Subject: Pesach 5758 - "Obliterating All Chametz"
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 23:56:07 +0000
To: "Parasha-Page List"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
From: Mordecai Kornfeld <kornfeld@netvision.net.il>
To: Intriguing glimpses into the weekly Torah reading and Jewish holidays <parasha-page@virtual.co.il>
Subject: Pesach 5758 - "Obliterating All Chametz"
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The Weekly Internet
P * A * R * A * S * H * A - P * A * G * E
--- ---
by Mordecai Kornfeld
of Har Nof, Yerushalayim
(kornfeld@virtual.co.il)
============================================================
In grateful appreciation of David J. Berlove of Cambridge, Massachusetts,
for his generous contribution towards the production of the Parasha-Page.
*** Novel PASSOVER INSIGHTS can be found in Rabbi Kornfeld's "Torah
From The Internet," pp. 116-121, and pp. 64, 71, 147 and 278. ***
============================================================
PESACH 5758
OBLITERATING ALL CHAMETZ
On the eve of the fourteenth [day of Nisan], one searches for
Chametz (fermented dough) to the light of a candle.
(Mishnah, Pesachim 2a)
On the eve of the fourteenth year of a person's life [i.e.,
immediately after his Bar Mitzvah], he should search his heart for
spiritual decay to the light of his newly acquired Just
Inclination.
(Alscheich, Shemot 12:13)
According to Chazal, a person acquires an Inclination to do good at
age 13 -- as opposed to the Evil Inclination, which is with a person from
birth [Rashi Kohelet 4:13, Sanhedrin 91b]. The soul is often referred to as
a candle (Mishlei 20:27) and from its flame shines the light of the former,
which can conquer and subdue a person's uncontrolled, worldly impulses.
Harav Moshe Alscheich (Tzefat, ~1550) finds an allusion to this in the
Mishnah which starts Masechet Pesachim. Purging Chametz can be
allegorically interpreted as purging the effects of the Evil Inclination.
Interestingly, the Gemara itself hints rather plainly to this
comparison: Three verses are cited as the collective source for the
practice of searching for Chametz "to the light of a candle": (1) "A
person's soul is Hashem's candle, which searches through the depths of the
person's heart" (Mishlei 20:27); (2) "On The Day [of Judgment], I shall
search Yerushalayim [for its sins] with candles" (Tzefanyah 1:12); (3) "And
[Yosef's messenger] searched the sacks of the brothers [for stolen
goods]... until it was found" (Bereishit 44:12). Clearly, the search for
Chametz is akin to soul-searching and probing for signs of sin.
II
Chametz, in fact, is a common metaphor for sin (Berachot top of
17a, Rosh Hashanah end of 3b; Chinuch #117). Specifically, the bloating and
souring which occurs during the leavening process suggests arrogance, as
opposed to the lowly, bland Matzah, which is suggestive of humility.
This symbolism is incorporated into the very words themselves. As
Alscheich points out, the Hebrew words for Chametz and Matzah contain
nearly the same letters. Each shares two letters with the other; the
difference between the two is in their third letter. While Chametz is
spelled with a Mem, Tzadi and *Chet*, Matzah is spelled with a Mem, Tzadi
and *Heh*. Chet and Heh are both three-sided letters; however, the left leg
of the Heh rises only part of the way to its roof while the left leg of the
Chet meets its roof (just like the right leg).
According to the Gemara in Menachos (29b), Hashem created the
physical world with a Heh, which is entirely open on bottom, "so that
whoever wants to leave, can drop out." Although the same is true of the
letter Ches, Hashem chose specifically the Heh, because it has another
opening (at the upper left), "so that when a person repents, [Hashem raises
him and] he returns through the second opening." Ches, then, symbolizes
that Hashem "lowers the arrogant," who drop from the world in a spiritual
sense, while Heh symbolizes that Hashem "raises the humble" to a point from
which they can return to His good graces. Similarly Chametz represents
arrogance and sin ("The Evil Inclination... the lust for honor... *remove a
person from this world*" [Avot 2:11; 4:21]), while Matzah ("*Heh* Lachma
Anya," as the texts of Kabalistic Hagadot read) exemplifies humility and
modesty. (Alscheich, ibid.)
Perhaps the remaining two letters, Mem and Tzadi, are supposed to
spell the root "MaTZa" ("find" -- the Hebrew root also contains a silent
Alef, but the Alef may be omitted for exegetical purposes, cf. Rema, OC
583:2). The Gemara (Berachot 8a) tells us that the conjugation of the root
MaTZa can give it opposite connotations. It can either be "Matza" (he
found/finds), as in the verse "He who finds a woman finds good" (Mishlei
18:22), or it can be "Motze" (find), as in the verse "I find the woman to
be more bitter than death." (Kohelet 7:26). The 'woman' here is a person's
ideology and relationship to Torah (Rashi Mishlei ibid. and 31:10, Kohelet
ibid., see also Berachot ibid.). One who respects and studies the Torah of
Hashem will find eternal good, while one who scoffs it and rejects it will
suffer a fate more bitter than death. This philosophy is reflected in a
statement elsewhere in the Talmud: "Woe is to the students who study the
Torah but have no fear of heaven.... For one who trusts in it, it is an
elixir of life, while for one who does not, the Torah is a deathly toxin
(Yoma 72b, Shabbat 88b).
