Passover; By Rabbi Denise L. Eger

This week we observe the holiday of freedom, Passover. Our torah portion for the Shabbat reading is a special portion for the holiday. During Pesach we read the Torah during every day of the holiday—special sections from Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers depending on the day of Passover! These recall the actual events of the Exodus, as well as the Paschal offering that used to be made on this holiday as well as the passages that reinforce that this holiday is Chag Ha-Matzot—the festival of Unleavened Bread.

All week long each time we break off a piece of Matzah or flick a crumb of Matzah away—we should recall that this simple cracker is our taste of freedom. Water and flour that did not have time to rise, the most simple of breads symbolizes one of the most complex ideals—freedom. Freedom is complex because it requires of the individual personal responsibility. Freedom is complex because it requires consideration and hope. Freedom is complex because it often runs counter to human endeavors that want to control others. And yet, I think that freedom is as basic as flour and water because humanity desires for the ability to control their own destinies.

Passover is filled with ironic contradictions. Matzah is called in our Seder celebrations Ha Lachma Anya—the bread of affliction--. This is the bread of poverty. Matzah is the bread of slaves. Yet the style of our Seder meal is built on an elite Roman banquet. We eat the bread of poverty at one of the richest celebrations of our history, people and culture.

All week long we eat Matzah in lieu of bread. The Hebrew slaves had little time to prepare for their journey. They had no time to prepare ample food or provisions. Each Seder meal is a reminder of the haste with which our ancestors had to pack up and leave. Ironically they waited four hundred years in slavery to then have to rush toward freedom with only a few hours notice.

Another irony is that the ten plagues that God brought down upon Egypt will gave way to the Ten Commandments given to Moses and all Israel.

Then the Hebrew slaves who left Egypt in haste searching for freedom go into the wilderness of Sinai and there they bind themselves freely to God at Mt. Sinai.

These ironies are not to be missed or skipped over. Instead they add to the beauty and complexity of these holy days.

So as the week of Passover unfolds and the Matzah is broken as we slaves were broken by oppression only to be made whole by our relationship with the Holy One of Blessing through mitzvot—I hope you will take time to savor some Matzah and the freedom it symbolizes and then offer your thanks and gratitude for that freedom.
Chag Sameach.

Posted by Lee at April 2, 2007 03:42 PM