The Connection between Passover, Matza, and Maror
From a lesson on Rabash’s article “The Connection Between Pesach, Matza, and Maror“
The holiday of Pesach stands at the head of all holidays and all times in the spiritual process because it symbolizes the transition from the desire to receive for oneself to the desire to bestow, or more precisely, from the desire to receive for one’s own sake to the desire to receive for the sake of bestowing. This is why Pesach is so important. It marks the entry into the spiritual world, into the sensation and understanding of spirituality.
Before this, a person goes through many stages starting from his natural state of being immersed in the desire to enjoy, often without even realizing it. Then, he begins to ask, “What am I living for?” That is, mere animalistic existence no longer satisfies him, and he wants to understand the meaning of life, its source, cause, and purpose. An animal does not ask such questions; this is the beginning of the birth of a human being.
The entrance into spirituality begins when a person suddenly feels that he can no longer think only about himself and wants to act outside his egoism. Pesach (Passover) symbolizes the entry into a new world, the start of a new stage—Lishma—the beginning of bestowal, faith, and attaining the quality of Bina, according to which we begin to work.
Only when a person feels and understands that he is incapable of acting for the sake of bestowal can he be considered to be in exile. This is exile from the quality of bestowal, which he wants to attain but cannot. Only this determines the measure and severity of the exile.
Humanity is divided into three parts. The first part consists of those in whom the point in the heart has already awakened which leads a person to Kabbalah or compels them to seek it. The second part still does not understand the purpose of any of this.
And the third part fights solely for material actions without touching the intention; meaning, they strive to preserve the intention for their own sake. Based on this, humanity can be divided into many groups, nations, and various movements.
The Egyptian within me convinces me that the main thing is to perform the actions that the Torah demands without paying attention to the intention, i.e., to focus solely on material commandments.
If I do not question the results of my work, it means I am an Egyptian; that is, I am acting according to the Egyptian within me. But if I begin to care about the intention, then I discover that I am in Egypt as a slave, in exile from the spiritual world.
There is a spiritual reality where everything is done for the sake of giving, while I remain in my egoism. The extent to which this troubles me, more or less determines my place in the spiritual process. Until I reach a state where such a life feels worse than death, and I feel I must escape from the egoistic intention. That means I am already on the threshold of liberation, on the way out of Egyptian exile.
My inner Egyptians hold me back and persuade me to keep going as before, saying everything is fine: the action is what matters, and intention is irrelevant. If I agree with this, I become an Egyptian.
But if an inner struggle over intention begins within me, I realize I am under the control of the Egyptians, and I want to break free from this slavery. I understand that what matters is not the action but the intention, and that I must rid myself of the intention for my own sake. This means I need the light that brings back to the source (the reforming light) and an escape from Egypt.
I am ready for anything as long as I do not remain in the egoistic intention. I need nothing but the ability to carry out this act. I have already detached from the intention for myself although I have not yet reached the intention to bestow. I still don’t know what true bestowal is or to whom to bestow, but I am already on the way out.
The transition from being an Egyptian to becoming Israel means that I no longer have the strength to act. I don’t want to act for the sake of egoism, but I do not yet know how to act for the sake of bestowing, and so I am left not knowing what to do.
This is how the exodus from Egypt happens. It is in total darkness, when we are lost and unsure of our next step, and then salvation comes.
It is said that the work of the Egyptians is done with white bricks, spotless, without a single blemish or speck of dirt. If each day I egoistically add another brick to my work, I build a beautiful, snow-white structure, without any impurity or trace of doubt, and feel completely righteous.
Egyptians in Egypt cannot have any awareness of evil because they simply follow the example set by the rest of the world. What more could a person need?
These are the seven years of plenty, when a person is fully engaged in the work of Egypt, confident in their own righteousness and success. He does not even realize he is acting out of egoism. That realization only comes as a result of the influence of the reforming light, which subtly illuminates bit by bit, gradually advancing the person.
“Penny by penny, a great fortune accumulates.”
When there is no strength left to work, only one thing remains—prayer. Turning to the Creator solves all problems. After all, the purpose of everything that happens to us is to compel us to connect with the Creator.
In Egypt, we acquire all kinds of means and methods of connection with the Creator. For every difficulty that Egypt places before us, we must find the answer through a new form of connection with the Creator.
The heaviness of the work depends solely on the intention. If the intention is for the Creator, for the sake of bestowal, then you soar as if on wings and feel no burden in the work. It is as if you have left Earth’s gravitational pull and are floating in space.
But if the work feels heavy, it means you are carrying the wrong suitcase and are not aimed toward the Creator.
We receive the influence of the Creator through the entire shattered soul of Adam HaRishon. The Creator perceives the whole soul as one. For now, I may have a personal, very limited connection with the Creator, but even that comes to me through the collective soul.
“The upper light is in absolute rest,” meaning it fills the collective Kli. But I receive connection with the Creator to the extent that I am connected with the collective soul.
Let’s say I connect with one out of twenty billion souls, then to that extent I receive contact, which always flows through the common connection.
The Creator is within all creations in a perfect state since all have already reached the end of correction, and I connect to that state.
What is the difference between Matza and bread? Matza is also bread, but it is called the “bread of poverty” and is made only from flour and water. And even the water is added in minimal amounts. You cannot make bread without water, so just enough is used to knead the dough without letting it ferment.
This is a sign that we are not yet capable of working with our desires for the sake of bestowal, but we also no longer want to work for the sake of receiving. It is an in-between state neither here nor there.
Matza symbolizes filling in order to escape.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/21/19, Writings of Rabash “The Connection between Passover, Matza, and Maror”
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