ששת “You shall eat matzos for six days…. On the seventh day, there will be an assembly unto G‑d your L‑rd.” Devarim 16:8.
וצ"ל We must understand why [the Torah] states: Ibid.:3. “You shall eat matzos for six days.” Several verses previously, [the Torah] states: “And you shall eat matzos for seven days because of it.”
“It” refers to the Paschal sacrifice. Together with the obligation to offer that sacrifice comes the obligation to eat matzah.
[There is an obvious contradiction between the two verses.]
Pesachim 120a explains the resolution of the difficulty in halachic terms. Here, the Alter Rebbe focuses on the spiritual dimensions of the concept.
אך The concept [can be explained as follows. The verse “You shall eat matzos for six days”] is not intended as a command, mandating the eating of matzah, [for that mitzvah must indeed be performed for seven days]. Instead, its intent is to inform us that “on the seventh day, there will be an assembly.” By stating first that “you shall eat matzos for six days,” the Torah is teaching that as a natural consequence to [the fulfillment of this command], “the seventh day will be an assembly.”
I.e., partaking of matzah creates the spiritual environment that makes the seventh day stand out as “an assembly unto G‑d.”
It is therefore necessary to understand: What is the connection between eating matzah for six days and the consequence it brings about, that “on the seventh day, there will be an assembly”?
ועוד [Explanation is] also [necessary regarding another matter. The reason that] “On the seventh day, there will be an assembly unto G‑d your L‑rd,” [is] that the Seventh Day of Pesach commemorates the miracle of the Splitting of the Sea. Now [the prohibition against] chametz observed in connection with the Paschal sacrifice [offered in] Egypt was observed for only one day.1
For the Biblical commandments not to possess or partake of chametz for seven daysapplied only to the future time.
As such, [at that time] they merited [the miracle of] the Splitting of the Sea of Reeds without [having] to eat matzah for six days. Why, then, for [future] generations was it said: “And you shall eat matzos for seven days because of it”? And why is it that eating matzos for six days makes it possible for “the seventh day [to] be an assembly”?
The Alter Rebbe’s questions are based on the principle that an event is commemorated as a holiday because the same spiritual influences that were initially revealed are revealed again each year (Ramaz, Tikkun Shoveivim; Chidah, Lev David, ch. 39). Why, then, if at the time of the Exodus it was not necessary to observe the prohibition of chametz for more than one day, is it necessary to do so at present? And why, at present, do the spiritual influences of the Seventh Day of Pesach — which were first revealed at the Splitting of the Sea — require eating matzah for six days if initially this was not necessary?
וגם It is also necessary to understand why with regard to the Seventh Day of Pesach, it is written: “an assembly unto G‑d your L‑rd,” while with regard to Shemini Atzeres, it is written:2 “It shall be an assembly for yourselves.”3
Pesachim 68b states that the verses are complementary, teaching that the holidays must be observed “half for G‑d and half for yourselves.” Nevertheless, the fact that the prooftext connected with one holiday puts the emphasis on “an assembly unto G‑d” and the other, on “an assembly for yourselves” indicates that there is a difference between the spiritual motifs of the two days (Likkutei Torah, Vayikra, p.15b ff.).
גם [These questions can be resolved by prefacing with the explanation of another problematic issue.] It is necessary to understand the verse:4 “And they baked the dough that they took out of Egypt as cakes of matzah because it did not leaven. For they were driven out of Egypt and they could not tarry....” It appears that this is the reason they baked [the dough] as matzah rather than leavened bread — because they were driven out of Egypt and [the dough] did not have time to rise. This is difficult to comprehend, for they were forbidden to eat chametz for at least one day.i If so, how could they have been able to bake chametz and [why does it say that] the reason they did not do so was only because they were driven out...?
גם It is also necessary to understand the statement of the Haggadah: “This matzah that we eat, what is the reason? Because the dough of our ancestors did not have the opportunity to rise before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed to them and redeemed them.” [This is difficult to comprehend, because] they had already been commanded [previously]:5 “Eat it, [the Paschal sacrifice,] together with matzos and bitter herbs.”
The difficulty raised here resembles that raised previously: that seemingly, the reason our ancestors ate matzah was not that their dough did not have the opportunity to rise, but that they were commanded to. There is, however, an added dimension to this difficulty, for this statement from the Haggadah appears as a direct contradiction to the Biblical narrative.
Moreover, the revelation of the King of kings took place after midnight and the commandment “Eat it together with matzos and bitter herbs” applied before midnight, for “the Paschal sacrifice may only be eaten until midnight.”6 Moreover, the matzah that we eat must also be eaten before midnight.7 Why then is the reason given: “Because... [the King of kings... was revealed]”?
