Why do we eat matzah on Pesach?

[Tag-MehirTzedek]

Why do we eat matzah on Pesach? It's a very basic, simple and obvious question, so it should have a very basic, simple and obvious answer, right?

The usual answer is that the Torah commands us to eat matzah on Pesach in commemoration of the Bnei Yisrael rushing out of Egypt so quickly that their dough did not have time to rise. But why would this make it so very important? And is that really the straightforward understanding of what the Torah says? It might come from combining two pesukim which are not necessarily to be combined.

In Devarim 16:3, we have the following passuk:

You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat matzos, the bread of affliction; for in haste (chipazon) did you come forth out of the land of Egypt; that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
The usual assumption is that the mention of "haste" is a reference to the pessukim in Shemos 12:33-34 talking about how the Bnei Yisrael rushed out of Egypt without time for their dough to rise:

"And the Egyptians were urging upon the people, to send them out of the land in haste; for they said: 'We are all dead men.' And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders."
But the word chipazon, which appears later with regard to matzos, does not appear in these pessukim. Instead, it appears earlier, in Shemos 12:11, before the end of the plagues, with regard to the korban Pesach:

"And thus shall you eat it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste--it is a Passover to G-d."
A few verses later, we have the commandment that on Pesach we must eat matzah and there may be no chametz in our houses. But the tenth plague, and the Bnei Yisrael rushing out, hasn't happened yet!

Of course, one could say that G-d commanded it knowing what would happen. But then why is there no mention of that? Furthermore, way back in Bereishis 19:3, Lot serves matzos to the angels. Rashi says it was Pesach, and a very non-rationalist person in a book entitled Seasons of Life claims that "the observance of Pesach is based on the spiritual powers in force at that time of year," and "matzah is representative of certain metaphysical forces in effect at that time." But the idea of Lot observing Pesach and serving matzah to his guests is reminiscent of a certain video involving bear-dogs. Is there a more rationalist explanation?

The answer to all these questions is quite simple. And it provides an example of academic scholarship enhancing the Torah rather than challenging it.

Put very simple, the answer is this: Bread, of the chametz variety, is an Egyptian invention.

In Canaan, the lifestyle was a nomadic society of shepherds. The bread that they ate was matzah - of course, not the hard Ashkenazi crackers, but the original, somewhat softer, pita-like matzah. (Which is why Lot served it to his guests.)

Egypt, on the other hand, was a land of farming, which despised the nomadic lifestyle. As Yosef advises his brothers to tell Pharaoh: "You should answer, 'Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.' Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians." The Egyptians had mastered the art of leavening bread, which was unknown to those from Canaan (which may be why Potiphar entrusted everything to Yosef except baking bread - see Bereishis 43:32). Baking leavened bread was of tremendous importance in Egypt - that is why there was a sar ha-ofim, a royal baker. There is a list presented by Rameses III which has an amazing variety of breads. But shepherds didn't and don't eat such things - they roam around free, without the burden of heavy ovens and without waiting around for bread to rise.

And so the prohibition against eating leavened bread on Pesach is so very important because it is a way of demonstrating that we left Egypt, the land known for its leavened bread, and we became free, like nomads, to travel to the Promised Land.

For more on all this, see this article from Neot Kedumim, and also this article and this one.

(see link below - origional post) to link of other articles)

http://www.rationalistjudaism.com/2012/04/why-do-we-eat-matzah-plus-more-on-bear.html

[muman613]

This explanation opposes the simple explanation that the Jews ate Matzah while slaves in Egypt, not leavened bread as the article you posted suggests.

http://www.aish.com/h/pes/h/48968866.html

We raise the matzah to announce that we are going to re-live the experience of the Jews in Egypt. Try to imagine: What was it like being a slave in Egypt?
Matzah represents two things: the food of our slavery, and the food we ate in our haste to leave Egypt. The Haggadah begins by referring to matzah as "the bread of affliction" ― the food of slavery.

Why does "food" recall the slavery experience? Of all that is bad about servitude, lack of ability to travel, harsh treatment, and lack of privacy would all seem to be worse problems than food. When recalling slavery in 19th century America, do we usually focus on the fact they had terrible food?! How can we as Jews, who know what it means to suffer, point to matzah and say, "That's how bad Egypt was"?

Furthermore, it is surprising that the Egyptians fed the Jews matzah. Matzah was more difficult for the Egyptians to make. Flour and water will naturally rise to make bread if you leave it but a few minutes. If the Egyptians gave the Jews matzah to eat ― as opposed to bread ― it was because they made a conscious effort to do so.

