Between Purim and
Pesach – Into the Flames
As his
chametz goes up in flames on Erev Pesach,
a
Jewish man recites the bracha from his siddur.
(Corbis
Stock Photo)
“The month between
Purim and Pesach can be juxtaposed with the month before Rosh Hashanah, six
months away. That month of Elul is
accompanied by an intense period of introspection and soul-searching, leading
to a crying out for forgiveness. Now,
before Pesach, there’s no time for such luxuries of the free for we are still
deep in Mitzrayim. The relevant question is not: ‘How well have I been living my life?’ but
rather, ‘Do I want to live? Am I ready
to be brought out of Mitzrayim – the place of the living dead?’ The world has to be engaged on they physical
level. There’s work to be done, chametz
to be removed, kitchens to be koshered.
This is especially emphasized by the fact that from the first of Nisan
confessional prayers are no longer said during the morning and afternoon prayer
services. This is not the time to be
asking for forgiveness. ‘Hurry up! It’s time to leave!’
Pesach must occur in
the spring season (Exodus 12:1) because, as seedlings begin to penetrate out of
the darkness of the soil towards the sun, so too do we move out of the darkness
of our confinement towards the Light of G-d.
Thus the rhythms of the spiritual world coincide.”
Source: The Holistic Haggadah,
Michael L. Kagan, pp. 22
Pesach and Rosh Hashanah
stand opposite each other, separated by six months. Both represent new beginnings. Rosh Hashanah is the occasion of new creation
of the human being as an individual; Pesach is the occasion of new creation of
the Jewish people. They left Mitzrayim
and a new nation was formed at the foot of Har Sinai. Pesach comes just after the beginning of the
agricultural year … the “first of the months for you” (Shemoth 12:1), marking
the first time that the Children of Israel were commanded by Hashem to sanctify
the beginning of the months with the observance of Rosh Chodesh. Rosh Hashanah remembers the creation of Adam
and marks the beginning of the civil year for
Before Pesach, we
search our homes, even our pockets for chametz.
Whatever is found is gathered up and cast into a fire. During Rosh Hashanah, during the Tashlich
ceremony, there is a tradition to turn one’s pockets inside out over a body of
water, symbolizing the emptying out, the casting away of our sins and
transgressions, like crumbs into the water.
Some people toss stones, others toss crumbs … the crumbs are transformed
into food for fish, just like the Sages tell us that sincere teshuvah has the
power to transform our sins into merits.
But why is chametz burned?
In Mitzrayim, the
Children of Israel were in slavery, they had descended spiritually to the 49th
Gate of Impurity. Had they remained in
Breadcrumbs are morsels
of that which has been baked, the leaven is within, representing the iniquities
and transgressions that inflate and distort us, usually from some form of ego
inflation. Chametz, on the other hand,
is an active state. Leaven expands; it
grows, puffing up whatever it’s within.
Heat kills leaven.
Mitzrayim represents all that binds us, enslaves us, and constricts us from being free to serve G-d and to be the individuals that He created us with the potential to become. All illusions we may have regarding our ‘reality’ must be deflated, cast into the flames of Truth as given in the Torah, and destroyed. This is called bitul – self-nullification. Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi understands self-nullification as becoming transparent to the will of G-d so that G-d shines through us without hindrance. We see this beautifully exemplified in the account of Moshe returning from being in G-d’s Presence on Har Sinai. His face radiated with the Light of Hashem and he was later recorded in Tanach as being the most humble man on earth.
A loaf of bread goes
into the oven with leaven active within it; it puffs itself up a bit more, but
then the heat of the oven kills the leaven and renders it impotent to further
inflate the loaf of bread. Out of the
fire emerges a beautiful thing, but truth be known, it is mostly comprised of
hot air trapped within the dough. With
matzah, the leaven is not given a chance to even begin its process of
expansion. This demonstrates the
necessity at Pesach to remove from our lives those things that inflate and
distort us, to not even give them a chance to begin. We are to enter Pesach free of chametz. In the days leading up to the Chag, we are to
seek out, sweep out, cast out and destroy by fire the ‘chametz’ in our homes
and that which we identify in our lives.
We are to be as matzot when we remember and celebrate the great
Redemption from Mitzrayim so long ago.
Matzah is a bread of slavery and poverty, symbolic of exile and bondage
in Mitzrayim (historical and spiritual), but it is also the bread of
freedom. Carrying the unleavened bread
upon their shoulders, the Israelites went forward to truly become a nation, a
people of G-d’s calling, and to receive His Torah, a gift of life and freedom
for
It is interesting to
reflect on the Hebrew spelling of the two words, chametz and matzah. Chametz is spelled chet-mem-tzaddik. Matzah is spelled mem-tzaddik-heh.
There is only one
letter difference between the two words:
chet and heh. The difference
between these two letters is very small, only a tiny opening at the top left. Michael Kagan writes in The Holistic Haggadah
that this tiny space represents “the difference between reality and
illusion, between ignorance and enlightenment, between darkness and light,
between arrogance and humility, between broken and fixed.” Reb Shlomo Carlebach z”l used to say that
healing takes time, but ‘fixing’ (tikkun) is immediate. Unfortunately, we often become impatient with
the healing process and doubt that the tikkun has been affected, but there is a
special form of Divine assistance available to us at Pesach time that should
not be overlooked.
Akiva Tatz in his book
entitled Living Inspired writes:
“The spiritual forces operating at Pesach
time each year are such that the Jewish people and in fact any individual Jew
can achieve the impossible if these forces are used. An attempt to leap up, to reach a whole new
level of sensitivity, of personality development, can have a degree of success
if undertaken on Pesach which may be far more difficult at any other time.
There is a special
Divine assistance offered at this time which makes achievement of many levels
of growth possible in one leap; under normal circumstances such levels must be
painstakingly acquired in gradual sequence.
The very word ‘Pesach’ means ‘leaping over’; at a deeper level the
connotation is that of leaping over levels of growth which would ordinarily
have to be attained one at a time. This
energy is particularly strong on the first night of Pesach; it is a time of
most intense inspiration.”
So there they were –
the Children of Israel – slaves in a physical and spiritual exile in
Mitzrayim. Their hope seemed all but
gone. They had slipped to the 49th
Gate of Impurity – almost to the point of no return. Just before the Exodus, the existence of the
Children of Israel was hanging critically in the balance. “Hanging critically in the balance” – one
only has to reflect on current world events, and more tragically those of a few
decades ago. This is one situation that
surely fits with Shlomo haMelek’s observation in Qoheleth 3: that “what is
occurring occurred long since, and what is to occur occurred long since…” Nonetheless, continuing in the “what is to
occur” line of thought, we also have Hashem’s promise that the final Redemption
will so eclipse in magnitude and miracles the Redemption from Mitzrayim that we
won’t even speak of it anymore – may He hasten that day. So as we press on towards Pesach, inwardly
and outwardly ridding ourselves of chametz, may we be reminded to connect with
what is happening in the higher worlds and draw down the unique energy, power
and protection that are so predominant at this time of year. May we find ourselves appreciating the
significance and the awe of the mitzvah of eating matzah come this Seder night.