The Equanimity of Matzah

When it comes to matzah there is an apparent incongruence. On the one hand we eat matzah as לחם עוני—the bread of affliction that Klal Yisroel ate while in slavery. On the other, we see that it represents freedom, for the very first thing we eat as a free people is matzah. If you would have asked Klal Yisroel what will be the first thing they eat once freed, they would have probably answered that they were going to make some real food and eat like a mensch. But Hashem tells them that now that you are free, you are going to eat freeman’s bread: matzah. The message is that if they would have eaten bread and other delicacies right away -- true, they would no longer be enslaved by Egypt, but they would have become enslaved by the next thing that came along: their conveniences, comforts, appetite. If it matters to you what you have then you are a slave. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Lexus or a Chevy. If I have less gashmiyus than I wanted, it doesn’t matter. If I have more gashmiyus than I wanted, it doesn’t matter. I can taste the matzah in everything because I am not interested in my self, only the will of the Creator. The more we get out of the way, the more in touch with the infinite we are. The most formidable impediment to kedusha is self. The goal isn’t putting down the world as much as it is getting self-interest out of the way.

And so אין מפטירין אחר הפסח אפיקומן. We need to keep the taste of matzah in our mouths as long as we can.

(Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Shemini 5767/2007)