MATZAH CONTINUED
Dear Family,
I hope everyone is well.
Mazal Tov to Ariella on her upcoming birthday next week. Wishing you a great year Ariella.
Mazal Tov to Binyamin Mordechai who also has a birthday next week. We are missing you Binyamin and we love you. Tatti is coming to see you soon next week BEH, and you should have a happy year.
Wishing safe trips to all who are travelling away for Pesach.
Last week we spoke of how the eating of matzah on the first night of Pesach gives us the capability of reaching up to a very high level beyond daas (a level of knowledge), where we get a sense of, and recognise Father (Hashem) and it is called 'the bread of our faith'.
2 further points about matzah came up in the Alte Rebbe's maamer which was interesting ie
1. The character of the matzah which allows us to reach this high level
2. The link of matzah to it's eating of 6 days
The Alte Rebbe keeps quoting passages from all over Torah and I am not clear of their sources, but here he links matzah to chochmah.
There are 3 levels of intellect
1. Chochmah
2. Binah
3. Daas
Chochmah is the highest level and it is compared to the first flash of an idea or concept. It is just a point, a very simple pont, but it contains not only this flash of an idea, but also, in a hidden way, the entire extent and development of that idea.
Binah is the next level where the flash concept of chochmah now expands out in all dimensions into it's myriads of details ie in breadth, depth, height etc.
The link of matzah to chochmah shows the qualities of matzah.
It is simple, made up of water and flour.
After being baked it stays simple as it is, water and flour, in the same shape and dimension as original.
Chochma means koach mah - 'the power of what', reflecting humility and simplicity.
It is easy for holiness to dwell here, and because it is also a Scriptural mitzva on the first night, the matzah has the capability of linking us to a very high level, beyond all knowledge, similar to a child recognising his father at a very young age after he starts to eat grain.
The next level of intellect is binah.
This is where you get massive expansion of intellectual details in all directions.
This is compared to bread in comparison to matzah, where the dough can expand hugely and become very bloated.
Even although binah has this positive powerful expansion of intellect, it is also an area where negative forces can enter eg ego, aggression, appetites, haughtiness, selfishness etc.
These negative qualities express in the emotional qualities of a person, and there are 6 emotions as described in the zohar and chassidus.
Can you now see the link?!
The pasuk says '6 days you shall eat matzos'
Halacha explains that this means that the first day matzah eating is obligatory, and the next 6 are optional.
This means that the holiness and humility achieved by the matzah on the first day, effects the drawing down of an infinite light down into our being, which removes the dark and negative traits that have come about from binah and our 6 emotional faculties.
Ie humility has the power to overcome our negative traits.
This is effected by the mitzva of matzah on the first night of Pesach, followed by the matzah of the following 6 days.
And again to highlight the beauty and wisdom of Torah, mazot in Hebrew is usually spelt without a vav.
In the pasuk which says '6 days you shall eat matzos', MATZOS IS SPELT WITH A VOV!
And the numerical value of vov IS SIX!
Wishing everyone a Gut Shabbos and happy preparations for Pesach.