Hagada Insights and Highlights
from Rabbi Samuel Shor
One of the most interesting traditions associated with the Seder night is the segment of Yachatz - the breaking of the middle matza in two, and hiding away the larger portion to be used later in the evening as the afikoman- the last bit of the many symbolic foods we consume at the Seder table.
This custom always puzzled me. Many people have the custom to use hand-made shmura matza at the Seder. This handmade matza is quite costly; indeed people often look through several boxes to select the box of matzot with the nicest, most complete individual pieces. So how can it be that one of the first things we do on the Seder night, one of the initial symbolic acts, one of the simanei haHagada, rituals outlined by the Hagada text, is the custom to break the middle of the three matzot in two and then hide a piece away for later in the evening?
Indeed in his important commentary on the Hagada, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, the Chief Rabbi of Beit El, and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Ateret Cohanim in Jerusalem�s Old City poses essentially the same question:
�What is the meaning of this strange, yet somehow symbolic act?�
Rav Aviner offers several insights in answering this question.
The Sefat Emet, the Rebbe, Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter of Ger, explains that the exodus from Egypt sets the stage, preparing the Jewish people for all subsequent experiences of redemption that have followed throughout our history until we arrive at our final redemption, the era of shalom and shleimut, of peace and wholeness that has yet to arrive, which remains hidden from us.
The great Kabbalist, the Maharal, Rabbi Yehuda Loew of Prague writes that hidden within the symbolic recollection of our departure from Egypt, lies the secrets of the Geula shleima- to the future ultimate redemption of Israel.
Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, in his epic work Orot, wrote:
�HaGeula nimshechet hi v�holechet. Geulat Mitzrayim, v�Geulat haatid hashleima hi peulat achat she�eina poseket, peulat hayad hachazaka, vhazeroa netuya, asher hechela bemitzrayim, v�hi poelet et peuloteha b�chol hamesibot...�
�The redemption continues and is on-going. The redemption from Egypt and the complete redemption of the future are one unending action: the action of G-d�s �strong hand and outstretched arm,� which began in Egypt and continues to work through all eventualities...�
According to Rav Kook, the process of Geula, of the redemption of Israel, is an on-going process, a work in progress that began with the exodus from Egypt, and as the Sefat Emet explained weaves its path throughout the many trials and tribulations of Jewish History, as part of that on-going journey to our destiny, the complete redemption of the future. Thus on the Seder night as the matza lies broken before us, and the afikoman is hidden away for the conclusion of the Seder yet to come, we celebrate that the process of Geula is well underway. Throughout Jewish History, even during periods of great anguish, when things seemed so broken like the matza that lies on the table before us, Jews have gathered to recall that the process which began with Yetziat Mitzrayim is a work in progress.
Each Pesach, we celebrate that our journey toward ultimate liberty continues, just as the Rabbis who gathered until the morning light in Bnai Brak during the Roman occupation did. Similarly there are so many powerful stories of Sedarim being held from Bergen- Belsen to the Soviet Gulag, of Jews gathering together in the darkest of circumstances to find strength in knowing that the redemption of Israel is underway, even as their matza lay broken before them and their circumstances seemed so bleak.
And so we see that matza plays a significant role in our Seder experience. Matza serves to remind us that we are creeping closer to the fulfillment of the Divine promise of complete redemption, toward arriving at the manifest destiny of Klal Yisrael. But is this the only message inherent in the unleavened loaves we call Matza?
Immediately following the breaking of the middle matza, we begin the Magid portion of the Seder. We begin to tell the tale, to demonstrate and recall the various events leading up to and surrounding the Exodus from Egypt. The Magid begins with the following Aramaic statement:
�Ha Lachma Anya Di Achalu Avahatana B�Ara DiMitzrayim...�
�This is the Bread of Affliction that our ancestors ate in the Land of Egypt.�
From this statement, one might conclude that matza is meant to symbolize the bread that our ancestors consumed in Egyptian servitude, their daily slaves� ration of simple unleavened bread.
