth of that first Pesach allude to this relationship. Korban Pesach involved Hashem drawing us to Him as we drew the lamb to our homes, while matzah which must be baked quickly to prevent fermentation implies the haste of running after Hashem. We run after Hashem with no pre set agenda, no provisions, completely on His terms. That is the pure essence within every Jew. When we eat the matzah, it is with the realization that our puffed up egos should play no part in our actions, that we are also ready to follow Hashem wherever He leads us. As recorded in Letitcha Elyon, it is not enough to declare one’s faith and belief; one must act on it and be ready to submit physically and spiritually to His will. As Rav Schwadron elaborates in Lev Shalom, It was the willingness of Bnei Yisroel to immediately leave the familiar surroundings of Egypt, however difficult they were, and follow Hashem into the unknown wilderness that Hashem was praising. When we daven, are we also willing to symbolically take Hashem’s hand and follow Him into unknown territory?
Continuing on the theme of Shir Hashirim, we are both black and beautiful. Yes, we are conflicted individuals, writes Rabbi Schwab as cited in Chochmat Hamatzpun. We have elements of both darkness and beauty within us. We complained as we reached the Red Sea, but we still continued to follow Hashem. The dark parts of our past should serve to keep our haughtiness in check while the beautiful parts keep us moving forward. Bnei Yisroel saw and acted on their faith in Hashem, and it was this devotion that raised us to a level of kedushah, of holiness, like the first wheat which is dedicated to holiness, and anyone not authorized to eat of it will be held guilty and punished. So too do we become holy, writes Rabbi Kofman in Mishchat Shemen when we follow the dictates of Hashem with purity and integrity, and then all who harm us will suffer the consequences.
The goal is to make our desire and faith in Hashem so strong that it becomes second nature to us, that it requires no thinking, just as we would not need to think about running from a burning building. Rabbi Kofman finds support for this idea in the Aleinu prayer where we pray that all mankind accept the yoke of Hashem’s kingship, and that Hashem reign over all meheirah, quickly. How do we achieve that quickness” By training ourselves to follow His will quickly, as second nature. When we habituate ourselves to doing the mitzvoth, we elevate ourselves in holiness.
Rabbi Frand has a different perspective on Bnei Yisroel’s lack of preparation. Certainly Bnei Yisroel had expected to be redeemed after each plague and had prepared accordingly, but when the redemption didn’t happen time after time, they became disillusioned and stopped preparing. So when the redemption actually took place the next morning, Bnei Yisroel were taken by surprise at its immediacy. But God’s salvation is always quick, and just as that first redemption from Egypt was immediate, without time for the dough to rise, so too will our final redemption be quick. Eating the matzah reminds us that just when things seem most dark and hopeless, that’s when Hashem brings salvation in the blink of an eye. As the Seforno says, Hashem times His salvation to the exact moment.
We can take a similar message from the Chad Gadya poem which we sing at the end of the Seder. Each of the entities in the poem can symbolically refer to another one of our oppressors, yet each one is soon overtaken and destroyed. Now we find ourselves in the darkest time of our history, the Angel of Death has run rampant among our people. But Hakodosh Boruch Hu is poised to bring our salvation at any moment. Are we prepared? Let us hope so, and let us follow Hashem to our final redemption.