Matzah and the Path to Freedom

Freedom stands at the heart of Passover, with matzah as its most profound symbol. The Torah itself calls the holiday “Chag HaMatzot – the Festival of Matzah. But what deeper lessons does this simple unleavened bread teach us about true freedom?

The Paradox of Matzah

The Torah presents us with a fascinating contradiction. It calls matzah “lechem oni“—bread of affliction—yet simultaneously holds it up as our symbol of freedom. This apparent paradox contains the essence of Passover’s message.

Think about chametz (leavened bread): it rises, expands, and fills space—much like our ego and unchecked desires. Chametz represents the tendency of our yetzer hara (our baser, animalistic desires) to inflate our wants beyond our needs, creating endless cravings that ultimately enslave us.

Matzah, by contrast, consists only of flour and water without time to rise. Its humble flatness teaches us that genuine freedom comes not from indulging every desire, but from mastering those desires through purposeful limitation.

Your Personal Egypt

When our ancestors were liberated from Egypt (Mitzrayim), they were freed not just from physical bondage but from spiritual confinement. The name “Mitzrayim” itself comes from the Hebrew words “meitzar” and “tzar,” suggesting narrowness and constriction.

In our personal lives, this “narrowness” manifests as the yetzer hara. Like Pharaoh, our yetzer hara enslaves us through the illusion of pleasure while binding us in chains we often fail to recognize. How many times have we believed we’re acting freely when following our impulses, only to find ourselves unsatisfied and craving more?

Just as the Jews couldn’t take leavened bread when they hurried out of Egypt, we too must “leave behind our chametz”—our inflated egos and unconstrained desires—to achieve true freedom.

Freedom Through Boundaries

In Ethics of the Fathers (6:2), Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi offers a profound insight:

“And the Tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved on the Tablets” (Exodus 32:16). Do not read “engraved” (charut) but “freedom” (cheirut), for there is no free person except one who engages in Torah study.

This teaching reveals a counterintuitive truth that matzah exemplifies: authentic freedom comes not from unlimited choices but from purposeful limitation. The so-called restrictions of Judaism, like the simplicity of matzah, don’t constrain us—they liberate us from the tyranny of the yetzer hara.

Modern psychology has caught up to what the Torah has taught for millennia. Psychologist Barry Schwartz’s research in “The Paradox of Choice” demonstrates that excessive options often lead to decreased satisfaction, heightened expectations, and increased regret—all forms of psychological bondage.

Like matzah with its minimal ingredients, a life with meaningful boundaries leads to greater contentment than one overwhelmed by endless options. The yetzer hara thrives in environments of unlimited choice, where it can constantly whisper, “Maybe something else would be better.”

Breaking Free from Modern Slavery

Our consumer culture bombards us with messages that freedom means satisfying every desire. Want it? Buy it. Feel it? Express it. Crave it? Indulge it.

The results are clear: rising rates of addiction, overspending, and dissatisfaction—modern forms of slavery that our yetzer hara convinces us represent freedom. Just as matzah reminds us of our ancestors breaking free from Egyptian bondage, it calls us to examine our own slaveries—to technology, material possessions, public approval, and fleeting pleasures.

A Different Kind of Freedom

What distinguishes the limitations symbolized by matzah from arbitrary restrictions? The difference lies in their purpose and direction. When we choose restrictions that align with Torah values, they don’t constrain us—they liberate us to fulfill our Divine potential.

This Passover, as we break the matzah at our Seder tables, let us recognize it as a symbol of breaking free from our yetzer hara. The humble simplicity of matzah, its careful and mindful preparation, and the decisiveness required to make it before leavening occurs—all teach us how to achieve genuine freedom from the inner Pharaoh that seeks to enslave us.

True freedom isn’t the ability to do whatever we feel like—it’s liberation from the tyranny of always wanting more.

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