The rituals and stories of Passover, like many others, are rarely about the literal
meaning; they serve as invitations to explore the richer metaphors of human experience. During Pesach, we engage with texts that connect Divine mystery with human limitation, urging us to find hope in the most difficult circumstances.
A provocative and often-overlooked metaphor lies in the Matza. Tradition holds that the Israelites had so little time to escape Egypt that they couldn’t let their bread rise, yet the modern “halachic” or “kosher” process of Matza-making allows the dough to rise for up to 18 minutes. The text notes that, in the chaos of packing and rushing to leave, there was no time to let the dough rise. But surely, 18 minutes could have been found.
This raises a profound question: if we could have made the time, but the story insists we did not, what is the message? It suggests that the Exodus is more than just a historical event; it is a metaphor conveying a larger, universal message. The Matza symbolizes a deliberate choice to embrace the incomplete or unleavened. It serves as a reminder that when an extraordinary moment arrives, we must seize it, ready to leave behind the familiar, the influence, or relative comfort of our old lives before it can rise and hold us back.