The "Ches" and "Heh" mediate whether a person will "find" in the
Torah death ("more bitter than death," "a deathly toxin") or life ("eternal
good," "an elixir of life").
III
When the Beis ha'Mikdash was standing, Matzah was eaten together
with Maror (bitter herbs) and the Korban Pesach (the Pascal lamb), as the
Torah prescribes (Shemot 12:8). The Chatam Sofer (Hagaon Rav Moshe Sofer of
Frankfurt, ~1850, in Pesachim 116a) explains that the Hebrew letters of the
word Maror have the same numerical value as the word "Mavet," or death. The
bitter Maror represents the Evil Inclination, which leads people to a fate
"more bitter than death." There flows within Maror's arteries a venomous,
harmful substance (Rashi Pesachim 115b -- note that the substance is called
"Kafa" in Aramaic, a word which also can mean "floating up," indicative of
arrogance). According to the Talmud, when Maror grows from the ground it is
soft, but eventually it grows hard as wood (Pesachim 39a). Similarly, "the
[temptations of the] Evil Inclination originally appear to a person like
spider webs, but eventually they grow as tough as the ropes of a chariot"
(Sanhedrin 99b).
The above observations of the Chatam Sofer add to our overall
picture of the Mitzvah of eating Matzah. Maror is an allusion to the Evil
Inclination and shrugging off the yoke of heaven. The Korban Pesach, on the
other hand, expresses repentance and subordination to Hashem's decrees --
the Jewish Nation, who had fallen into the snare of idol-worship during
their long exile in Egypt, were told, "withdraw your hands from
idol-worship by taking a sheep for the Korban Pesach" (Rashi Shemot 12:6).
By slaughtering sheep -- god of the Egyptian gentiles -- to serve Hashem,
they were pronouncing their unwavering faith and trust in Hashem.
Along with Maror and Korban Pesach, we eat Matzah. Matzah reminds
us that Hashem's salvation can come at any moment, and that His watchful
eye will always protect us, His children. When eaten properly, Matzah
transforms the bitter Maror (which would otherwise result in "Motze" and
the "Chet" of Chametz) into the repentance and valid ideology of Pesach (or
"Matza," and the "Heh" of Matzah). It turns a deathly toxin into the tree
of life!
***********************************************************************
To: (IL/ROOT & BRANCH ASSOCIATION, LTD.), rb@rb.org.il
From: "Root & Branch Association, Ltd."<rbranch@netvision.net.il>
Subject: ROOT & BRANCH INFORMATION SERVICES - SHABBAT SHALOM: PASSOVER
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
ROOT & BRANCH INFORMATION SERVICES - SHABBAT SHALOM: PASSOVER
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
EFRAT, ISRAEL, April 8, 1998, Root & Branch: Passover lasts for seven
days (eight in the Diaspora), but preparing for it is a major
undertaking, requiring weeks and, in the case of handmade "shmurah"
matzot, months of arduous preparation. Because of the strict laws
prohibiting a Jew from harboring any product with even a scintilla of
leavening (hametz) in his/her possession during the festival, no
effort is considered too great to turn the house, the car, the office
- wherever it is that food stuffs are likely to be - into hametz-free
zones.
In many ways, Passover brings about a mini-revolution within the
Jewish home - requiring much energetic hard work, or "avodah."
The Seder (literally "order"), the special ceremony conducted in every
home on the first evening (in the diaspora first two evenings) of the
holiday, is the focus of all this arduous preparation - and the very
first seder in history was the Pascal Sacrificial Meal on the night of
the Israelite exodus from Egypt. What keeps the events of the Seder
focused is our reliance on the Haggadah, literally "a retelling", but
in actuality a compendium of Rabbinic blessings, songs and tales,
Biblical verses and Talmudic commentaries, which relate to the
servitude in and exodus from Egypt.
Although there are many fascinating and familiar parts of the
Haggadah, one of the universal favorites is a description of four
prototypical children, and the responses suggested for each of their
questions: the wise child, the wicked child, the naive child, and the
child who does not even know to ask.
I would like to specifically address the nature of the question
attributed, by the compiler of the haggadah, to the wicked child:
what exactly makes it wicked, and why is he as he is. In the Haggadah
text we read the following: "The wicked child asks, 'What is the
meaning of this service to you!' Saying you, he excludes himself, and
because he excludes himself from the group, he denies a basic
principle of our faith. You in turn should set his teeth on edge and
say to him: 'It is because of this, that the Eternal did for me when I
came forth from Egypt.'
