|
March 26, 2010
Why is matza central to Pesach?
The rush to leave Egypt is a lesson in change – the first step to freedom is a drastic one.
RABBI SHMUEL YESHAYAHU
Why is matza such a central part of the Passover experience? I understand that we eat it in order to commemorate when the Israelites rushed to leave Egypt, but what is so important about that story that, still today, we eat matza every Pesach?
It is true that matza is a central part of Passover. We are supposed to eat matza and stay away from all chametz (any food where flour touched water before baking for more than 18 minutes). Many of us learned in school and from the Torah that we eat matza, unleavened bread because, when the Israelites were leaving Egypt, they didn’t have enough time to let their dough rise. But what is so important about this part of the story that we focus on it still today?
Besides it being unclear why we should care so much about the matza that the Israelites ate when leaving Egypt, there is another problem. This part of the story doesn’t seem to make much sense. How is it possible that, although G-d was mighty enough to bring 10 plagues upon the Egyptians, He couldn’t protect the Israelites in Egypt just a bit longer while they let their dough rise?
First, let’s answer the question: What is so important about matza?
The entire seder ceremony is full of symbolism connected to slavery and freedom. This includes matza. People think we eat it just because the Israelites were running away from the Egyptians, but there has to be a better reason because, with G-d on their side, this shouldn’t have been necessary.
In actual fact, the Israelites were running away from themselves. Two hundred years of slavery had destroyed their Jewish spirit. They had forgotten their Jewish pride and identity and the promises given to their forefathers. They were assimilated in Egypt. Both in body and in spirit, they were slaves.
But their slavery is symbolic of all kinds of slavery. The Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzrayim. This comes from the word tzar, which means narrow or boundary, and it refers to anything in our lives that binds us and inhibits us from
expressing who we really are. The Israelites had a moment of realization that they had lost their identity in Egypt. That moment is the moment when they called out for help. And, at that moment, it was important to take action immediately, without hesitation. Human nature is to quickly start rationalizing, justifying and denying. Taking action immediately was imperative to ensure that the Israelites would be capable of leaving their mitzrayim – that which bound them.
The slavery in Egypt can be compared to an addiction. At first, everything might seem OK – until the person starts losing their family, job and dignity because of their addiction. At that point, the person is stuck in their mitzrayim, their bondage.
There is a tale told of a man named Jacob, who was lying on his deathbed, waiting for his final breath. Suddenly, he whispers, “Judith, my beloved wife, are you there?”
“Yes, my dear husband ... I am here by your side,” she says.
Jacob whispers again: “Isaac, my son ... are you there?”
“Yes, father, I am here with you,” is the answer.
Jacob breathes heavily and goes on: “Sarah, my beautiful daughter-in-law, are you there?”
“Sure, I am here by your side,” says Sarah.
Jacob takes a deep breath, waits a few seconds and whispers: “What about little Billy? Are you there, my grandson?
“Yeah Grandpa, I am here too,” says Billy.
Jacob waits a little while, opens his eyes, looks around and says: “Family, if you are all here, who is taking care of the shop?!”
All of us have a personal “Egypt.” Some of us never escape it, as the fictional Jacob, who is consumed with work even on his deathbed. But, for most of people, at some point, there is a moment of clarity, usually when the person has reached their lowest point. At that moment, they need to seek help immediate, before they have a chance to start rationalizing. The person needs to go cold turkey.
We eat matza because Egypt had a strong hold on the Jewish people. In order to rid themselves of their bondage, they physically had to get out of Egypt as soon as possible.
On Passover, we can use matza to teach ourselves that the first step towards freedom is to go cold turkey, without hesitation. In one minute you can, and must, change your life. As the Nike advertisement says, “Just do it.” It is with the use of this non-rationalizing, matza-like side of ourselves that our own personal exodus begins.
Rabbi Shmulik Yeshayahu is head of the Ohel Ya’akov Community Kollel. He wrote this article with Deena Levenstein, a freelance writer living in Jerusalem. Her website is habitza.com.
^TOP
|
