Passover: The Modern Matzah

The verse in Ex. 12:18:"In the first [month], on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening shall you eat matzos...", seems to be saying that eating matzos on the eve of the Jews' redemption from Egypt was a commandment that they had to fulfill. However, later in the same chapter (Ex. 12:39): "They baked the dough that they took out of Egypt into unleavened cakes (matzos), for they could not be leavened..." that the formation of the matzos happened on its own not requiring any interference on the part of the Jewish people.

Since a basic precept in the belief in One G-d is that He is all-knowing, present, past and future, especially since everything that exists is through His knowledge, and He knew that the dough of the Jewish people would not rise when they left Egypt. The command to eat matzos,therefore, seems redundant since He knew that such a commandment would not be necessary as the only food they would have on leaving Egypt would be the matzos.

The answer is that there were two matzos described in this chapter in Exodus. The commandment to eat matzos was in regard to the Passover meal that the Jews had prior to midnight where they ate the matzos and the Paschal lamb. The unleavened bread that happened on its own was after midnight, after the firstborn of Egypt were struck down and the Jews were actively preparing to leave Egypt. The matzos that were baked and eaten before midnight needed to be guarded from leavening. Hence, the explicit warning (Ex. 12:17) "You shall safeguard the matzos". The matzos that were baked after midnight were baked in a hurry due to the circumstance and the Jews did not need any command from G-d in order for these matzos to form on their own as they did.

This duality is also hinted to by the fact that the word "matzos" in the commandment in 12:18 is written without a vav (מצת) while the "matzos" in verse 39, that became unleavened without the need for safeguarding are written with a vav (מצות).  Chassidus teaches that the vav, a line, represents the drawing down of light, a revelation of light from above to below. Therefore, it makes sense that the matzos that were baked after midnight are spelled with a vav, to show they were imbued with a special revelation of Divine Light which occured at midnight.

The matzos that we eat today are also imbued with that special divine revelation even though we eat them before midnight. Furthermore, the revelation is higher as it does not just happen on its own but rather is brought about by our learning of Torah and performance of the mitzvos throughout the year prior to Passover. In addition, the eating of matzah on Passover night is one of the 613 commandments commanded to us by G-d Himself at Mt. Sinai.

Nevertheless, since our main intent on Passover is to celebrate our freedom, the most important aspect of matzah that needs to be mentioned is the one that resulted from our being freed from Egypt primarily, the matzah that is purely orchestrated from above, through the revelation of G-d's Divine Light.

Based on a Discourse by the Lubavitcher Rebbe ("This Matzah" 5749)