The Meaning of the Matza (in my humble opinion)

Think of our lives….our very busy lives. When we’re in a hurry and rushing out the door and then realize a few hours later that we’re starving…we are going to probably eat whatever we can get. Of course there was no “makolet” or convenience store on the trip our ancestors , so yes… they had to plan a bit.

But, as our ancestors were rushing out the door and grabbing whatever essentials they could find …but then…"WAIT I forgot Something…I’m just running back in the house to “make the dough” so I can carry it on my back in the burning hot sun".

We don’t hear much about any other food that our ancesters took…(I would have totally taken a good supply of water) only a lot about the matza. 

Ever wonder…what’s the matza all about?

So I think if we can take a tiny step backwards…when we’re cleaning out our homes and searching for crumbs…what the heck are we doing? Stumbling around in the dark with a candle and feather searching for crumbs throughout our homes. I mean were used to doing this so we do it, but what are we doing?

What I think is… that it’s all about US. I think that we are being commanded to actually be introspective.

We are commanded to search thru our very being…to get rid of the fluff (a.k.a. chametz or materialism?) of our soul. We search thru our possessions…at work and at home. We ask ourselves, “What are we doing with our lives?” Are we just running around all day to drive our kids around, going to exercise our bodies, going to work, cooking and doing other “errands”.

Is that really all there is to life? Is that why we’re here? Do we just wake up each morning and get overwhelmed by our “to do list” and try our best… day after day?

I think all this searching makes us STOP…if even for a short while and dig down thru our souls’ chametz…its core to REMEMBER. To REMEMBER not just our history, but OURSELVES.

Last night we searched into our darkest corners…with a candle even, into the depths of our being to make sure we haven’t forgotten any area.

Who are we really, when we are all stripped down to our “naked soul”…without all the coverings? We are simple, we are beautiful and we are good.

I recently read a book called” The life-changing magic of tidying up…the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing” by ,Marie Kondo. She’s actually become quiet famous. One of the biggest challenges is deciding what do get rid of when decluttering…we have piles of “STUFF” that we feel we NEED, but in actuality they are stopping us, slowing us and weighing us down. They aren’t helping us (as our brain says they are) they are actually hurting us! So Marie says, take each item, hold it in your hand and say;,

“DOES THIS ITEM SPARK JOY?”

If it does, keep it. If not dispose of it.

Sounds simple.

Maybe we can apply these physical decluttering techniques …to our emotional existence and our search to dispose of and even burn our emotional Chametz. Let’s hold a basic emotion that we might experience in our hand and see “if it’s serving us in our life, sparking joy or helping us grow”? Or is it just “cluttering up my space…, taking up my time, confusing me?

If it’s good for our soul, it’s a KEEPER. If not, TOSS IT.

We can do this with relationships, jobs, how we choose to spend our time…it’s just that the “fluff” and “confusion” of life creates clutter until we feel like we can’t move…that we don’t have choices but WE DO!

That’s what Pesach is all about…being FREE. In order to feel free, we have to acknowledge who we really are and get back to basics. Rid ourselves of our emotional chametz.

So now that we get that, what about this flat not so tasty cracker we are commanded to eat…and even ENJOY for an entire week?

The matza is like who we are…our simple soul without the ego, without the “fluff”…it’s just simply who we are. And we are forced for an entire week to live with ourselves in this raw state. Only then can we be considered “B’nei Chorein” FREE MEN/WOMEN…freed slaves.

To look at ourselves in our simplest form…and to love ourselves in this simple form…to remember who we are and how we can make our own lives better, simpler, more “Real”…this to me…is the meaning of the Matza.

I hope tonight when we crunch into that matza…

we can find a piece of our authentic selves.