A Tale of Two Matzahs

“No grain offering which you present to Adonai can be made with leaven, for you must not offer up in smoke any leaven or honey as a gift to Adonai. You can present them to Adonai as an offering of first fruit, but they must not go up to the altar for a soothing aroma.” (Lev 2:11-12)

Leaven (chametz in Hebrew) refers to bread that contains yeast and is allowed to rise before cooking. Honey (devash in Hebrew) is not honey from bees, but honey made from fruits, most likely dates.

We are fast approaching Passover, when we are very concerned about not eating or even owning chametz, and in our parasha we are forbidden to offer it on the altar. We often discuss how matzah is a symbol of purity, and chametz is a symbol of sin. This is rightly so. Rav Shaul uses this concept when he writes, “let us celebrate the Seder not with leftover chametz, the chametz of wickedness and evil, but with the matzah of purity and truth” (1 Cor 5:8).

But if this is true, why is it that chametz, the symbol of sin, is permitted to be offered as a “first fruit” in the next verse (Lev. 2:12)? As always within our tradition there is a D’var Achair, another interpretation. There is another way to view the symbolism of matzah and chametz.

God commanded our ancestors to commemorate the Exodus by eating bitter herbs with matzah. Both of these foods are meant to represent our slavery. Deuteronomy 16:3 actually refers to matzah as lechem oni, bread of affliction. We reference this at the very beginning of our Seders. While holding aloft the matzah we recite, “This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.” So from this viewpoint matzah can refer to our need for redemption rather than to purity.

But it is more than just our neediness. God commanded our ancestors to eat the matzah with their loins girded, sandals on their feet, and staves in hand. This represents our readiness to receive the redemption. The matzah represents not only our need but also our eagerness and desire to receive his grace.

But if this is so, what does chametz represent? Most commentaries associate “first fruits” with the holiday of Shavuot when we are actually commanded to bring leaven. Lev 23:17 says, “You shall bring two loaves of bread to be a wave offering; each shall be made of two-tenths of an ephah of choice flour baked with yeast as first fruits to Adonai.” So in this case, rather than representing sin, chametz represents fullness. We are thanking God for bringing us to such a bountiful land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Chametz and Devash (honey) represent God’s provision, and our arrival in the Land. It represents full redemption. From this point of view we would never offer chametz when we want to express our need of Hashem.

So we have these two takes on matzah/chametz. One where matzah represents purity and chametz is sinfulness. But the other where matzah represents sinfulness and chametz represents full redemption!

But we can bring these two together. Yeshua is the pure matzah. He lived a sinless life of obedience to the Father and thus became the perfect sacrifice on our behalf. We come before God with our matzah, which represents our need of his grace-filled redemption. But we combine it with Yeshua’s matzah of purity. He takes our offering to Hashem along with his and makes ours acceptable.

In fact, some Jews have a Passover tradition of taking a piece of matzah from a whole wafer and a piece from the broken wafer and reciting the “al achilat matzah” blessing just before the meal. Since we as Messianic Jews view the broken matzah as symbolic of Yeshua, this is a perfect representation of combining our neediness with his holiness!

As we approach this Passover season let us prepare our hearts to acknowledge our need for Hashem’s grace. Let us acknowledge our sinfulness. But let us have confidence that we can add our impure matzah to Yeshua’s pure matzah, as he brings our requests for forgiveness before Hashem’s heavenly throne. And let us look forward to that Day when we and the world will experience the chametz of full and complete redemption!

By Rabbi Isaac Roussel, Congregation Zera Avraham