The Sin of Inactivity – Bo
This is one of my favorite shiurim and is a little longer than normal, but it has profound יסודות and practical applications for each and every one of us and is well worth reading.
This week’s parsha contains the final three of the Ten Plagues, hinted at in the name of the parsha בא, in Gematria = 3. Our parsha is all about the Pesach Seder. As everyone knows there are three prominent features on the Seder table – פסח, מצה ומרור. The Haggadah tells us why we eat Matza on Pesach -
מצה זו שאנו אוכלים על שום מה? על שום שלא הספיק בצקם של אבותינו להחמיץ.
And it brings a proof from a verse in this week’s parsha –
ויאפו את הבצק אשר הוציאו ממצרים עגת מצות כי לא חמץ כי גרשו ממצרים ולא יכלו להתמהמה וגם צדה לא עשו להם (שמות יב, לט)
From the above it appears that the reason we eat matza on Pesach is because Am Yisrael did not have time to bake their bread - as they had to leave in a hurry. Because of that it didn’t rise and came out a flat matza.
But, was this really the case?
On Rosh Chodesh Nisan, Hashem tells Moshe and Aharon -
החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים וכו' .... בעשר לחודש הזה ויקחו להם שה לבית אבות וכו' .... והיה לכם למשמרת עד ארבע עשר יום לחדש הזה וכו' ... ואכלו את הבשר בלילה הזה צלי אש ומצות על מררים יאכלהו".
In other words Moshe and Aharon knew already on Rosh Chodesh Nisan that they were going to have to make matzot to eat with the Korban Pesach – 14 days later. If they wanted to make bread the regular way, allowing it to rise, they certainly had enough time to do so. But no, Hashem specifically tells them that on the night of Pesach you must eat davka matzot. So, obviously “limited time” was not an issue causing Am Yisrael to eat unrisen matzot on the Seder night in Egypt before they left - it was planned long beforehand that they would eat flat matzot.
Later, when Am Yisrael leave Egypt, they don’t leave with bread, they leave with - dough.
וישא העם את בצקו טרם יחמץ משארותם צררת בשמלתם על שכמם. (שמות יב, לד)
This dough, according to Chazal, was only baked when they reached Sukkot. When they got to Sukkot however, there was no longer any rush. They had to leave Egypt in a hurry, but now they had reached Sukkot, what was to stop them letting their dough rise and baking it into regular bread and not matzot? But no – they baked it davka into matzot. Why?
Aside from the commandment to eat matzot, there is another, separate commandment, removal of and a prohibition against eating chametz –
שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו אך ביום הראשון תשביתו שאר מבתיכם כי כל אכל חמץ ונכרתה הנפש ההוא מישראל מיום הראשון עד יום השביעי (שם יב, טו)
שבעת ימים שאר לא ימצא בבתיכם כי כל אכל מחמצת ונכרתה הנפש ההיא מעדת ישראל בגר ובאזרח הארץ. כל מחמצת לא תאכלו בכל משבתיכם תאכלו מצות. (שם יב, יט-כ).
As we see, the commandment to eat matzot is a distinct and separate commandment to not eat chametz. Also the punishment for eating chametz is extremely severe. Aside from brit milah it is the only other positive commandment in the Torah that if you don’t follow it, you get כרת.
It seems therefore that the reason given in the Haggadah for eating flat, unrisen matzot is not chronologically or even logically correct as can be seen from the above timeline and psukkim.
Also, if chametz is forbidden and Am Yisrael left Egypt with dough - which they only baked when they reached Sukkot, a two-three day journey - how is it possible that that dough did not become chametz in that long time? We know it takes 18 minutes for dough to become chametz.
So, obviously the Haggadah is correct in what it says, we are just misunderstanding what it is telling us. Most people think incorrectly that it is telling us what I described above – that there was no time to let their dough rise, so it came out as flat matzot - but this is not the case. It is telling us something connected but intrinsically different.
