Matzah מצה

🌀 Raise the Matzah and ask:

What is the meaning of the Matzah?

מַצָּה זוֹ שֶׁאָנוּ אוֹכְלִין עַל שׁוּם מָה? עַל שׁוּם שֶׁלֹּא הִסְפִּיק בְּצֵקָם שֶׁל אֲבוֹתֵינוּ לְהַחֲמִיץ עַד שֶׁנִּגְלָה עֲלֵיהֶם מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וּגְאָלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיֹּאפוּ אֶת־הַבָּצֵק אֲשֶׁר הוֹצִיאוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם עֻגוֹת מַצּוֹת, כִּי לֹא חָמֵץ. כִּי גֹרְשׁוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם וְלֹא יָכְלוּ לְהִתְמַהְמֵהַּ וְגַם צֵדָה לֹא עָשׂוּ לָהֶם.

Matzah zo, sheanu ochlin, al shum mah? Al shum she’lo hispik b’tzeikam shel avoteinu l’hachamitz ad sheniglah aleihem melech malchei ha’melachim, haKadosh Baruch Hu; uge’alam she’ne’emar: Vayofu et habatzeik asher hotziu mimitzra’yim, ugot matzot ki lo chametz; ki gor’shu mimitzra’yim, v’lo yochlu l’hitma’me’ah, v’gam tzeidah lo asu lahem.

🌀 Break and distribute the Matzah while reading the following paragraphs.

Matzah is the symbol of the “bread of poverty,” that is, the bread that poor people eat, which our ancestors ate as slaves in Egypt. It reminds us of the great haste in which our Israelite ancestors fled from Egypt. So little time did our ancestors have to prepare food for their escape, that they baked unleavened cakes of the dough they had brought out of Egypt.

Rabbi Meir ben Tzipporah v’Nechemia haLevi teaches:

Judith came in from the fields where it appeared as though the whole community was out harvesting the new grain crop. The rains had ceased and the ground had dried enough to enable them to walk through the plants and collect the ripened sheaves. The stone house still felt damp from the winter and she helped her mother empty the storage urns of the remainder of the previous year’s grains.

The moisture had gotten into everything. They recognized the aroma of slowly fermenting wheat and barley and they did not want the old to contaminate the new. Judith’s mother even took the little wad of dough she always removed after kneading to put in a cool covered pot to help the next batch rise and added that also to the pile to take out and burn. They were so careful that after sweeping the stone floor with the palm fronds they took feathers and swept out the corners.

Judith thought about how the Chametz puffed up the bread she liked so much, yet considered how a similar spoilage often puffed her up with pride. She always felt cleansed as she warmed her hands with the heat of the burning Chametz. Both because it reminded her of the escape from slavery to freedom, the beauty of purity and simplicity and because she knew it would only take a week for her mother to create a new starter, Judith didn’t mind eating the Matzah her mother would make with the brand new dough.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵנוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַמּוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן הַאֲרֶץ.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵנוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל אֲכִילַת מַצָּה.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, ha’motzee lekhem min ha’aretz.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, asher kiddishanu b’mitzvotav, vetzivanu al achilat matzah.

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all space and time from whom we learn to bring bread from the earth.

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all space and time, who has made us distinct through your directives and has directed us to eat Matzah.

🌀 All eat the Matzah.