The Loop

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Too much Matza?

I've had a PESACH question for years that has bothered me and today I heard an answer. Matza is both the symbol for slavery (lechem oni) and the symbol for freedom (aphikomen) . My question was. Dont we have other things we could use as symbols? Why use Matza twice? It would seem more reasonable to use something else for the aphikomen like the shank bone or a rooster tail or any thing , but not matza- that already is the symbol for slavery? The answer is that the Matza is symbollic of only one thing- slavery. We simply went from being slaves to pharoah to being slaves to Hashem. First we had to learn how to be a slave. That pharoah was very happy to teach us. Now that we know how to be slaves we can transfer that mentality to being a slave to Hashem. It is very good that Matza represents both the slavery in Eygpt and the korban peasach (aphikomen)which is a sign of our slavery to Hashem.!!!. I feel much better now. Have a great Pesach.
the DAD
PS Dr Dan Gotlib hated this vort when I told it to him at partners in torah. oh well

2 Comments:

  • Great vort, but seems to me to be contradictory to the Hagadda. The Matza indeed represents both - Yachatz reminds us of poverty, while the un-leaven part reminds us of redemption.
    I offer another possibility - Pesach is all about mixed messages of slavery & redemption - hence "HaShata Hacha, LeShana HaBa'a...". Also, this is the impetus for Ma Nishtana. After all, every chag has it's minhagim - what's the question about the Seder? The reason is the mixture of symbols for both Churban & Geula, which prompts the question.

    By Blogger Shlomo, at 11:36 PM  

  • PS - Lehcem Oni, at least in the Gmara, represents the haggada - "She
    Onim Alav Dvarim Harbe".

    By Blogger Shlomo, at 11:37 PM  

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