To understand this we need to go back to the book of Breishit. In parshat Vayeira we read about the angels visiting Avraham who prepares a lavish meal for them, including עגת that he tells Sarah to bake. Chazal say these were matzot and it was Pesach. (Incidentally this is how we know that matzot are round -from a גזרה שווה between the uggot in Bo and in Vayeira). Later when the angels went to rescue Lot, he also baked matzot for them, again Chazal say, because it was Pesach. This was long before Am Yisrael even went down to Egypt, let alone leave and already Avraham and Lot were eating matzot during that week.
Another episode in Toldot - when Yitzchak sends Eisav to the field to hunt for him so he may bless him and Rivka urges Yaakov to pose as his brother and get the blessing instead. It also mentions matzot and Chazal say it was because this was Pesach, again – long before Am Yisrael left Egypt.
The Avot were already eating matzot long before the actual Exodus and they had no time constraints that they had to go anywhere in a hurry. Chazal say that the Avot kept the entire Torah, even before it was given, out of choice. So long before the Exodus there was already something special about this month, Nisan and specifically these seven days in Nisan that required matzot to be eaten and chametz not to be eaten - and it had nothing to do with not having “enough time” to bake bread the regular way, letting it rise.
During the בריאה HKB”H created Adam and Chava and placed them in Gan Eden לעבדה ולשמרה. Also in Gan Eden were the עץ החיים, the עץ הדעת and the נחש. Numerous other contents of the Gan are mentioned briefly, but the above 5 – אדם, חווה, עץ החיים, עץ הדעת, נחש are featured prominently. On the 6th, last day of Creation Hashem looks back on everything He has created and it was טוב מאד.
Hashem gave Adam and Chava only 2 commandments, one positive, one negative -
What was the purpose of the above mentioned 5 main features in Gan Eden?
Before Chava and Adam ate from the forbidden עץ הדעת their lives were purely spiritual and not connected in any way to the material world. They basked in the glory of Hashem’s שכינה and were completely free of sin, like the מלאכים, some commentators say even greater.
This was the reason that Hashem forbade them to eat from the עץ הדעת so that they would continue their purely spiritual existence free of sin and free of domination by the יצר הרע.
There was only one problem. They did not obey Hashem’s first commandment– פרו ורבו. How do we know this? Only after they were expelled from Gan Eden does it say that Adam “knew” his wife and she became pregnant. While in the Gan they did not obey Hashem’s commandment, they were inactive and tardy in performing this mitzvah.
An essential element in the mitzvah of פרו ורבו is the יצר הרע. Without it, there would be no פרו ורבו. The יצר הרע is therefore a good thing, an essential thing, without it the world would cease to exist. This is why after Hashem created the world, He said it was all good, including the נחש, the יצר הרע. It is good, but only when man dominates the יצר הרע, when he harnesses the יצר הרע for the purposes of good and not the other way around.
Exactly at this juncture the נחש, the יצר הרע enters the scene – when Adam and Chava are inactive (passive), not doing the first mitzvah Hashem commanded them to do. This is the modus operandi of the יצר הרע - as long as we are actively doing Hashem’s will, the יצר הרע is there, but he is sidelined and not active. As soon as we become inactive and passive, the יצר הרע takes over and becomes active.
The יצר הרע tempts Chava, he convinces her to eat from the עץ הדעת which represents the material world. According to one opinion in the Gemara it was a wheat tree. Not the wheat we know today, this was a towering tree and on it were enormous fruits of all the חמשת מיני דגן – wheat, barley, spelt, oats and rye, each grain the size of a grapefruit. It was a very visually appealing tree. The נחש convinces Chava to take the fruit of this tree – wheat, grind it up into flour, mix it with water from the river that irrigated Gan Eden and bake it into bread. Chava leaves this “dough” to rest before baking it. We know this from after the sin is discovered, Chava says – הנחש השיאני ואכל, from the root להשהות to delay.
She then gave to Adam to eat and caused him to sin. Adam is called the “challah of the world” because HKB”H created him by taking dust from four corners of the world and mixing it together, like one mixes dough to make bread. (Incidentally this is why the mitzvah of הפרשת חלה is primarily for a woman to perform. A man may also, but he must ask his wife for permission first. This mitzvah is to atone for Chava’s sin in spoiling the “challah of the world” – Adam, by causing him to sin).
