Shabbat HaGadol / Pesach
Rabbi Bernard Fox
“You shall not eat leaven with it; for seven days you shall eat with it
matzot, the bread of affliction, for in haste you went out of the land of
Egypt, so that you shall remember the day when you went out of the land of
Egypt all the days of your life.” (Devarim 16:3)
One of the mitzvot
of Pesach is the prohibition against eating leavened bread. In place of leavened bread, we eat matzah.
The first night of Pesach we are obligated to eat matzah. The remaining days
of the festival, we are not obligated to eat matzah, but we are prohibited from eating chametz – leavened
products.
In the above passage, the Torah explains that the matzah recalls the bread eaten during
bondage. How does the matzah recall the bread eaten during
bondage? Rabbaynu Ovadia Sforno
explains that the while in bondage, the Jews were forced to constantly labor
for their Egyptian masters. The
Egyptians would not provide their Jewish slaves with the time required to mix
the dough for their bread and then allow it to rise. Instead, once the dough was mixed, the Jews were forced to
immediately bake the bread. The dough
did not have the opportunity to rise.
The resulting loaves had the unleavened form of matzah.[1]
“And one takes the middle matzah and breaks into two parts … and he
lifts the Seder plate and recites, “This is the bread of affliction,” until
“How is this night different.” (Shulchan Aruch 473:6)
Another fundamental commandment performed on Pesach
is sipur yetziat mitzrayim –
the recounting of our redemption from Egypt.
This mitzvah is fulfilled
through the Pesach Seder. One of the early steps in the Seder is YaChatz – breaking the
middle matzah. Shulchan Aruch explains this process. The middle matzah is broken and half is retuned to the Seder plate. The plate is
then lifted and the reader recites:
“This is the bread of affliction which our fathers ate in Egypt.” In other words, the reader explains that the
broken matzah recalls the bread that
the Jews ate during their bondage in Egypt.
The identification of matzah
with the affliction in Egypt is based upon our passage in which the Torah
refers to the matzah as “bread of
affliction.”
“They baked the dough that they had taken out of
Egypt as unleavened cakes, for it had not leavened, for they were driven out of
Egypt, and they could not tarry, and also, they had not made provisions for
themselves.” (Shemot 12:39)
In the above passage, the Torah explains that Bnai
Yisrael left Egypt in tremendous haste.
They did not have the opportunity to prepare adequately for their
journey. They could not allow their
dough to mix. Instead, they mixed the
dough and immediately baked it. The
product was unleavened cakes.
Based on this passage, the Talmud explains the
significance of the matzah. Raban Gamliel explains that the matzah recalls our redemption. He explains that at the Seder we are required to explain that the matzah we will eat is intended to remind us of the haste with which
our ancestors left Egypt.[2] His comments are based upon our passage in the Torah. The comments of Raban Gamliel are
incorporated into the Seder and read
prior to fulfilling the commandment to eat matzah.
In short, the Torah suggests two alternative
explanations for matzah. In Sefer Devarim, the Torah explains that matzah recalls our affliction in
Egypt. In Sefer Shemot, the Torah
suggests that matzah recalls that
haste of our redemption from Egypt.
Paradoxically, both of these messages are associated
with matzah during the course of the Seder.
At the opening of the Seder,
we declare that the matzah recalls
our bondage. But before eating the matzah, we read Raban Gamliel’s
interpretation of matzah. In this interpretation, the matzah is associated with the redemption
from bondage. In other words, the process
of sipur requires that we recall both our bondage and our
redemption. Both of these phenomena are
symbolized by the matzah.
We can easily understand the importance of recalling
our bondage and our redemption. The
full meaning and significance of our redemption can be fully appreciated when
we remember the bondage from which we were redeemed. However, it is odd and paradoxical that the same object – matzah – is used to symbolize both of
these elements of our experience in Egypt.
Why did the Torah not create two separate objects – each designed to
recall one of the two elements?
Sforno’s comments also address this issue. He explains that the Torah intends to
communicate a message. During their
bondage in Egypt, the Jews were oppressed by their masters. The oppression of Bnai Yisrael was
epitomized by the bread they were forced to eat. The Egyptians would not even afford their Jewish slaves the time
to bake their bread properly. They
pressured the Jews to hurriedly prepare and bake their bread. The result was unleavened matzah.
At the moment of redemption, the demoralized Egyptians urged the Jews to
hurry. Again, the bread that the Jews baked epitomized the urgency of the
Egyptians. But this urgency was not
motivated by their desire to oppress the Jews.
Instead, their urgency was motivated by panic. They could not endure another moment of suffering![3]
Sforno is explaining that the Egyptians demonstrated
urgency in two situations. In both
instances, their urgency was expressed in a similar behavior. They hastened Bnai Yisrael to prepare their
bread without allowing their dough to rise.
But in the first instance – during their oppression of the Jews – this
urgency was an expression of oppression.
In the second instance – at the moment of redemption – this urgency
expressed the complete humiliation and defeat of the Egyptians.
Sforno’s comments indicate that the urgency of the Egyptians in these two
different situations in some manner communicates a fundamental message
regarding the redemption. What is this
message?
Apparently, the miracle of the redemption from Egypt
is not merely that a nation of slaves was liberated from the oppression of the
most powerful nation in the civilized world.
But the miracle can only be fully appreciated if we recognize the total
and sudden reversal that Bnai Yisrael and the Egyptians experienced. Bnai Yisrael did not gradually achieve
liberation from oppression and freedom as the power and authority of their
masters slowly declined. Instead, in a
few months, the Jewish people emerged from a condition of abject subjugation
and tyranny into a state of total freedom.
Their masters – who once would not allow them a few moments to properly
prepare their bread – were reduced to trembling petitioners. They begged their former slaves to spare
them and to leave posthaste and end their suffering! It is this total and abrupt reversal that captures the gravity
and magnitude of the miracle of the redemption.
Still, why is matzah
used to symbolize both the severity of the oppression and the totality of the
Egyptians’ demise? Sforno is answering
this question. An illustration will
help explain this point. It is
difficult to appreciate the speed of a fastball thrown by an accomplished
pitcher. We lack a basis for comparison. But if we want to truly appreciate the
talent and skills of this pitcher, we must create a contrast. We can do this by placing on a
single-viewing screen two pitches. One
is the fastball of the professional and the other is the best effort of an accomplished
amateur. On the split screen, we can
see both pitches progress through time and over distance towards the
batter. Now, we can more fully
comprehend the remarkable speed of the professional’s pitch.
According to Sforno, the full miracle of the
redemption can only be appreciated by recognizing the totality and abruptness
of the reversal experienced by Bnai Yisrael and the Egyptians. The reversal only becomes clear when the
severity of the oppression is contrasted with the panic of the Egyptians at the
moment of redemption. But, like the two
pitches in our illustration, the contrast between the oppression and the
redemption can only be fully appreciated when they are viewed side-by-side – on
a split screen. The matzah provides this “split screen.” A single object – the matzah – captures and communicates the degree of oppression and the
total demise of the Egyptians. In matzah, the two experiences are
communicated side-by-side. This dual
symbolism within a single object eloquently communicates to us the totality and
suddenness of the redemption and thereby, the extent of the miracle of the
redemption.