Matzah: Bread of Affliction or Redemption?
by Yitzchak Falk

Ha lachma anya di achlu avahatana b’ara’a d’mitrayim - This is the poor bread which our fathers ate in the land of Egypt

This matzah which we eat - for what reason? Because the dough of our fathers did not have time to become leavened before the King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He, revealed Himself to them and redeemed them. As it says: ‘And they baked the dough which they had brought forth from Egypt into unleavened cakes, for it was not leavened, because they had been driven out of Egypt and could not tarry, and even provisions they had not prepared for themselves‘ (Shemot 12:39).

The straightforward understanding of this section of the Haggadah is that matzah represents G-d’s redemption of the Jewish people. This redemption occurred in such a hurry that the Jews did not have time to wait for their dough to rise into bread, and therefore took matzot with them when G-d took them out of Egypt. This understanding of matzah is problematic in light of the Haggadah’s earlier presentation. Is matzah the bread of affliction or redemption?

This contradiction between matzah both representing the poor slave bread of affliction, as well as the hurried redemption of the Jewish people is also alluded to within the same verse in the Torah: “...seven days you shall eat”...“matzot ‘lechem oni’ (bread of affliction), because in a haste you went out from Egypt, in order so you shall remember your going out from the land of Egypt all the days of your life” (Devarim 16:3). Rashi explains that the Torah calls matzah ‘lechem oni’ because it is bread that recalls the affliction that the Jews suffered in Egypt. In a similar vein, the Ramban explains that the Jews were living in Egypt with meager bread and he connects the Torah’s description of matzah as ‘lechem oni’ (bread of affliction) with the Haggadah’s description of matzah as ‘lachma anya’ the poor bread which our fathers ate in Egypt. However, in the same verse we see that we eat matzot “because in a haste you went out from Egypt”, this is the aspect of matzah in the second section of the Haggadah quoted above that represents G-d hurriedly taking us out of Egypt. How do we understand a verse that tells us we eat matzah, the bread of affliction, because of the hurriedness of our redemption?

Rav Hirsch explains that ‘lechem oni’ means the bread of dependence. He writes in his Haggadah (p.58): Matzah is the bread of the slave, entirely dependent upon and subjugated by others. Our oppressors denied us even the time for our dough to rise. Because of the heavy burden the taskmaster paced upon us, we were unable to prepare our bread properly; for fear of the lash, we were compelled to bake it hurriedly. Therefore we still refer to the matzah as ‘the bread of dependence which our fathers ate in the land of Egypt.’ This, then is the meaning of the Torah commandment, ‘...seven days you shall eat unleavend bread, the bread of dependence...’ (Devarim 16:3). The Torah continues: ‘...for in haste did you come forth out of the land of Egypt, so that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life’ (ibid.). It was in a hurry too that we left Egypt, and our entire departure therefore bore the mark of hipazon, ‘being hurried on.’ The hand of G-d bore down heavily on the Egyptians. In the past, they refused us a respite of even three days; now they chased us out to freedom But still they denied us the time to bake our bread properly, just as they had during the days of our slavery. In truth, even at the moment of redemption, we remained slaves. Liberation was not achieved through our own efforts - we received it from G-d through our oppressors. Our oppressors were being hurried, and so were we: they were pressed on by G-d, and we, in turn, were pressed on by them. ... This fact, that even at the moment of liberation we were subject to the will of others and forced to depart, stamps the Exodus with the seal of the Almighty and defines it as purely an act of G-d. ... (Were it not for the symbol of matzah,) Yisrael’s descendents might have regarded the event as no more than a human occurrence similar to so many events in world history, merely, a victorious revolt of our forefathers. ... The matzah, however, serves as a reminder that our forefathers were driven from Egypt, chased out in such haste that they were unable to bake proper bread.