There was a second tree in the garden, the עץ החיים. This tree represents the Torah, as it says עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה. We know that Adam and Chava never ate from this tree, because after they sinned, it says that the angels warned Hashem – what will happen if they eat from the עץ החיים, they will live forever. There was no initial prohibition by Hashem to eat from the עץ החיים but Adam and Chava did not, because it was unnecessary. The purpose of the עץ החיים – the Torah, is an antidote to the יצר הרע, to keep it in check so that it does not take over. Supposedly if Adam and Chava were to have eaten at that point from the עץ החיים, they might have atoned for their sin and merited eternal life in the world to come – ואכל וחי לעלם. However Hashem prevented this and expelled them, because they had been contaminated by the זוהמת הנחש and this would take many generations to cleanse. So the עץ החיים was kept in protected storage for another 2448 years.
In the Gemara (ראש השנה י, ע"ב) there is a debate when the world was created. Rebi Eliezer says in Tishrei and Rebi Yehoshua says in Nisan. According to the opinion that the בריאה was in Nisan, that was also when the חטא עץ הדעת took place. And it all stemmed from the “sin of inactivity”, by Adam and Chava not diligently performing the only positive mitzvah Hashem’s had given them.
In my shiur from last week (Vaeira) I spoke about how יציאת מצרים was a reenactment of the בריאת העולם with the Ten Plagues paralleling the עשרה מאמרות with which the world was created. The purpose of the Exodus from Egypt and the subsequent מתן תורה, was to recreate the world and restore it to its original state before Adam sinned. The galut in Egypt was to cleanse us from the זוהמת הנחש and מתן תורה was to give us the עץ החיים, the Torah, the antidote to keep the יצר הרע in check.
It was in Nisan that Adam and Chava sinned. It was a sin caused by inactivity, not being actively involved in doing what Hashem told them, which lowered Adam and Chava to a material existence and gave the יצר הרע power over them. So the תיקון had to also take place in Nisan in Egypt. Whereas Adam and Chava, in Gan Eden, were tardy in regard to פרו ורבו, Am Yisrael in Egypt multiplied prodigiously, exceeding any natural norms. Whereas Adam and Chava sinned with the עץ הדעת, Am Yisrael remedied that by eating matza and not eating chametz.
Chazal compare chametz to the יצר הרע because it is invisible to the naked eye. The process of חימוץ takes place invisibly, we cannot see it happening inside the dough. All we see is its manifestation on the exterior of the dough – as it ferments. In order to create chametz, you need to mix wheat/flour with water and then leave it inactive, to rest for 18 minutes or more. This was precisely what Chava did in גן עדן, the יצר הרע tempted her to make bread out of the fruit of the עץ הדעת – wheat.
The תיקון for this sin in Egypt was to eat bread that does not allow the יצר הרע to dominate – that bread is matza.
What is matza? It is flour mixed with water, but NOT left to rest or be inactive. In the flour itself and the water there are natural yeast organisms, compared to the יצר הרע. The יצר הרע is naturally there just like it was in Gan Eden and that is not necessarily a bad thing. However if the dough is inactive, left to passively rest, the יצר הרע takes over - the yeast organisms start fermenting. When making matza, there is NO inactivity. From the second the water is added there is furious, ongoing activity, kneading, rolling, perforating, baking, all in under 18 minutes. In matza the יצר הרע is sidelined, and prevented from rearing its head. So it is specifically this kind of bread that acts as a תיקון for Adam and Chava’s sin and why Hashem specifically commanded Moshe to make matzot already on Rosh Chodesh Nisan to eat with the Korban Pesach.
Chametz, symbolizing the יצר הרע becoming dominant and taking over, is forbidden on Pesach, also as a remedy for Adam and Chava’s sin. For seven whole days we dominate the יצר הרע and achieve a state of Adam and Chava before the sin.
The Exodus was typified by furious activity. Am Yisrael had to leave Egypt in a hurry, בחפזון, they were not allowed להתמהמה – to be inactive, to atone for Adam and Chava’s sin of inactivity. The Gematria of להתמהמה is the same as the word מפתה - to tempt. By being inactive we open ourselves to being tempted by the יצר הרע, often because of our eyes, seeing things that are visually appealing.
