Page 16 - HaMizrachi #8 Pesach

Rav Kook's Teachings

Rabbi Chanan Morrison

The Hillel Sandwich

ogether or separate? The Sages With a clean slate, lacking any national Israel and our natural love for G-d and
disagreed on how one should character of their own, a holy character Torah. This innate character enables us
T eat the matzah and maror at the could then be imprinted on Israel’s to overcome desires that do not concur
Passover Seder. national soul. This is part of the matzah with our elevated goals. It is through our
metaphor: it lacks any shape and taste persistence and dedication to the overall
The Talmud in Berachot 49a admonishes of its own, so that the desired form and goal that we reveal our inner resources of
us not to perform mitzvot ‘bundled flavor may be properly imposed upon it. freedom.
together.’ We do not want to give the
impression that mitzvot are an unwanted The Message of Maror Both of these traits, freedom and
burden, an obligation to discharge as servitude, need to be free to act without
quickly as possible. Thus the majority Maror is the opposite of matzah; its interference from one another. When a
opinion is that the two mitzvot of eating bitterness is a symbol of servitude. But spirit of freedom and independence is
matzah and maror should be performed even servitude may have a positive value. appropriate, it should not be constrained
separately. An individual wants to become a doctor by a servile attitude; and when discipline
must spend many years in medical and a sense of duty are needed, they
Hillel’s custom was to place the Pesach school to achieve this goal. The long should not be disrupted by a desire
offering and the maror inside the matzah years of concentrated effort require great for freedom. Thus, according to the
and eat them together like a sandwich. dedication and discipline. These years
Why? are a form of servitude, but a servitude majority opinion, we should eat matzah
and maror separately, indicating that
that advances one’s final goal, and thus is each trait should be expressed to its
Matzah and Freedom ultimately a true expression of freedom.
fullest.
To understand Hillel’s opinion, we This idea may also be applied to the However, the ultimate goal is attained
must first examine the significance of Jewish people. Our souls are ingrained only when we recognize that these two
matzah and maror. Matzah is a symbol with a Divine nature, but we suffer from forces do not contradict one another.
of freedom. True freedom means the character imperfections that prevent
opportunity to grow and develop us from realizing our inner nature. For Together they present the highest
according to one’s inner nature and this reason we accept upon ourselves a freedom, whose nobility and power is
natural gifts, without interference or pleasant form of servitude, the service of fully revealed when it wears the crown
coercion from outside influences. This G-d. We acquired this ability in Egypt. of lofty servitude — the service of the
freedom is symbolized by matzah, This is slavery’s positive contribution — Holy King, a service that is freedom in
a simple food consisting solely of it teaches one to accept the deferment of its purest state.
flour and water, unaffected by other immediate desires and short-term goals. Thus Hillel would eat matzah and
ingredients and chemical processes. maror together. He sought to emphasize
This is the central message of maror:
To form the Jewish people as a holy acceptance of life’s bitter aspects, with that freedom and slavery are not
nation, their national character needed the knowledge that this resolve will contradictory concepts. Generally, the
to be independent of all foreign allow us to attain higher objectives. For quality of servitude belongs more to
influences. They left Egypt free from this reason, we eat the maror only after the preparatory stage; but in the overall
the spiritual baggage of Egyptian eating the matzah — only after we have picture, the two forces are interrelated,
culture. Thus, in preparation of bringing clarified our ultimate goals. complementing one another to attain
the Passover offering, they were the final goal.
commanded to “draw out and take for Discipline and Freedom (Silver from the Land of Israel. Adapted from
yourselves sheep” (Exodus 12:21). What Olat Re’iyah vol. II, pp. 287-289)
does it mean to ‘draw out’? The Midrash Now we may better understand the
explains that they needed to remove any disagreement between Hillel and the Rabbi Chanan Morrison is the author of
affinity to Egyptian idolatry from within other sages. Freedom, as symbolized by several books on Rav Kook's writings
themselves. matzah, reveals the inherent holiness of www.RavKookTorah.org

16 Background illustration of Rav Kook courtesy of www.gedolimcanvas.com