D’var Torah – Jan 23

For China, it’s most likely Peking Duck, which takes over 24 hours to prepare as the meat is hung after being covered in layered glazes of honey, soy sauce, and five-spice powder.

And for our good ‘Ol US of A, nothing says America more and nothing more proudly announces the 4th of July better than a good ‘ol fashioned backyard grilled cheeseburger, complemented by pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, enhanced with yellow mustard, mayo, and ketchup, seasoned with salt and pepper, and all sandwiched together by lightly toasted brioche buns.

Besides being visually stunning, absolutely delicious works of culinary art and tragically and heartbreakingly treyf (not kosher) (either because of their ingredients or in their preparation), what do all these savory delights have in common? They’re complex and they take time to prepare and make.

And what, drum roll, is the gourmet centerpiece of the Jewish people you might ask?

Simply put, I would argue, it’s matzah.

MATZAH?!?! MATZAH?!?! Are you out of your mind?

Unleavened bread?!?! You mean that simple, brittle, tasteless cracker that leaves both crumbs everywhere and our gut motility in disarray that we are forced to eat for 7-8 days days every spring, all while mournfully forgoing our heavenly favorites like fettuccine alfredo, french bread, lasagna, tortellini, pizza, linguine, penne, lo mein, udon noodles, and even cheerios, as our Christian friends and neighbors are feasting and rejoicing over their delicious and painstakingly prepared Easter hams? Yes, that matzah.

But what about challah, chumantashen, latkes, and sufganiyot, bagels, lox, and schmear, or perhaps even kugel? After all, they’re far more tasty. Matzah, however, I contend, goes to the heart of the Jewish experience.

In this week’s parsha of Bo (Exodus 10:1-13:16), we read: “And they [the Israelites] baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had taken out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, since they had been driven out of Egypt and could not delay; nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.” (*Exodus 12:39)

The description of what Matzah is meant to represent goes in many polar directions according to various sacred texts and noble teachers.

For instance, in the standard Haggadah, we are told to hold up a piece of matzah and declare at the Passover seder: “Lo! this is as the bread of affliction, which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt”[*1]

On the other hand, in the Mishnah, Rabban Gamaliel says: “Whoever does not make mention of these three things on Pesachdoes not fulfill his duty. And these are they: the pesach, matzah, and bitter herbs. The pesach because the Omnipresent passed over the houses of our fathers in Egypt. The matzah because our fathers were redeemed from Egypt. The bitter herb because the Egyptians embittered the lives of our fathers in Egypt.” (*Mishnah Pesachim 10.a.5)

There it is…matzah is the symbol of both our affliction and our redemption! On the surface this seems like a contradiction. In reality though, matzah serves to remind us of the totality of the Jewish, and even the human, experience. As Jews, throughout our wonderings, we have experienced the ultimate triumphs (the blessing of Torah, the gift of Talmud, the numerous incredible Jewish luminaires who have made the world a better place, and the ingathering of the exiles) and the lowest of the lows (the destruction of the two temples, the expulsions, the inquisitions, the pogroms, the Holocaust, the intifadas, and October 7th). On a personal level, matzah can stress to us that life is neither all good nor all bad, but rather a God-given journey that takes us over mountain peaks and valley troughs, and everything in between.

Just as matzah acknowledges the totality of life, Bizrat HaShem, with God’s help, let us all seek to challenge ourselves to never shirk away, but rather embrace all that life is and all that life has to offer.