However, later in the Hagada text we read this quote from the Mishna, Tractate Pesachim:
�Rabban Gamliel haya omer kol shelo amar shelosha devarim elu b�Pesach, lo yatza yidei chovato. V�eilu hein: Pesach, Matza, uMaror...Matza sheanu ochlim al shum ma? Al shum shelo hispik bitzeikom shel avoteinu lehachmitz, ad shenigla aleihem melech malchei hamlachim, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, ugealam. Sheneemar (Shemot, Perek yud bet, pasuk lamed tet): � Vayofu et habatzeik asher hotziu miMitzrayim ugot matzot ki lo chametz, ki gorshu mimitzrayim, velo yochlu lihitmamea, v�gam tzeida lo asu lahem...��
�Rabban Gamliel said: Anyone who does not discuss three things during the Pesach Seder, does not fulfill their obligation. And these things are the Paschal Sacrifice, Matza, and bitter herbs...Matza which we eat for what reason? Because there wasn�t sufficient time for the loaves of our ancestors to become leavened before G-d revealed himself unto them and redeemed them. As the verse states (Shemot 12: 39): �And they baked unleavened loaves of the dough which they brought forth from Egypt, for it did not rise as they were brought forth from Egypt in great haste, and could not tarry, nor were any other provisions prepared in advance...��
In other words, the Torah, and subsequently Rabban Gamliel, attributes the significance of matza as the symbolic recollection of the unleavened bread baked from the dough that did not have sufficient time to rise as the Jewish People were suddenly �sprung� from hundreds of years of bondage in Egypt.
So, we are left with an apparent contradiction. The Magid begins with the opening words-
�Ha Lachma Anya, Di Achalu Avahata B�Ara DiMitzrayim,�
�This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the Land of Egypt...�
While Rabban Gamliel cites the verse in Shemot, which states that Matza was bread our ancestors were to bake as they were preparing to leave Egypt, but had to bake before the dough actually had risen, as G-d suddenly brought us forth from Egypt.
Given this apparent contradiction, might Matza represent another important secret, another pedagogical message that needs to be communicated as part of the Seder experience?
The Talmud (Pesachim 115 b) introduces two potential explanations for the expression Ha Lachma Anya. Either this means actually lechem oni- the bread of poverty, or the slaves� rations we introduced earlier; or alternatively �lechem sheonim alav devarim harbay�-�Bread that we will speak many words regarding...�
With this alternative definition introduced by the Talmud, we can now better understand the role that matza plays in the Seder drama. The significance of matza is that of visual aid, a pedagogical tool which serves simultaneously as symbolic food recalling the slaves� rations our ancestors consumed in Egypt; as well as the loaves that Am Yisrael was forced to bake prematurely before the dough had fully risen as they quickly were brought forth from Egypt. Lastly yachatz, the broken and hidden piece of matza represents the secret of Jewish survival, that the ongoing march to the final redemption began with our departure from Egypt, and continues as a work in progress. Along that journey, even in the darkest moments in history, Jews have found strength, inspiration and even joy in the ultimate freedom represented by that broken piece of matza.
It�s interesting to note that the Hebrew word for moving forward is kadima, from the root kedem- meaning the past. In order to move forward and truly grow, we must reflect upon and learn the lessons of our history. Each year on the Seder night, as we reflect on the challenges and pain of our past, we keep our eyes focused on the light at the end of the tunnel, that ultimate future joy that is our destiny, yet at this time remains distant and hidden from us.
The pedagogic role that matza plays each Pesach, may also serve as a powerful paradigm for contemporary Jewish education. To many contemporary Jews, Judaism seems irrelevant, outdated, unsophisticated and uninspiring. In an age of intellectual and professional accomplishment, far too many Jews are still only aware of a very elementary approach to Jewish wisdom.
In order for contemporary Jewish education to continue to inspire the next generation of Jews, in order for our collective journey to march forward, we must look to the lessons, wisdom and secrets of our past, the relevant messages and profound comfort that a traditional Jewish education has provided throughout history. Isralight works to share this ancient wealth of knowledge, making centuries old fundamental ideas accessible and relevant; producing curriculum, and training a new generation of educators prepared to communicate these fundamentals- to join together the secrets of our past with the promise of our future.
May this be the year when each of us tastes that ultimate afikoman, that matza of ultimate freedom, joy, peace and fulfillment for all mankind.