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The Matzah of Redemption

Rabbi Dr. Leonard A. Matanky

he matzah that is the center- offering to share our meal with those less prophet Yirmiyahu said so many years
piece of the Pesach Seder leads fortunate as a sign of solidarity and love later: ןֹוׂש ָש ְל ם ָל ְב ֶא י ִּ ת ְכ ַפ ָה ְו, “for I will turn
ׂ
a “double life.” On the one hand for other Jews (An Exalted Evening, 26). their mourning into joy, and will comfort
Tit is יִנֹוע ם ֶח ֶל, the “bread of afflic- During these factionalized and fractious them, and make them rejoice from their
tion”; on the other hand, it is a symbol of sorrow” (Yirmiyahu 31:12). G-d transforms
G-d’s hurried salvation of our people – יִּ כ times, when debates are heated and lines what was a symbol of mourning into a
are drawn too broadly, this is an import-
םִי ַר ְצ ִמ ץ ֶר ֶא ֵמ ָתא ָצָי ןֹוז ָּ פ ִח ְב, “for with haste you ant lesson to remember. Today more than symbol of joy.
left the land of Egypt” (Devarim 16:3).
ever, our people must remember that the This too is a lesson to remember, that no
But how can it be both? path to redemption will be paved through matter the troubles we face – whether
unity – when we can sit together at the internal strife or external dangers – ulti-
According to the Maharal it isn’t. In his same table and share in a matzah, just mately, G-d will protect and redeem us,
view, matzah is all about ה ָּ לּוא ְּג, redemption as the four sons who disagreed could sit and transform those troubles into good-
– a statement that no matter how bleak
and difficult life may be, G-d is with us together at their Seder. What we have in ness and greatness.
common far outweighs whatever differ-
and will redeem us.
ences we have.
But what about the identification of
matzah as poor man’s bread? And yet, while this is true, I’m not willing
to set aside the dual message of afflic-
Maharal writes that יִנֹוע ם ֶח ֶל is merely the tion and redemption – the י ִנֹוע ם ֶח ֶל and
name we give for the type of matzah we the ןֹוז ָּ פ ִח, the haste with which we were
eat at the Seder, as opposed to egg matzah, redeemed from Egypt.
which we call ה ָרי ִ ׁש ֲע ה ָ ּצ ַמ, “rich matzah” Therefore, consider a different explana- Rabbi Dr. Leonard A. Matanky,
(Gevurot Hashem 51). PhD, is co-president of the Religious
tion of Rabbi Ovadiah Seforno who taught Zionists of America, rabbi of
This adds a further dimension to a teach- that both aspects of matzah are critical to Congregation K.I.N.S of West Rogers Park,
ing of HaRav Joseph B. Soloveitchik. The understanding the Exodus. Because our and head of school of Ida Crown Jewish
Rav explained that while many of the Jews redemption was a function of our enslave- Academy. He is a board member of World
were slaves in Egypt, some, like the tribe ment, we were saved quickly, ֹותֹוא ת ַרּומ ְּ ת Mizrachi, an honorary governor of the
of Levi, were well-to-do and free. Never- יִנֹוע ָה ןֹוז ָּ פ ִח – “corresponding to the many Orthodox Union, and past president of
theless, the bread they ate and the bread years of slavery when we had to prepare the Rabbinical Council of America.
they shared with the less fortunate was our food quickly.” That, he explained, Join me at the
matzah. Not because they were all poor or is the nature of redemption, as the World Orthodox Israel Congress
Est. 1902
enslaved, but because that’s what they orthodoxisraelcongress.org 120 YEARS OF RELIGIOUS ZIONISM
ate. And to remember their
sharing, we begin
our Seder by

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