Why Matzah?

Dear Pop,

Last year I was invited to my first Passover Seder at a home in Encino. I really enjoyed myself as everyone read from the Haggadah, the spiritual text, but that matzah.  Why do Jews eat that tasteless, flour/water flatbread for eight days and why do some Jews have two Seders?

Curious Christian

Dear Curious Christian,

The reason we eat matzah is the same reason people of other faiths eat certain foods during their holidays. Christians eat eggs for Easter because eggs are a symbol of fertility. Catholics, during Eucharist, drink wine and eat bread declaring them to be the blood and body of Christ.

Jews eat matzah for a very practical reason. During the Exodus from Egypt our ancestors didn’t have time to wait for the bread to leaven. Who knew if Pharaoh would change his mind again? So the Hebrew slaves grabbed their bread out of ovens before it could rise.

There’s a deeper psychological meaning, too. According to Rabbi Ari Shishler, a Chabad rabbi in Johannesburg, South Africa, matzah is made from unleavened dough. Puffy bread is symbolic of ego. Flat matzah represents humility. It is with humility that an individual opens himself up to spiritual growth. It is with spiritual growth that men and women can improve themselves as human beings.

You can buy matzah at Cambridge Farms, the largest kosher supermarket in California. This grocery store, on Burbank Blvd in Valley Village, stocks all our Passover holiday shopping needs. Ralphs has a large assortment of Passover foods you can purchase, too.

This year Passover begins at sundown on April 19, 2019 with the first Seder. But why two Seders? According to Exodus 12:15-6 Passover should be observed for seven days and the first day and seventh day be a sacred occasion (Yom Tov).

The first Yom Tov falls on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Nisan. That’s when we hold the Seder. Back in ancient times, the beginning of the new month was determined by observing the moon, which was officially done in Jerusalem. Word would spread throughout Israel, but Jewish communities in the diaspora observed an extra Yom Tov to make sure their community was in sync with Jerusalem.

The seventh day of Passover commemorates the miracle of the splitting of the Red Sea. Israel was commanded by G-d not to rejoice when people die; and plenty of Egyptians lost their lives when the sea closed. But they can celebrate the love the Jewish people have for G-d, and sing “The Song of Songs.”

Happy Passover,

Pop

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