Passover Day 7 5783 - Matzah

(4) And there shall be no leaven seen with thee in all they borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which thou sacrificest the first day at even, remain all night until the morning. (5) Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover-offering within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee; (6) but at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to cause His name to dwell in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover-offering at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. (7) And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. (8) Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God; thou shalt do no work therein.

This matsa that we are eating, for the sake of what [is it]? For the sake [to commemorate] that our ancestors' dough was not yet able to rise, before the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed [Himself] to them and redeemed them, as it is stated (Exodus 12:39); "And they baked the dough which they brought out of Egypt into matsa cakes, since it did not rise; because they were expelled from Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they made for themselves provisions."

This is the bread of destitution that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Anyone who is famished should come and eat, anyone who is in need should come and partake of the Pesach sacrifice. Now we are here, next year we will be in the land of Israel; this year we are slaves, next year we will be free people.

Rabbi Chiya opened and said, One verse says, "In the first month on the fourteenth day in the evening you shall eat matza", and another verse says "Seven days you shall eat matza, poor man's bread", it says "poor man's bread." This issue was discussed by the colleagues and they said: When Israel was in Egypt, they were under the dominion of another (Pharaoh). When Hashem wanted to bring them close to Him, He gave them poor man's bread. Who is the poor man? King David, who writes of himself, "For I am poor and impoverished."

And this poor man's bread is called matza, the feminine without the masculine, when they initially encountered the matza it was impoverished, but when they came closer to it, Hashem brought them to a higher level and attached masculine to feminine. And like this, when the matza is attached to the masculine it is called mitzvah with the added "vav", and that is what is meant by "for this mitzvah". Because of this, it is initially called matza and then mitzvah.