Bo: Matzoh

Matzoh is a food with a message. Its meanings are fused into the symbol of Passover. Passover is the spring holiday that celebrates the liberation from the Egyptian servitude. That emancipation came through plagues that destroyed Egypt through a war that was fought by Gd through nature. Matzoh represents the haste in leaving Egypt. It is the product of rushing, following Gd’s last instruction in the Exodus.

Pharaoh had acceded to the request, presented by Moses and Aaron – in the name of Gd- to leave and worship, after the second of the 10 plagues. The relatively benign proliferation of invasive frogs was enough to elicit agreement to their proposal.  The problem was the delay. There was no timetable for fulfillment.  That led to negotiations about who and what would  leave. That led to the completion of the 10 plague program, which culminated in the death of the firstborn. The ritual that exempted the Hebrews from the pestilence involved signifying readiness to leave: girded loins, shoes tied, food as available. There would be no time to leaven the dough. The unfinished bread of rushing was part of the ritual and became the actual dietary staple because of the rush to leave. Pharoah had delayed. The Israelites would not. The matzoh was their act of participation in the process that brought them to freedom.

Matzoh is a rejection of Egyptian technology. The use of yeast to generate carbon dioxide and alcohol is the beginning of industrial biochemistry. The Egyptians were the ancient masters of the microbial world. They made beer and bread by nurturing the microbes.  They preserved the dead by killing the microbes.

Celebrating with matzoh was a rejection of the Egyptian way. It was an act of Luddism, it is anti-technological. Leavened bread tastes good, but it takes time, and it is filled with emptiness. The exodus required quicker decision and less hot air.  Ultimately, fermentation technology was adopted by the Hebrews, but its rejection celebrated. The weeklong abstinence from the leavened is like not using a phone on Shabbath.

Matzoh is the rejection of delay. When the mission is critical, delay allows for renegotiation, dilution and  a lower probability of success. Delay is a tool used by a patient enemy, it is one of the ways the wealthy and powerful manipulate the legal system.

But haste makes waste. In ninth grade Latin class (one of my greatest acculturation experiences), I memorized Festina lente, make haste slowly. I still don’t know what it means beyond a platitude that criticizes the pace of any action that goes wrong. Is that the Roman legacy?

The admonition to leave the land of the oppressor promptly brings to mind Jews who stayed in Germany, Austria, France, etc. as the Nazis rose to power. It is a reminder of the errors that devolved from excessive assimilation: overvaluing the culture and the comfort of the adopted country. Jews like my parents, rural Polish Jews, did not have the option of coming to America, Australia, Paraguay. The “offer” of resettlement in Palestine was like a dream and barred by the capricious British mandate. Maybe they could have gone to the Soviet Union…some did.  It did not end well for all. The only thing those people could do was run from place to place… and celebrate Passover, usually without matzoh.

Remaining in the zone of comfort is not an option. The rulers change, the rules change, the worldview changes and I get older. I was never a boy scout, but I respect their old motto: “be prepared.” The words are appropriated by Scar, the villain in the Lion King. The self-denial  that is matzoh is part of the defense.

Matzoh lasts for a long time on the shelf. It is usually there if you need it.