The Holiday of Matzos (or Passover)

Last week I attended an English speaking Shiur (lesson) at the Dan Panorma Chabad Center in Haifa. Twice a month our Rabbi Levi Itzhak hosts an educational program for the English speaking residents of our community. In our session we studied the history, traditions, and the unique spiritual perspectives of Passover. First let me give the readers a brief synopsis of Pesach. 

.Passover or Pesach in Hebrew is an important Jewish festival. The Jewish people celebrate Passover as a commemoration of their liberation over 3,300 years ago from slavery in ancient Egypt. It is also known as the Holiday of Matzo (unleavened bread) in the Torah or often Herut (freedom). 

The Holiday of Matzo commences on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Nisan and lasts for either seven days (in Israel) or eight days (in the diaspora). The reason for this extra day is due to an enactment by the ancient Jewish sages. It is thought by many scholars that Jews outside of Israel could not be certain if their local calendars fully conforming to practices of the Temple in Jerusalem. Therefore, they added an extra day. The rituals unique to the holiday celebrations commence with the Passover Seder. The holiday occurs in the spring as the Torah prescribes it: "in the month of [the] spring" (בחדש האביב Exodus 23:15). It is one of the most widely recognized Jewish celebrations.

In the narrative of the Exodus, the Bible tells that God helped the Children of Israel escape from their slavery in Egypt by inflicting ten plagues upon the ancient Egyptians before Pharaoh would release his Israelite slaves. The tenth and worst of the plagues was the death of the Egyptian first-born (Bechor in Hebrew).

The Israelites were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a slaughtered spring lamb and, upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord knew to pass over the first-born in these homes, hence the name of the holiday. When the Pharaoh freed the Israelites, it is said that they left in such a hurry that they could not wait for bread dough to rise (leaven). In commemoration, for the duration of Passover no leavened bread is eaten. It is for that reason that it is called "The Festival of the Unleavened Bread" or Matzos.

Matzos

The story of the Korban of Pesach is told at the Passover Seder. The word "Seder" (סדר) means "order" or "arrangement". One of the symbolic food items displayed (but not eaten) on the Seder Plate is the Zeroa (shankbone) or a chicken wing or neck.

When the Temple in Jerusalem was standing, the focus of the Passover festival was the sacrifice (Hebrew Korban of Pesach) also known as the "Paschal Lamb". Today, in the absence of the Temple, the mitzvah of the Korban of Pesach is memorialized in the Seder instead. The eating of the Afikoman substitutes for the eating of the Korban at the end of the meal.

The consumption, keeping, and owning of Chametz or leavened bread is forbidden during Passover. Yeast and fermentation are not themselves forbidden as seen for example by wine, which is required, rather than merely permitted.

The Torah commandments regarding Chametz are:

- To remove all Chametz from one's home, including things made with Chametz, before the first day of Passover.

- To refrain from eating Chametz or mixtures containing Chametz during Passover.

- Not to possess Chametz in one's domain during Passover.

During our Shiur (lesson), the Rabbi compared leavened bread and Matzo to the purity of our souls. Matzo can be considered humanity at its purest form, while leavened bread might represent the arrogance and self-centered nature of mankind. Moses was known as the most humble (עניו) of all people. Herut (freedom), from a spiritual sense, can be seen as striving to better fulfill our spiritual obligations and utilize our skills and talents in a righteous way. These concepts have special meanings to those of us leaving in Israel, as for the first time in 2000 years we have independence and freedom in our ancestral Jewish home land.