Matzah: A Remembrance of History and a Symbol of Hope:
This is like the bread of poverty which our ancestors ate: As we begin the Haggadah, we do so by emphasizing the power of God. Matzah serves as a symbol of memory. When we refer to the bread of affliction we are reminded that despite the fact that Pharaoh was so powerful that no slave ever escaped from Egypt, we were able to do so with the help of God. Matzah teaches us that we could not have escaped from Egypt on our own. Other people would have taken credit for their escape, but the bread of affliction is a reminder that we were powerless on o ur own.
When we contemplate the meaning of Matzah which our ancestors ate and through which our ancestors merited God's blessings, we are affirming that the hand of God is all powerful, the creator of light and darkness. Matzah is not the food of slavery but an affirmation of God's providence, the One who creates the rich and the poor.
We can only be free when we recognize the power of God. Matzah alludes to the power of renewal. With almost nothing we make Matzah. God renews the world out of nothing, just as the bread of affliction is made without leaven to begin its preparation.
Ha lachma anya: At the beginning of the Maggid, we open the story of the Exodus with a statement in which we call matzah the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate while they were still in Egypt.
Later in the Haggadah, we explain matzah differently: we say that our ancestors ate matzah when they left Egypt; the dough did not have time to rise because they left Egypt hastily. The two explanations seem to contradict one another!!!
In his commentary, Rabbi David Abudraham wonders why we begin the Haggadah by referring to matzah as “the bread…which our ancestors ate in Egypt.” The Torah explains that matzah was baked when our ancestors left Egypt: “For they baked unleavened cakes of dough …when they went forth from Egypt…because they were thrust out of Egypt.
If matzah was the bread baked as they left Egypt, how can we say that it is also the bread our ancestors ate while they were still slaves?
There is no contradiction here since the Torah also tells us that matzah was part of the meal at the original Korban Pesach while the Israelites were still in Egypt: “They shall eat (the Passover offering) with matzah and with maror.”Why did the Israelites eat matzah before they left Egypt? It was a portent of what was to come for the Israelites. It was a sign that they would leave Egypt in such haste that they would not have time to bake bread or for their dough to rise.
Abudraham offers this explanation later when commenting on the passage in the Haggadah, “This matzah, for what reason?”
But there are other reasons that we eat matzah as well. The poor eat matzah because it takes time to digest and they will not be hungry as often. Also, it is easy to prepare so those who are hungry will not have to wait long for it to be baked when they return home to eat dinner.