Rabbi Mordecai Kornfeld's
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In grateful appreciation of David J. Berlove of Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his generous contribution towards the production of the Parasha-Page.

PESACH 5758

OBLITERATING ALL "CHAMETZ"

On the eve of the fourteenth [day of Nisan], one searches for Chametz (fermented dough) to the light of a candle. (Mishnah, Pesachim 2a)

On the eve of the fourteenth year of a person's life [i.e., immediately after his Bar Mitzvah], he should search his heart for spiritual decay to the light of his newly acquired Just Inclination. (Alscheich, Shemot 12:13)

According to Chazal, a person acquires an Inclination to do good at age 13 -- as opposed to the Evil Inclination, which is with a person from birth [Rashi Kohelet 4:13, Sanhedrin 91b]. The soul is often referred to as a candle (Mishlei 20:27) and from its flame shines the light of the former, which can conquer and subdue a person's uncontrolled, worldly impulses. Harav Moshe Alscheich (Tzefat, ~1550) finds an allusion to this in the Mishnah which starts Masechet Pesachim. Purging Chametz can be allegorically interpreted as purging the effects of the Evil Inclination.

Interestingly, the Gemara itself hints rather plainly to this comparison: Three verses are cited as the collective source for the practice of searching for Chametz "to the light of a candle": (1) "A person's soul is Hashem's candle, which searches through the depths of the person's heart" (Mishlei 20:27); (2) "On The Day [of Judgment], I shall search Yerushalayim [for its sins] with candles" (Tzefanyah 1:12); (3) "And [Yosef's messenger] searched the sacks of the brothers [for stolen goods]... until it was found" (Bereishit 44:12). Clearly, the search for Chametz is akin to soul-searching and probing for signs of sin.

II

Chametz, in fact, is a common metaphor for sin (Berachot top of 17a, Rosh Hashanah end of 3b; Chinuch #117). Specifically, the bloating and souring which occurs during the leavening process suggests arrogance, as opposed to the lowly, bland Matzah, which is suggestive of humility.

This symbolism is incorporated into the very words themselves. As Alscheich points out, the Hebrew words for Chametz and Matzah contain nearly the same letters. Each shares two letters with the other; the difference between the two is in their third letter. While Chametz is spelled with a Mem, Tzadi and *Chet*, Matzah is spelled with a Mem, Tzadi and *Heh*. Chet and Heh are both three-sided letters; however, the left leg of the Heh rises only part of the way to its roof while the left leg of the Chet meets its roof (just like the right leg).

According to the Gemara in Menachot (29b), Hashem created the physical world with a Heh, which is entirely open on bottom, "so that whoever wants to leave, can drop out." Although the same is true of the letter Ches, Hashem chose specifically the Heh, because it has another opening (at the upper left), "so that when a person repents, [Hashem raises him and] he returns through the second opening." Ches, then, symbolizes that Hashem "lowers the arrogant," who drop from the world in a spiritual sense, while Heh symbolizes that Hashem "raises the humble" to a point from which they can return to His good graces. Similarly, Chametz represents arrogance and sin ("The Evil Inclination... the lust for honor... *remove a person from this world*" [Avot 2:11; 4:21]), while Matzah ("*Heh* Lachma Anya," as the texts of Kabalistic Hagadot read) exemplifies humility and modesty. (Alscheich, ibid.)

III

Perhaps the remaining two letters, Mem and Tzadi, are supposed to spell the root "MaTZa" ("find" -- the Hebrew root also contains a silent Alef, but the Alef may be omitted for exegetical purposes, cf. Rema, OC 583:2). The Gemara (Berachot 8a) tells us that the conjugation of the root MaTZa can give it opposite connotations. It can either be "Matza" (he found/finds), as in the verse "He who finds a woman finds good" (Mishlei 18:22), or it can be "Motze" (find), as in the verse "I find the woman to be more bitter than death." (Kohelet 7:26). The 'woman' here is a person's ideology and relationship to Torah (Rashi Mishlei ibid. and 31:10, Kohelet ibid., see also Berachot ibid.). One who respects and studies the Torah of Hashem will find eternal good, while one who scoffs it and rejects it will suffer a fate more bitter than death. This philosophy is reflected in a statement elsewhere in the Talmud: "Woe to the students who study the Torah but have no fear of heaven.... For one who trusts in it, it is an elixir of life, while for one who does not, the Torah is a deathly toxin (Yoma 72b, Shabbat 88b).

The "Ches" and "Heh" mediate whether a person will "find" in the Torah death ("more bitter than death," "a deathly toxin") or life ("eternal good," "an elixir of life").

IV

When the Beis ha'Mikdash was standing, Matzah was eaten together with Maror (bitter herbs) and the Korban Pesach (the Pascal lamb), as the Torah prescribes (Shemot 12:8). The Chatam Sofer (Hagaon Rav Moshe Sofer of Frankfurt, ~1850, in Pesachim 116a) explains that the Hebrew letters of the word Maror have the same numerical value as the word "Mavet," or death. The bitter Maror represents the Evil Inclination, which leads people to a fate "more bitter than death." There flows within Maror's arteries a venomous, harmful substance (Rashi Pesachim 115b -- note that the substance is called "Kafa" in Aramaic, a word which also can mean "floating up," indicative of arrogance). According to the Talmud, when Maror grows from the ground it is soft, but eventually it grows hard as wood (Pesachim 39a). Similarly, "the [temptations of the] Evil Inclination originally appear to a person like spider webs, but eventually they grow as tough as the ropes of a chariot" (Sanhedrin 99b).

The above observations of the Chatam Sofer add to our overall picture of the Mitzvah of eating Matzah. Maror is an allusion to the Evil Inclination and shrugging off the yoke of heaven. The Korban Pesach, on the other hand, expresses repentance and subordination to Hashem's decrees -- the Jewish Nation, who had fallen into the snare of idol-worship during their long exile in Egypt, were told, "withdraw your hands from idol-worship by taking a sheep for the Korban Pesach" (Rashi Shemot 12:6). By slaughtering sheep -- god of the Egyptian gentiles -- to serve Hashem, they were pronouncing their unwavering faith and trust in Hashem.

Along with Maror and Korban Pesach, we eat Matzah. Matzah reminds us that Hashem's salvation can come at any moment, and that His watchful eye will always protect us, His children. When eaten properly, Matzah transforms the bitter Maror (which would otherwise result in "Motze" and the "Chet" of Chametz) into the repentance and valid ideology of Pesach (or "Matza," and the "Heh" of Matzah). It turns a deathly toxin into the Tree of Life!

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