What’s the Rush?

Passover is a time for questions. But sometimes the most obvious questions remain unanswered, like this one: Why has a technical detail of the exodus – the rush to leave – become the centerpiece of Passover? We change our diet for eight days just because the Israelites were in a rush!?

And what were the Israelites running from? By then the Egyptians were glad they were leaving already. After having been plagued for holding Israel captive, they were more than ready to let them go. So what’s the rush? Couldn't they have taken a few minutes to let the bread rise and make proper sandwiches for the trip?

And let’s say there is a good reason why they had to rush. But why must we eat it?! Isn’t it ironic that we celebrate freedom by restricting our diet to Matzah and unleavened products? Doesn’t that resemble slavery more than freedom?

There must be more to unleavened bread than that it is fast to cook and slow to digest. There is. Matzah holds the secret to freedom. When we understand what true freedom is, and why we have to rush to get there, we will know what Matzah represents.

ARE YOU FREE?
Most people associate freedom with anarchy - doing whatever you want, with no rules or limits whatsoever. According to this line of thinking, rules and restrictions are the antithesis to freedom. I am free as long as no one tells me what to do and I can follow my every whim and fancy.

But is that really freedom? Aren't I then just a slave to my whims and fancies? Who says my fancies are really coming from me? Maybe the desires were placed in my head by others. Am I truly free if I follow those desires? What if I have instinctive drives that are harmful to me? Can I be free if I am bound by those drives? What about compulsive or addictive behavior? Bad habits? Can't you also be a slave to what you want?

Judaism defines freedom differently. Freedom doesn’t mean you can do what you want. True freedom is the ability to express who you really are. Deeper than your desires, habits, urges and instincts is your identity, the core of your being, your soul. If there are levels to your personality that have not been explored, if your soul has not had the opportunity to be expressed, if you never came face to face with the real and innermost you, then you are not free. You are a slave to your own personal Egypt.

SLAVERY OF THE SOUL
Two centuries of slavery had taken their toll on the Jewish spirit. They were children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, revolutionaries who pioneered divine ethics and higher morals. Yet Egyptian corruption and depravity had slowly crept into the Israelite mentality, and they assimilated many of its pagan ideals into their own. They were slaves to Egypt, not just in body, but in mind as well. They were not living true to their selves.

It came to a point where their identity had all but disappeared. But somehow, it is when we are on the verge of losing it all that we suddenly wake up. The Israelites had reached this point. They realized that the legacy of Abraham could be lost forever, and the message of hope that Israel was to bring the world would not be delivered. Only then did they cry out for help. On the brink of the point of no return, they called out to G-d.

GOING COLD TURKEY
For a while, an alcoholic fools himself into thinking that things are in control, he is just drinking socially, it relaxes him, there's nothing wrong. Gradually, the habit overtakes him, and one-by-one he loses everything: his family, his job, his money, his dignity. But it's only when he hits rock bottom, and stares into the abyss that it suddenly hits him that he has a real problem.

Now he has to act fast. Once he has recognized the problem, he has to deal with it immediately, before that moment of clarity passes by and he slips back into self-justification. He can't do it alone. He's too drunk to help himself. He has to call for help. Someone outside, someone sober, will have to reach out to drag him out of his addiction. But they can only help him if he is willing to go cold-turkey, not to touch alcohol until he is cured. He has to run away from the addict that he has been until now. Otherwise he cannot begin to heal.

Israel had to make a hasty retreat from Egypt. But they weren't running from the Egyptians, they were running from themselves. Egypt and its lowliness had a firm grip on their souls, powerful as an addiction. They had to first get out of Egypt in order to get Egypt out of themselves. To delay would be deadly. Once they realized the problem, any hesitation would have meant the end - they may have sunk to the point of no return.

So they ran, so fast, that even their bread didn’t have time to rise. They didn’t know where they were going. They just knew that G-d was calling them, and if they didn’t answer right there and then, there was no future. That's why Matzah, the bread that couldn’t wait around to rise, is the crux of our exodus celebation.

LEAVE YOUR EGYPT
We all have our addictions, harmful substances, poisonous relationships, toxic habits or negative ideologies. Pesach is a de-tox retreat, where the spirit of liberty calls on us to free ourselves from our personal Egypt, and march to revealing our true inner self. The Matzah reminds us that the first step to freedom is to go cold-turkey. No hesitations. Make an immediate and complete exodus from the you that was, and march through the desert towards the you that can be.