Furthermore, slaves are valuable as a work force, and a worker is only as good as the food he eats. His food needs to be nourishing if he is to stay healthy and strong. But matzah does not seem to fit this bill. Clearly, if a slave is being fed matzah, it is because the master does not the slave to be strong ― he only wants the slave to survive.

SURVIVAL FOR THE SAKE OF SURVIVAL?

The job of the Jews in Egypt was to build storehouses. Storehouses store grain. Grain makes matzah. The Jews ate the matzah so they could work. Their work was building storehouses.... The cycle of production and consumption had no ultimate goal. The oppression of Egypt was meaninglessness.

A human being can endure all manners of suffering if he believes there is some meaning to it. If he appreciates the true meaning of life and focuses on life's ultimate purpose, then he can even survive the Holocaust.

But what about the person who has no real purpose for living? What if he instead invents some "make-believe" purpose? In that case, all shades of delusion are possible, none more sensible than any other. That is why we see some people living to collect beer bottles, some to hit a baseball the farthest, and some to dine at Europe's finest restaurants. The simplest "purpose" is to live for a good meal. That's called "living to eat." And typically, that is the lifestyle of a slave. Can anything be more crushing than the realization that one's whole existence is only to feed the body?

This is what the Egyptians wished to make out of the Jews.

But the Egyptian plan backfired. Because it was that very matzah that kept the Jews focused and clear. When the slave's food is as tasteless as matzah, he can have no delusions of purpose. He knows he is not living for the pleasure of eating, only for the energy that food gives him.

What about our lives today and the "tasty food" we consume? That taste comes in many forms ― not only a good meal, but also a fancy car and a promising career. In essence, we may not be living for anything more meaningful than does the slave. The slave merely finds it harder to delude himself into believing he is living for a greater purpose, since he lacks the distractions of tasty food.
The Haggadah poses the question: Could we survive on matzah all year round ― or do we need "taste" to keep a delusion alive?

Moving Beyond Ego
Rabbi Tom Meyer

This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.

We see right at the start that matzah is the central symbol of Passover. Why? Most people would say because the Jews were rushed out of Egypt so fast that the bread didn't have time to rise. The Torah even says that the Egyptians pushed the Jews out quickly.

But there's one problem. If you say that the reason for matzah is because the Jews rushed out, then why didn't they leave Egypt until the morning after the Seder?! And guess what they ate at the Seder? Matzah! So if the whole symbol of matzah is because the next morning they rushed out so fast, how come they ate matzah the night before?

Because matzah was already a symbol, and rushing out the next morning was a continuation of that symbol.

First, let's understand why matzah is the central lesson of Passover. Matzah is the most simple, essential form of bread you can have. If you let 18 minutes pass when you're kneading a dough, or if you add yeast to dough, then it starts to leaven ― i.e. it puffs up.

This puffing up ― the rising which the yeast produces ― symbolizes a person's own inflation with himself. A central concept of freedom is "pulling back from the ego." Of course this doesn't mean you should never have ego ― because we know that the rest of the year we are allowed to eat regular bread! But Passover provides a point where we get back to basics, to what we really want without all the additives and superficialities.

Matzah teaches that to really be in control of yourself, you need to know what you want – straight, without the luxuries. This doesn't mean luxuries are wrong in and of themselves. If you know that you don't need two beautiful new cars, and you know that you could get along with one older car if you had to, and you know that your children are much more important than any car ― then it's no problem having two beautiful new cars, because everything will be in perspective.

On the other hand, what if the cars take on such importance that when your child gets a little mud on the car you go berserk. If we feel that the additives and superficialities are essential to our lives, then that obscures everything. Our ego gets in the way and we lose sight of what really counts.

Passover is all about breaking free of that. Matzah says you've got to get back to essentials. Focus on what really counts.

That's why the first thing we do at the Seder table is hold up the matzah and say, "This is the bread that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt." They ate matzah because when you're in the land of Egypt, when you're in jail, the only way out is to know what really counts. What's our "jail?" Ego and bodily desires. That's what has us trapped.

Jewish tradition says to burn your remaining chametz on the morning before the Seder. Some people have the custom to write down a list of their character flaws and throw it into the flames. The idea is that on Passover, we want to completely rid ourselves of all "chametz," to move beyond our ego and to be rid of that confinement forever.
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