Rav Hirsch resolves the contradiction between matzah both being lechem oni and symbolic of redemption, by defining lechem oni as the bread of dependence. Just as in Egypt as slaves the Jewish people were totally dependent on the Egyptians so too our rushed redemption show our total dependence on G-d. Rav Hirsch explains in his commentary on the Torah (Devarim 16:3) that on Pesach we “have to dedicate ourselves to our eternal mission by eating matzah showing our joyful submission under G-d’s will and guidance.”

The Maharal, in his work on Pesach, Gevurot HaShem (Ch. 36 &51) explains the symbolism of matzah from the opposite direction of Rav Hirsch. Rav Hirsch learns how to understand redemption from the description of matzah as lechem oni. The Maharal starts on the other side of tension. He learns the meaning of lechem oni from the Torah telling us that matzah symbolizes the hurried nature of redemption. For the Maharal, matzah symbolizes redemption and freedom. He explains that when the Haggada tells us that matzah is ‘lachma anya’ that our fathers ate in Egypt it refers to the first Pesach seder in Egypt, not during the period of slavery. In his commentary on the Torah (Gur Aryeh, Devarim 16:3) the Maharal explains the reason for the Jews hurried exit from Egypt in somewhat similar terms to Rav Hirsch. The hurriedness teaches us that we did not leave on our own, rather G-d took us out from Egypt with a strong hand. But as opposed to Rav Hirsch, the matzah does not come to symbolize dependence on G-d, rather for the Maharal it symbolizes freedom which is the act of G-d’s redemption itself. He explains in Gevurot Hashem that the hurriedness of the redemption from Egypt teaches us that since it is G-d who redeemed us, the whole process was not bound by time. The matzah symbolizes this divine “instantaneous” redemption by being cooked almost instantaneously when the water and flour come together Matzah is bread not bound by time.

The Maharal further explains in Gevurot Hashem, that when the Torah calls matzah ‘lechem oni’, which translates literally as bread of poverty or affliction, the meaning is really bread of simplicity. When eggs, oil or something sweet is mixed in to matzah, it is called by our sages ‘matzah ashira’, literally rich bread. Matzah made from only flour and water without yeast or any other additive is called ‘lechem oni’, literally bread of poverty or ‘lachama anya’ literally poor bread. Matzah is simple or essential bread, completely free of anything else. The Maharal qoutes as a proof from our sages in the Gemara (Shabbat 79a ) that the meaning of matzah is something simple. This Gemara calls a totally unworked animal hide matzah. The Maharal explains that the physical world is a world of complexity, in which things are dependent and interconnected with each other. The spiritual world is characterized by simplicity and independence. Redemption and freedom come from connection to the essential truths of the spiritual world, therefore, G-d commanded the Jewish people to eat matzah at the Pesach seder in Egypt. They tasted their upcoming freedom and redemption from the slavery of Egypt through the eating of this simple and essential bread. When that redemption took place it was in a hurry, in a process above time, forcing them to once again make matzah, spiritual bread which is free of the constraints of this world. For the Maharal, matzah represents the freedom that comes from being deeply connected to G-d’s essential truths.

According to Rav Hirsch matzah symbolizes dependence, first on the Egyptians when we were slaves, and then on G-d, when we were redeemed. The mitzvah of eating matzah on Pesach teaches us therefore to be humble and recognize our dependence on G-d. According to the Maharal matzah symbolizes freedom, therefore the mitzvah of eating matzah on Pesach teaches us that freedom and redemption come from our clarity and attachment to G-d’s essential truths. The Shem miShmuel in his Haggadah (p. 43) takes these two seemingly opposite approaches to matzah and explains that they in fact represent two sides of the same coin. He explains that the tremendous humility engendered by the slavery in Egypt was the precondition to the freedom described by the Maharal. Only through deep personal humility can a person connect with the source of real freedom. According to the Shem miShmuel, matzah is both the bread of affliction and redemption. The redemption and freedom of the Jewish people in Egypt was based upon their humility, which was the outgrowth of their affliction. So too, today the mitzvah of eating matzah teaches us as individuals and as a nation to use our difficulties to grow in humility in relation to G-d, in order to reach true freedom and redemption. Hag haMatzot kasher v’sameach.

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