Am Yisrael left Egypt with dough on their shoulders/waists and travelled to Sukkot, a three day journey. How could the dough have not become chametz in such a long time? Chazal say because the constant movement while walking was equivalent to constantly kneading the dough. The dough was not allowed to be inactive – it was constantly being kneaded, so could therefore not become chametz. This is also the הלכה למעשה today that as long as dough is being kneaded it does not become chametz.
After they reached Sukkot they baked the dough into matzot. Why matzot? Am Yisrael had descended in Egypt to the 49th level of טומאה and the יצר הרע still had hold over them, so they could not yet eat chametz bread. After the matza baked in Sukkot ran out, they ate the Manna. They were not permitted to resume eating chametz until מתן תורה.
After they received the Torah, the antidote to the יצר הרע, Am Yisrael were again permitted to eat chametz, because with the antidote, the chametz was no longer harmful to them.
In fact the Torah, is compared to a “spice” that complements and controls the יצר הרע. Chazal say that a “dish” created by a combination of the Torah (the spice) together with יצר הרע is actually better and tastier than just the spice itself. By harnessing and dominating the יצר הרע we are able to use it to achieve things that are not possible without it. This is why on Shavuot we bring a korban of two chametz loaves, to demonstrate the Torah’s domination of the יצר הרע. This completed the restoration of the world to its original state before Adam and Chava’s sin, before eating from the עץ הדעת and being completely detached from the material world.
Unfortunately this epic and apocalyptic return to the beginning of Creation was rudely interrupted and perverted soon after, with the sin of the עגל הזהב. Even though we were given the gift of the Torah, because of the חטא העגל we have again become weighed down by the material world and we have to again go through a process of תיקון to repair that.
As long we are constantly diligent and active in performing the mitzvot that Hashem gave us – 613 of them - that keep us forever busy and active, we don’t have a second of inactivity and don’t leave an opening for the יצר הרע to gain hold over us. Only when we are inactive do we get into trouble - וישמן ישורון ויבעט. We have an opportunity to be doing Hashem’s will, but instead we are taking a break, we are inactive. So we miss the opportunity and invite the יצר הרע in. This is also why it is called chametz from the word החמצה, a missed opportunity.
This is the purpose of the גלויות. As long we are in exile, we are constantly troubled and kept busy by שעבוד מלכויות. It is an essential component of the תיקון of the חטא העגל and חטא עץ הדעת.
So the Haggadah is right when it says that we eat matzot because of the חפזון when we left Egypt. But it is not how we commonly misunderstand it – that the bread did not have time to rise and therefore remained flat like a matza. The flat matza and the absence of chametz on Pesach were planned long before the actual night of the Exodus as a תיקון for the sin of Adam Harishon. Even if they would have had the time and were not in a hurry, they would have made matzot anyway, as they did in Sukkot. The purpose of the חפזון and furious activity when leaving Egypt was to atone for Adam and Chava’s inactivity and lack of חפזון, rushing to perform Hashem’s mitzvah, that caused the sin.
This Divine plan was already known by the Avot, long before the Exodus and is why they ate matzot on Pesach - to help to repair Adam and Chava’s sin. Hashem never gave the Avot the Torah. The עץ החיים was still being guarded by the להט החרב המתהפכת and was waiting for מתן תורה. The Avot managed to acquire and understand every aspect of the entire Torah, not by being told or commanded by Hashem, but by personal discovery and deduction and achieving an unprecedented elevated level of spiritual purity and proximity to Hashem.
This gives us a very important insight into the essence of chametz in bread.
Chametz is a combination of flour of one or more of the חמשת מיני דגן, water and inactivity. The fact that yeast is present does not make the dough chametz. Yeast organisms are naturally present in the flour and water without our doing anything or adding them. The actual yeast organisms themselves are not chametz. Baker’s yeast is not chametz! Chametz is only formed when the yeast is jolted out of its inactivity and allowed to become active. This happens when we let the dough rest. This inactivity in handling the dough and letting it rest allows all kinds of chemical reactions in the dough to take place, including fermentation, which we cannot see with the naked eye. All we can see are the outer manifestations, as the Gemara defines them הכסיפו פניו the surface of the (liquid) dough has a silvery sheen (due to the presence of alcohol from the fermentation), or קרני חגבים cracks we observe on the surface of the rising (solid) dough. When no outer manifestations can be seen visibly and one is not sure if the dough is chametz or not, it is called בצק החרש and Chazal determined a specific time – 18 minutes זמן הליכת מיל as the threshold after which chametz is formed - even if it cannot be seen visibly.
