More Matza Symbolism
On Monday night I went to a lecture at Yeshibat Hhobebei Torah (sorry guys, for some reason your name always comes out in a syrian accent). It was about understanding the story of Yetzi’at Mitzrayim (the Outgoing from Egypt) and the obligations of Pesahh in general and the Seider in particular according to paradigms of personal spiritual, personal physical, national spiritual, and national physical redemption.
The lecture involved the Four Terms of Redemption — vehotzeití... vehitzaltí... vega’altí... velaqahhtí... (and maybe veheiveití...), the Four Cups of Wine, the Three Obligatorily-Mentioned Objects, and the Five Prohibitions on Hhameitz.
There was a lot there, and I'm not going to put it all up here now, even if I can recall it all. Hopefully they'll upload a recording soon, if one was made.
One particular point I noticed was one view of the symbolism of matza — or more accurately, the symbolism of anti-matza, a.k.a hhameitz bread.
Matza was the food of slaves. Fast to produce, easy to make, low on taste and dense on [somewhat weak] nutrition. So if matza is the food of slaves, what did the slavemasters eat? 'Regular' leavened bread, of course! So on Pesahh, as we relive the slavery and salvation of our ancestors in Egypt, we also reject hhameitz as the symbol of the decadent, immoral and abusive society that murdered and oppressed us there.
~
And here's another alternate read of the matza~hhameitz contrast, from last year (well technically two years ago).
The lecture involved the Four Terms of Redemption — vehotzeití... vehitzaltí... vega’altí... velaqahhtí... (and maybe veheiveití...), the Four Cups of Wine, the Three Obligatorily-Mentioned Objects, and the Five Prohibitions on Hhameitz.
There was a lot there, and I'm not going to put it all up here now, even if I can recall it all. Hopefully they'll upload a recording soon, if one was made.
One particular point I noticed was one view of the symbolism of matza — or more accurately, the symbolism of anti-matza, a.k.a hhameitz bread.
Matza was the food of slaves. Fast to produce, easy to make, low on taste and dense on [somewhat weak] nutrition. So if matza is the food of slaves, what did the slavemasters eat? 'Regular' leavened bread, of course! So on Pesahh, as we relive the slavery and salvation of our ancestors in Egypt, we also reject hhameitz as the symbol of the decadent, immoral and abusive society that murdered and oppressed us there.
~
And here's another alternate read of the matza~hhameitz contrast, from last year (well technically two years ago).
carved on the walls of the caverns by Steg (dos iz nit der šteg) at 3/27/2007 12:01:00 AM
4 Comments:
Mattzo is a form of bread.
Anti-mattzo is called "chomeitz", not "bread".
right. i just made it clearer now.
Anti-matze is what you have ante the matze course.
Karpes, in other words. And nuts.
Orthodox physicists in particle physics are working on what happens when you put matze and antimatze together.
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