A Passover Lesson: Don’t Let Opportunities Become Chametz

Why did the matzah quit his job?.…Because it didn’t get a raise.

What army base is off limits on Passover?.…Fort Leavenworth.

Why did the matzah go to the doctor?.…Because it started feeling crumby

Why did the matzah baker rob the bank?….He needed the dough.

Do you know why the matzah was so humble?….It never rose to the occasion!

We are all preparing for Passover, and so matzah comes to mind. We get rid of our chametz to make way for the five-pound package of matzah!

The mitzvah of matzah comes from the biblical book of Exodus:^[1] וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֮ אֶת־הַמַּצּוֹת֒, “You shall observe/guard the matzah.” The Rabbis saw this verse and used a play on words to make a deeper point. Thus, Rabbi Yoshiya taught^[2] that we should not read the phrase as written וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֮ אֶת־הַמַּצּוֹת, but, rather, וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת הַמִּצְוֹת, “You shall observe/guard the mitzvot (responsibilities).” Notice that not a single letter of the biblical text has been changed. As the Torah does not contain any vowels, Rabbi Yoshiya cleverly imagined different vowels to come up with a different understanding.

Rabbi Yoshiya continues his teaching with another clever use of words:  כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁאֵין מַחְמִיצִין אֶת הַמַּצָּה, כָּךְ לֹא יַחְמִיצוּ אֶת הַמִּצְוָה, אֶלָּא אִם בָּאת מִצְוָה עַל יָדָךְ, עֲשֵׂה אוֹתָהּ מִיָּד!, “Just as matzah is not postponed (because it will “sour” the matzah and no longer be kosher for Passover), so, too, a mitzvah should not be postponed (because it might “sour” the mitzvah). Therefore, when a mitzvah presents itself, we should perform it immediately.

 Notice that I highlighted the three letters at the root of the Hebrew word for “postpone” or “sour.” They spell chametz! Postponement of a mitzvah is like waiting around and permitting perfectly good matzah to become chametz!

Now, here’s a lesson we might well consider not only during Passover, but every day of our lives. So often when we have the chance to do or say something worthwhile, we let it pass and find ourselves regretfully muttering to ourselves, “If only I had done it.”

If you have something nice to say, say it now.

If a grand/child does something good, compliment them now.

If someone in the community achieves something, “yasher ko’ach” them now.

And how much better to say loving things to your friends and family now–while they can still hear them–rather than saving your praises for a shivah house. If you have time and money to give, give some of it now.

Matzah suggests a ready to go attitude; chametz symbolizes delay.

As the old Silverman Sabbath and Festival Prayer Book told us,

They who give when well, their gift is gold;

            They who give only when ill, their gift is silver;

            They who give only in their will, their gift is copper.

Rabbi Philip S. Bernstein (1901-1985) understood the matter of urgency. He served as advisor to the U.S. Army in World War II and after the war ended, helped find homes for over 200,000 Jews. In his book, What the Jews Believe, he offered:

If there is goodness in life and beauty in the world to share, do it now.

            If there lies within you the possibility of a contribution to make the world better,

  When we delay a gift, a compliment, or a dness, it starts to sour, to turn into chametz. Let’s avoid that by tendering our love today, now, while it is as newly baked.

Chag kasher v’samei-ach. May you and yours have a meaningful and delicious Passover!

Rabbi J.B. Sacks

^[1] Exodus 12:17.

^[2] See Rashi on 12:17 and the Mechilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 9:13.