In the Beit Hamikdash there were four categories of bread korbanot that differed in their treatment of chametz and the יצר הרע.
The מנחות that were matzot (not chametz) were breads that suppressed the יצר הרע down to the minimum. The yeast was there in the flour, but it was not left inactive for more than 18 minutes. This kind of bread is symbolic of being in defense mode – we are in a vulnerable state and afraid of the יצר הרע so we do our best to suppress it, like Am Yisrael leaving Egypt who were still in a vulnerable state before receiving the Torah had to eat only matzot. Similarly a mincha brought to atone for a sin, the person is still reeling from the sin and is vulnerable, so he brings a matza and suppresses the יצר הרע as much as possible.
The Shtei Halechem on Shavuot was a chametz bread. In this bread no attempt was made to limit the יצר הרע in any way, quite the opposite, we let it loose and go crazy and become chametz. The reason we can do this on Shavuot is as I described above, because we received the Torah that is the antidote to the יצר הרע so even if it is let loose, the Torah can counteract it and keep it in check. But this is still a kind of suppression - regarding the יצר הרע as a negative thing, but tolerable because we have an injection of antidote handy if needed.
The Korban Toda had a mixture of every type of bread in the Mikdash - three types of (chametz free) matzot in different forms (רקיקים, חלות, מרבכת) and a chametz bread. The Toda is an offering brought to celebrate a miracle. Some miracles are visible and some are invisible. The matzot in the korban are symbolic of the visible types of miracles and the chametz bread is symbolic of the invisible type of miracle (like the yeast ferments invisibly inside the bread). The korban therefore gives thanks for all of these types of miracles. There were 3 types of matzot and one type of chametz bread, so the emphasis was on the matzot, the suppression of the יצר הרע, because a person who was saved from danger by a miracle, experienced that danger in the first place because of some sin he/she did.
The most interesting bread in this respect is the Lechem Hapanim. It is a chametz free bread, but it is not a flat matza, it is a loaf with the thickness of a tefach! To get a matzo to achieve that thickness - it has to rise, not like a chametz bread does, but in a different way, being very strict to ensure that fermentation takes place but that חימוץ does not. This requires an extreme level of expertise and was a lost art practiced by Beit Garmu, the family of Leviim who baked the Lechem Hapanim during Bayit Sheini. This is the most interesting treatment of the יצר הרע because it does not consider the yeast/ יצר הרעa threat at all, but instead – a plaything - that can be controlled and manipulated, to achieve wonders that are impossible without it. Like the passuk in Tehillim says לויתן זה יצרת לשחק בו – the Gematria of לויתן is the same as סולת and also עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה. In other words, the Lechem Hapanim took the principle of the Shtei Halechem to a more advanced level. It used the Torah, not simply as an antidote to the יצר הרע but as a vehicle to achieve perfection in the mastery over the יצר הרע. It takes the material world and using the Torah, elevates it (to the thickness of tefach), manipulating the יצר הרע - but without it becoming chametz, without letting the יצר הרע take control. This is what Hashem originally intended in Gan Eden, that Adam and Chava would completely dominate and manipulate the יצר הרע like a plaything for the purposes of פרו ורבו and achieve results of perfection that were impossible without the יצר הרע. They were however remiss and tardy in performing this commandment - instead of actively and diligently heeding Hashem’s word..
Chametz in bread is all about flour mixed with water and INACTIVITY. The חטא עץ הדעת, caused by inactivity, changed the world forever. We had a second chance, a golden opportunity to reverse the process after יציאת מצרים and receiving the Torah but we botched it with the עגל הזהב. What we are now experiencing is theתיקון for that – exile. If we, on our own initiative maintain constant activity and diligently keep Hashem’s mitzvot thus dominating our יצר הרע, we will get אחישנה and hasten the geulah, if not we will suffer longer in galut (forced activity) and have to wait for בעיתה.