For me and not for him; had he been there, he would not have been
redeemed."
It is important to note that the questions of each of the children are
direct Biblical quotes, since the Torah suggests that the younger
generation is likely to ask specific things and the Torah prescribes
an appropriate response for each of the anticipated queries. The
Bible itself, however, never characterizes the personality type of the
questioner. These four different ascriptions are the innovative
additions of the compiler of the Haggadah. In the case of the wicked
child, the compiler of the Haggadah not only calls the questioner
wicked, but he also changes the response!
The Bible teaches: "When your children shall say unto you 'what mean
you by this service? (Mah ha'avodah hazot lachem?)' you shall say, 'It
is the sacrifice of G-d's Passover, for that He passed over the house
of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and
delivered our houses...'" [Exodus 12:26]
A direct question receives a direct answer. However, in the Haggadah,
the very same question receives a quite different answer - an entire
commentary on the moral and theological status of the questioner as
well as a citation different from the Biblical suggestion in context:
"Since he says you, he excludes himself, and because he excludes
himself from the group, he denies a basic principle of our faith. You
in turn should set his teeth on edge... and say to him: "It is
because of this, that the Eternal did for me when I came forth from
Egypt" [Exodus 13:8].
Why the change, and what does it signify?
I'd first like to explore the commentary of Rav Naftali Zvi Yehuda
Berlin (The Netzyv, famed Volozhyn Yeshiva Dean) on the words of the
questioner. Explains the Netzyv that the so called 'rasha' (wicked
child) is in reality asking a very important question concerning the
relevance of the Passover "avodah", or ritual service.
After all, this child queries, why continue to perform the rigorous
seder based upon the Paschal sacrifice in our contemporary generation?
Every other sacrifice has a legitimate significance in every time and
in every context. People always sin, and therefore can be expected to
bring a sin offering; people always have reason to be thankful, and
can be expected to bring the peace offering of thanksgiving.
But the Pascal sacrifice was occasioned by the specific trauma of
Egyptian enslavement which has long been buried in Israel's past
history; indeed we have since suffered even more difficult servitudes
and exiles. `What is the meaning of this ritual service to you - in
your contemporary period?' The sacrificial lamb of Passover was geared
towards a specific period in ancient history, emerging as it did from
the context of G-d's passing over the houses of the Israelites during
the tenth plague, the plague that killed all of Egypt's first born!
Why continue it today?!
>From the perspective of the Netzyv, the "wicked" son doesn't reject
the entire Torah, he doesn't even reject the Oral Law. He is a willing
and accepting Jew; he merely rejects the notion that the Jewish People
be forced to expend so much time and energy strapped to an event that
in effect does not concern them. `Mah ha'avodah hazot lachem? What
are you still doing this for?!'
The compiler of the haggadah responds by skipping an entire Biblical
chapter and moving over to the context where the real source of the
word haggadah - "v'higadta l'vincha, (you shall tell your child)"-
actually appears: "And you shall tell your child (v'higadta l'vincha)
on that day, saying: It is because of this that the Eternal did for
me when I came forth out of Egypt." [Exodus 13:8]
The Bible opens chapter thirteen of the Book of Exodus commanding the
Jews to sanctify to G-d every first born, and to remember the exodus
from Egypt.
And even when the Israelites settle the Land of Canaan, an area
flowing with milk and honey, they must do this divine ritual service
("avodah") in this month [Exodus 13:1-6].
Indeed, it is because of this - because the Jews will continue to
reexperience the servitude and the exodus searing into Jewish
consciousness the inhuman cruelty of slavery and the fundamental
freedom of every child of G-d - that G-d initially took us out of
Egypt in the first place and adopted us as his unique nation. Hence,
the ritual reenactment of the pascal sacrifice and seder meal is
eternally relevant.
G-d's will is that the Jewish People turn certain seminal historical
events into their own personal memories and experiences. The Egyptian
exodus dare not be viewed only as a past historical happening. It is
to be relived by every individual every year. We have to taste the
bitterness of slavery. We have to taste the ecstasy of redemption.
Our G-d is first and foremost the G-d of redemption - and this
optimistic message of human freedom is one which we must continually
teach ourselves and teach the world.
And so the wicked son is told. The Passover service is relevant! The
experience of slavery and redemption is something which must be
relived by the Jewish people in every generation in order for the
message of ultimate freedom from totalitarian enslavement to be
inscribed in our souls, in our genetic structure in the universal Bill
of Human Rights.
"Because of this , G-d has wrought marvelous things for me (the
collective, historical "me") when "He took me out of Egypt." Thus "in
every generation each individual must see himself as if he/she had
been redeemed from Egypt."
Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
Efrat, Israel
----------------------------------------------------------------
Shlomo Riskin is Rabbi of Efrat, Founder of Ohr Torah Institutions and
an R&B Consulting Torah Scholar
*************************************************************************
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