“Moshe said to the people: Remember this day on which you departed from Mitzraim, from the house of of bondage, for with a strong hand Hashem removed you from here and therefore no chometz may be eaten.” (Shemos 13:3)
What’s wrong with chometz?
Since Purim we have all been immersed in the monumental task of preparing for Pesach, followed by the Yom Tov itself!
But I am left with a fundamental question: the Torah says, “Hashem removed you from Mitzraim.” Then it says, “therefore no chometz may be eaten.” What does “chometz” have to do with leaving Mitzraim?
Chometz, after all, is kosher! We eat it all year. Why does the Torah prohibit chometz for this one week? Why can’t we achieve freedom unless we give up chometz?
Let’s try to understand. Matzah is a discipline. Chometz is kosher, but it is a delicacy. When you eat matzah,you are eating solely to survive and gain the strength to serve Hashem. There is the famous saying that we should “eat to live and not live to eat.” Or, as the rebbe told his chossid, “the difference between you and me is that you make a bracha to eat, and I eat to make a bracha!”
Before leaving Mitzraim, we as a nation were in desperate condition, at Mem-Tes Sha’are Tumah, one hairsbreadth from drowning in the polluted waters. In such an emergency, enormous spiritual strength was needed to pull ourselves out of the quicksand. When your life is on the line, there is no room for luxury. It is like the proverbial case in which a mother sees her child under a car and she acquires superhuman strength for that moment to lift thousands of pounds.
I believe that is the essence of this Yom Tov. But then we have to ask: what is the relevance of matzahtoday? Why do we need to repeat this every year?
My friends, we have to know that today we are standing at Mem-Tes Sha’are Tumah! Every moment is a battle for our lives with the Satan, the Evil Inclination, the Angel of Death. We need to learn to save ourselves, because the battle is on … right now!
There is a relatively recent phenomenon in the Jewish World called the “Mussar Movement.” The Alter of Kelm, one of the three closest talmidim of Rabbi Yisroel Salanter zt”l, introduced a program of tremendous discipline into his yeshiva. Talmidim sat in front of their gemaras for hours without lifting their eyes from the page. There was silence in the bais medrash; no one was permitted to disturb others during learning or davening.
Once, the local nobleman, hosting an all-day feast for his friends, boasted about the remarkable Jewish school in his domain, where nothing could distract the students from their studies. So the entire drunken mob descended upon the yeshiva with a tremendous racket. Yet not one of the boys (some as young as twelve years old) raised his head to look. (Rabbi Dessler, Artscroll-Mesorah, page 67) The Alter himself was the epitome of self-control. He could account for his every thought at the end of the day. He would never allow himself to get angry unless he first donned a special garment set aside for that purpose (ibid p. 40).
When I first read these words, I thought that this discipline was unnecessarily severe and not suited for normal people. But, as time has passed and I have witnessed my own lack of discipline, I understand that the spiritual discipline of the disciples of the Mussar Movement is not only appropriate for our time, but in fact necessary.
How does one keep his head in the midst of world chaos?
We, like our ancient ancestors in Mitzraim, are in mortal danger from the impure society which surrounds us and threatens to explode like a volcano! At a time like this, extreme discipline is necessary, not only to shield us from the poisonous atmosphere which surrounds us, but also to help us discern a path to survival when the volcano explodes, just as our ancestors survived the catastrophic destruction of Mitzraim.
The lessons of chometz and Mitzraim are lifesaving emergency measures which are needed to save us right now. This is the chessed of the Torah and the brilliance of our gadolim which Hashem has given us to survive in the world of tumah which surges around us, threatening our lives.
“It is a tree of life to those who grasp it.…” (Mishlei 3:18)
Thus, the Haggadah tells us, “b’chol dor v’dor…. In every generation, each person is obligated to see himself as if he had participated in the Exodus from Egypt.” Each year Pesach comes to show us that, just as we were saved in Ancient Mitzraim, we can also be saved in our current Mitzraim!
“A staff will grow from the stump of Yishai and a shoot will sprout from his roots…. And it will be on that day that my L-rd will again show His strength to acquire the remnant of His people …. He will raise a banner … and assemble the castaways of Israel and gather the dispersed ones of Yehuda from the four corners of the earth.” (Yeshia 11:1 ff; Haftara, last day of Pesach) May we see it soon in our days!
GLOSSARY
Chessed: kindness
Chometz: leavened bread, what we eliminate on Passover
Chossid: follower of a rebbe
Gadolim: great rabbis
Matzah: the unleavened bread we eat on Passover
Mem-Tes Sha’are tumah: 49th level of impurity
Mitzraim: Ancient Egypt
Pesach: Passover
Rebbe: Torah teacher, or specifically the leader of a Chassidic group
Talmidiim: students
Tumah: impurity
Yishai: the father of King David, progenitor of Moshiach
