From Slavery to Freedom: The Dual Message of Pesach
BY RABBI YONA REISS
“It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…” (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities).
The Torah (Shemot 23:15) describes Pesach as the holiday that belongs to the “month of spring” (chodesh haAviv), signifying hope and rebirth. However, at the same time, Pesach also reminds us of our wintry despair as slaves in Egypt.
During the Seder, we commemorate both aspects. We recall the Pesach offering which symbolizes our deliverance from the servitude of Egypt, but we also partake of the maror (bitter herbs) which reminds us of the bitterness of our experience as slaves. The eating of the matzah also evokes both themes, conjuring up on the one hand memories of the lechem oni – the broken bread of affliction that we ate in Egypt – but also serving as the lechem she’onin alav devarim harbeh – the unleavened bread that we carried with us at the time of our emancipation, upon which we joyously recite the Haggadah (see Pesachim 115b).
This dual theme helps to explain a striking Midrash in Parashat Beshalach.
The Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 23:3) states that the articulation by Moshe Rabbeinu of the words Az Yashir when Hashem split the sea for the Jewish people served as an atonement for Moshe’s previous usage of the word az (“umei-az bati”) to complain to Hashem about how his initial encounter with the evil Pharaoh only led to increased slavery and suffering for his fellow Jews.
The Beit Halevi explains that the parallelism drawn by the Midrash between Moshe’s initial frustration and his victorious song at the time of the splitting of the sea teaches us that the joy of the Exodus was enhanced through the previous experience of suffering. Paradoxically, we needed to endure devastating servitude so that we could later rejoice in being the vehicle for the sanctification of Hashem’s name. This can be likened to a patient who is ultimately grateful to his physician for providing him with bitter-tasting medicine to improve his overall health.
Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook (Olat Reiyah on the Haggadah, s.v. korech) provides a similar explanation for the practice of Hillel (Pesachim 115a) to eat the matzah and maror together at the time of the Beit HaMikdash, a practice that we commemorate today by eating the korech sandwich at the Seder. According to Hillel, both the force of freedom, represented by the matzah, and the force of slavery, symbolized by the maror, must be fused together to strengthen our commitment to serve Hashem. Rav Kook adds (s.v. zecher) that the redemption represented by the matzah, together with the Pesach offering, has the capacity to sweeten the bitter memories of exile represented by the maror.
It is instructive that the Chizkuni writes that the reason the first mitzvah in Parashat Mishpatim is the fair and equitable treatment of Jewish slaves (who were sold into bondage based on poverty or to provide restitution for theft) is because our immediately prior experience of having been slaves in Egypt sensitized us to behave more humanely towards others in similar predicaments of hardship. There are many ways in which adversity has the potential to edify us once we appreciate the lessons that can be learned from the bitter herbs of life.
Along these lines, this year’s celebration of Pesach is a time for us to reflect, both on a national and personal level, upon our trials and tribulations since the devastating events of October 7th. The vicissitudes of Egyptian enslavement enabled us as a people to reach greater heights in our comprehension of Divine providence and our sensitivity towards others. So too we turn towards Hashem during this challenging time in appreciation for His many miracles that enable us to persevere as a proud nation guided by the moral principles of the Torah despite the despicable hatred and evil that all too often surround us. We therefore celebrate the matzah together with the maror, our deliverance in the throes of our difficulties, in recognition of the eternal Pesach message that all our experiences, no matter how bitter, can be harnessed as vehicles towards catharsis and redemption.
L’shana haba’ah biYerushalayim habenuyah.
Rabbi Yona Reiss is the Av Beth Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and a Rosh Yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University, where he serves as the Rabbi L. Katz Chair in Professional Rabbinics. He is also the Segan Av Beth Din of the Beth Din of America in New York, and is the author of Kanfei Yona, a compendium of essays and responsa about contemporary issues in Jewish law.