As in many maamarim of Chassidus, the Alter Rebbe is posing questions here that arise when contemplating a Scriptural narrative and its treatment in Jewish law that can be resolved by contemplating the inner, spiritual dimensions of the relevant concepts.
והענין The matter can be [resolved as follows]: [The verse in which the Jewish people were commanded to partake of matzah together with the Paschal sacrifice states:]8 בערב תאכלו מצת: “In the evening, you shall eat matzos,” writing the word matzos without the letter vav. In contrast, [the verse cited previously]: ויאפו...עוגות מצות “And they baked cakes of matzos,” the word matzos is written with a full spelling, including a vav.
I.e., a letter that is vocalized with a cholam or a milupam may be written with a vav or without a vav, and a letter that is vocalized with a chirik or a tzeirei may be written with a yud or without a yud. When the vav or the yud is added, the word is considered to be written with a full spelling, and when it is omitted, the spelling of the word is considered as short. There is an accepted tradition followed by all scribes as to which words are written with a short spelling, and which with a full spelling.
The letter vav refers to the drawing down [of G‑dliness],
As explained in Tanya, Iggeres HaTeshuvah, ch. 4, the very form of the vav, a straight line extending downward, reflects the idea that G‑dliness is drawn down from Above.
[reflecting the fact that] “the King of kings... was revealed to them.”ii
וא"כ Thus there are two dimensions of matzah: a) that of which it is said: “In the evening, you shall eat matzos”; matzah eaten before midnight,
For the commandment was to eat the matzah together with the Paschal sacrifice, and that could only be eaten until midnight.
[written] in a short form, without a vav;and b) that of which it is said: “And they baked... matzos,” the matzah [eaten] after midnight, written only with a full spelling, with a vav, i.e., after “[the King of kings...] was revealed to them.”
The revelation of G‑dliness actually affected the dough prepared by the Jewish people.
וע"כ Accordingly, the Haggadah states: “This matzah that we eat, what is the reason? Because the dough of our ancestors did not have the opportunity to rise before the King of kings... was revealed to them.” This refers to matzos as written with a full spelling, [i.e., the matzah eaten] after midnight. The matzah that we eat [at the seder]possesses this dimension,
Even though, as will be explained, we eat it before midnight.
as indicated by the verse ששת ימים תאכל מצות, “You shall eat matzos for six days,” [where matzos is also written with a full spelling,] with a vav, denoting that the matzah that we eat is also of this nature. And, as a [spiritual] consequence of [partaking of such matzah] for six days, “on the seventh day, there will be an assembly.”
This point is discussed in sec. 6 of the maamar.
Summary
The maamar begins by noting the apparent contradiction between one verse, “You shall eat matzos for six days…. On the seventh day, there will be an assembly unto G‑d your L‑rd,” and a second verse which states that matzosmust be eaten for seven days. It resolves that difficulty by explaining that the first verse is not delineating the span of time in which matzah must be eaten, but rather emphasizing the consequence of that activity — that when that mitzvah is fulfilled for six days, “the seventh day will be an assembly.” It questions the connection between the two concepts, particularly in light of the fact that at the time of the Exodus, matzah was eaten for only one day, and yet, the seventh day was still unique.
The maamar also contrasts the Seventh Day of Pesach, which is described as “an assembly unto G‑d your L‑rd,” with Shemini Atzeres, which is described as “an assembly for yourselves.”
The maamar then brings up another textual difficulty: From the verse: “And they baked the dough... as cakes of matzos, because... they could not tarry,” it appears that had they had the time, they would have baked the dough as chametz. This presents a difficulty, because they were commanded not to eat chametz for one day, the day of the Exodus.
A similar difficulty exists in the statement of the Haggadah: “This matzah that we eat, what is the reason? Because the dough of our ancestors did not have the opportunity to rise before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed to them and redeemed them.” Here, the fact that the Jews were commanded to eat matzah is also seemingly ignored.
The maamar brings out two other contrasts between the matzos that the Jews were commanded to eat in Egypt and those described in the above statements: a) the matzos that the Jews were commanded to eat in Egypt had to be eaten before midnight, while those described were eaten after midnight; b) the verse commanding the Jews to eat matzos before midnight spells matzos without a vav, while that which describes how they ate matzah after the redemption spells matzos with a vav.
These differences are dependent on one another. The vav refers to the revelation of G‑dliness which took place at midnight. That revelation introduced a higher spiritual quality into the matzos.
