A Word from the Rabbi: 'This matzah which we eat...'

We continue our cooperation with the Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz Institute and publish materials prepared specifically for the member communities of the EAJC. This article is published posthumously, following the passing of the great thinker of the generation, scholar, and Hasid, Rabbi Steinsaltz, of blessed memory.

During all festivals and Sabbaths, a central role is assigned to meals. The meal is not merely a concession to physical human needs; it is intrinsically linked to the very essence of these days. Assigning such significance to the consumption of food is not limited to special days of the year; rather, everyday sustenance, while addressing bodily requirements, possesses a deeper significance.

This attitude toward food is particularly evident during the Passover Seder. In essence, it reproduces the consumption of the Passover offering and is subject to instructions directly related to eating: the commandment to eat unleavened bread – matzah – and the prohibition of leavened food. These two commandments are not merely symbolic reminders of past events; by fulfilling them, we once again become active participants in the Exodus. Although the instruction to remember the departure from Egypt is fulfilled through many commandments, Passover demands more of us: in a certain sense – both collectively and individually – we reenact the entire process of the Exodus. Thus, eating matzah on Pesach represents a revival of the essence of the Exodus, which, for the human soul, signifies an ascent to a new level and a different form of consciousness.

Sustenance from both types of bread, unleavened and leavened, is linked to the question of human consciousness and intellect. The Talmud states that "the tree from which Adam ate... was wheat, for a child does not learn to call 'father' and 'mother' until they have tasted the flavor of grain" (Berakhot, 40a). From this, we can infer an internal connection between cereal grains and the intellect,以及 as well as the essence of man as a conscious and cognizing being. Anthropologically, the consumption of bread is a defining characteristic of human culture. Both humans and animals consume meat and fruit as part of the natural world, but bread is uniquely human food. By feeding on bread, a person connects with the supernatural level of human culture, with their essence as a rational being capable of knowing good and evil.

Chassidic works dedicated to this topic emphasize that "a child is incapable of calling specifically 'father' until they have tasted the flavor of grain." The connection with the father is not primary. The child's connection with the mother is primal and natural, as she is – especially during nursing – the first object in their consciousness. In contrast, the connection with the father is not of the same instinctive, biological nature; it is culturally conditioned and forms only after the child reaches a certain stage of cognitive development.

In the early stages of development, the connection with the father is not intellect-driven and does not stem from rational awareness. A child pronouncing the word "papa" initially does not know what lies behind this concept and what follows from it. They do not understand what a father is or how precisely they are connected to him. The gradual growth of the child's consciousness leads to the development of speech and language acquisition. When a child says "papa," without yet understanding all the meanings and implications of this word, their consciousness makes its first leap toward a higher entity that they have not yet mastered.

Our first, fundamental perceptions are received through the senses, which are imperfect and material. A higher level of comprehension requires a certain intellectual or emotional leap to an entity that lies beyond the perceptible world, just as a child must do to reach the stage of being able to call out: "Papa." This process always includes a "leap" and stages of unconsciousness. Thus, the first consumption of bread and the first utterance of "papa" express that very transition to a different type of knowledge, to a higher level of consciousness.

Passover, as is also evident from the semantic meaning of the word itself, is a festival of "passing over," and it is during these days that we remember and experience the great leap. A leap after which we became capable of calling out to the Father. The challenging task of a child, who must call out to their father for the first time, is the quintessence of the task of the people of Israel during the Exodus. The annual Seder is structured around this very task, where we must relive and recreate the Exodus. This is the profound meaning of the festival of Passover, when we must reach a new level of knowledge, bypassing the intermediate stages.

Upon leaving Egypt as a nation of slaves, the Jews immediately rose to a level that was beyond their intellect and inaccessible to rational justification — for the first time, they pronounced: "Father." The Almighty bestowed upon the nation, which was not yet ready and did not understand what was happening, the final conclusions, bypassing the intermediate stages of reflection, rational analysis, and comprehension. They reached a stage where the circle closes, where the comprehensible collides with that which lies beyond all comprehension.

The people of Israel, being at the level of a child, had to learn for the first time who the Father is and what the Father is, how to pronounce this word, and how to relate to Him. This development requires an approach that is not based on methodical and rational understanding, but on a willingness to accept things without a structured explanation, dealing with that which lies beyond cause-and-effect relationships.

Opening the path to a new entity is expressed by matzah: primitive, undeveloped, unfinished. Normal bread is a product of civilization, its preparation requires time and involves a series of stages. The dough must be kneaded, allowed to rise, and only then baked. Making bread requires a settled lifestyle and a certain level of development. Matzah, by contrast, is primary bread — unprocessed wheat that has undergone minimal transformation; the dough did not ferment or rise. There are no additives in such bread: it is devoid of flavor, salt, and cannot be given any culinary refinement. In essence, matzah is the most primal product that can already be called "bread," a type of food corresponding to the human level. It is for this reason that matzah represents the changes that occurred at the moment of the Exodus: historically, the birth of the Jewish people; internally and individually, it is the elementary level of comprehension and awareness of the Divine, when a person first says "Father" to their Father in heaven.

The eating of matzah symbolizes the process of acquiring the ability to accept the unclear as an axiom and demonstrating a willingness to believe in what we cannot fully understand. Fulfilling this ability is the first step toward all knowledge, and during the Exodus – the beginning of the path leading to the comprehension of the Almighty at Mount Sinai – it was of critical necessity.