BESHELACH – RUSHING US OUT

April 15, 2006

The fifth Mishnah of the 9th Perek of Psachim asks what was different between the first Pesach while leaving Egypt, and Pesach Doros (every succeeding Pesach).  The Gemorah says that one difference is that on the first Pesach the issur of Chometz was for only one day, while subsequently the issur is for all 7 days.  The Ran in Mishnayos says that the issur was only for eating Chometz, not for owning Chometz. 

The Chumash says that the Jews left Egypt so quickly that the bread they were baking didn’t have enough time to become Chometz. 

“The people picked up its dough before it could become Chomitz…They baked the dough that they took out of Egypt into unleavened cakes, for they could not become Chomitz, for they were driven from Egypt, and they could not delay, nor had they made provisions for themselves.” (Exodus 12:40..45).

The Haggadah gives this as the reason why we eat Matzah – because the Jews left so fast that the bread they were baking didn’t have time to become Chometz.

“Matzah – why do we eat unleavened bread? Because the dough of our forefathers did not have time to become Chomitz before the King of Kings, The Holy One, Blessed be He, revealed Himself”.

Let’s ask four questions about this.

  1. If there was a commandment not to eat Chometz during that entire day, why were they baking bread?  We know how strong the issur of eating Chomotz is on Pesach. Surely having bread in the house might have increased the possibility that someone might have eaten the bread by mistake.
  2. If they were preparing for a long journey, why were they baking bread?  Bread doesn’t last more than a few days.  They should have been baking matzah which lasts much longer.
  3. Why does the Haggadah say that we eat Matzah to remember that the Jews didn’t have time to bake bread?  Rather it should say that we eat Matzah because there is a prohibition to eat Chometz.
  4. The Chumash says that the dough didn’t have time to become Chomitz because ‘they were driven from Egypt’, while the Hagaddah says that it didn’t have time to become Chomitz before Hashem revealed Himself.  Why the difference?

We will attempt to answer these four questions.

The Jews had just finished 210 years of slavery. Though they had just witnessed the 10 plagues, many were probably bewildered by what was going on.   Why was Hashem taking them out of Egypt and to where?

They knew there was an issur of eating Chometz.  But many Jews probably didn’t understand the full import of this issur.  In the midst of the hubbub, it was easy to be confused about what was going on.  So in the morning they baked their bread as they usually did every day.  The future fences set up by the Rabbis hadn’t been set up yet, and though they intended to refrain from eating bread, it was possible that some would transgress the issur of eating Chomitz by mistake because it was close by.

Therefore, Hashem interceded, and pushed them out so quickly that the bread didn’t have time to rise.  Hashem saved them from inadvertently eating Chometz by rushing them out. 

This approach answers all four questions:

  1. They were baking bread – in spite of the strong issur of eating Chometz – because it was time for the normal baking of bread in the morning.  They intended to keep the prohibition of not eating Chomitz, but mistakes might have happened.
  2. They weren’t clear about where they were going or for how long.  So they continued their normal habit of breaking bread in the morning, and they figured they would take whatever food they had with them.
  3. Hashem saved them from the bread that they might have come to eat.  Therefore, we eat matzah to remember that Hashem was kind to us by preventing us from inadvertently stumbling.
  4. The Haggadah wants to emphasize that Hashem revealed his love and Shmirah by rushing us out so that we wouldn’t have bread that we might have then eaten by mistake.

Hashem was solicitous to the Jews because of the great merit of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Hashem had orchestrated the birth of the Jewish nation so that they would receive the Torah.  At this crucial moment, He didn’t want them to stumble with regards to the prohibition of eating Chometz.

The time had come to bake their morning bread, and that’s what many did. Hashem saw that they might be Nichshal, and rushed them out before the bread could rise, before they might be in a position of eating Chomitz in error.

Usually Hashem gives us total free-will, and gives us tests that we hopefully pass. However, there are some times of greater Shmirah, when Hashem protects us from making mistakes. One of the great lessons of Pesach is that Hashem showed this special love for the Jews by watching over them, rushing them out before their bread could become Chomitz.  If He hadn’t rushed them out, they would have had bread in their houses, and they might have stumbled by eating it by mistake, and he made sure this didn’t happen. 

In a sense, these were the original ‘Shmurah’ matzah’s, watched by Hashem that they wouldn’t become Chomitz.  The magnitude of the Shmirah is magnified when one realizes that each home probably started baking bread at a different time, and Hashem had to rush its inhabitants in its own way at its own time, to make sure the dough was pulled from the ovens before the crucial 18 minutes had elapsed. It was ‘Hasgachah Pratis’ for each family.

This is relevant to us because Hashem is always watching over us.  If we are successful in striving to have enough merit, Hashem sometimes rushes us out of situations when He sees us on the verge of committing an avera.  Out of love, he can save us from being in situations where we might stumble. 

The matzah symbolizes that Hashem protected us from ourselves, rushing us out before the bread could become Chomitz – before the Jews might stumble by mistake.  We eat Matzah to remember that Hashem – out of great caring and love - rushed us out before the bread could rise, so that we wouldn’t be in the position of being more likely to stumble.  The Matzah symbolizes Hashem’s great love for the Jewish people.