Why is the mitzvah of matzah so important?How could a food be so fundamental to redemption and its remembrance?
The story of Avraham, Lot and Sodom allude to the secrets of this simple bread. Sodom, like Mitzrayim, was economically secure, supplied with water from a river, while the land of Israel depends on rain, Hashem’s heavenly blessing liable to be withheld if not earned by doing His will. The bread of Mitzrayim is the food of pride and insolence: economic security engenders haughtiness, root of all Sodom’s evil, while the bread of affliction is the food of Hashem’s land, reminding us of the ever-present possibility of hunger if we lose Hashem’s favor.
To eat and be aware that all sustenance is a heavenly gift that can be denied – that is central to our relationship with Hashem and characteristic of His holy land, and also at the heart of Sh’ma and Tefillin.
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