Parshat Vayikra: Lessons from “No-Chametz” zones

By Rabbi Avi Billet

Issue of March 27, 2009 / 2 Nissan 5769

In his comment on Exodus 12:15, former Chief Rabbi of England Rabbi J.H. Hertz writes, “Leaven is the symbol of corruption, passion, and sin.” Perhaps this sentiment would inspire one to get rid of ‘chametz’ throughout the year.

There is, however and quite thankfully, another angle to view leaven and leavened products, as offered by Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch in his comments in this week’s Torah portion.

In Vayikra chapter 2, there are a number of sacrificial offerings that are required to be presented with matzo, when bread, specifically, may not be used (2:4 through and especially 2:11). Hirsch describes chametz as a “sign of independence and [of] being one’s own master.”

He continues: “Left to themselves ‘the bread of slavery’ [matzo] would never have disappeared from [the enslaved Israelites’] hands... The [leavened] bread of freedom was given to us out of His hands only under the condition that we go out of serving Pharaoh to enter forever servitude of G-d... Freedom from every other kind of servitude... is the promised reward for this servitude of G-d... [Thus it is only once a year] on the completion of the yearly recurrence of the day of the giving of the Jewish law [Shavuot]... that Israel brings its bread of its political independence before G-d.

“We should always remain conscious that we do not have even a trace of [political independence] through our own selves, that we can only partake of it by completely devoting ourselves to G-d’s Torah... it is a possession which we do not have without our being in the proximity of G-d.”

This is very heavy material.

Even though Rabbi Hirsch describes chametz as being a sign of independence and of being one’s own master, the truth is that he is agreeing even more so with Rabbi Hertz. Because leaven is a symbol of corruption, passion and sin, it has no place in the Temple except for one day of the year, a day in which we will not take the power leaven gives us to our heads as we recommit ourselves in the most poignant way to the Torah and to our subservience to G-d.

Other than on this day, however, the Temple serves as a constant reminder of our servitude to G-d, as represented by the matzo.

Where does the holiday of Pesach fit in? If Pesach is all about the freedom from slavery, why can’t the bread which symbolizes independence be our bread of choice for the holiday?

It is precisely because the celebration is not just about freedom. It is about the transition from slavery to freedom. One of the obligations at the seder is to feel as if one is enslaved and is now leaving Egypt. How could we get into such a mode if we’re eating a freshly baked Zomick’s challah? We’re free before we even begin the story!

As the matzo in the Temple was meant to remind us of our need to become close to G-d due to our dependence on Him, the matzo at the seder, and more generally the missing hametz, will remind us of our continued need to keep G-d in our lives.

We certainly enjoy bread all year. But we do not have a Temple which serves as a constant reminder of our subservience to G-d, through it’s ever present ‘kosher l’pesach’ mode.

Perhaps our parsha serves as a reminder for us, so that when we sit down to our seders in less than two weeks, we will appreciate the extra significance of the matzo, and recommit ourselves to the Torah and to the service of G-d, our master, under Whose graces we enjoy the freedom and independence we benefit from daily.

Avi Billet welcomes your thoughts and comments at avbillet [at] gmail.com