Skip to main content

Wrapped in Redemption: The Hillel Sandwich

There is a dispute in the Gemara as to how the korban pesach should be eaten. A verse in the Torah instructs us, "upon matzah and maror shall you eat it [the korban pesach]. Hillel understands this literally: "upon" implies, make a sandwich of all three - meat and bitter herbs wrapped in unleavened bread [note: fresh-baked matzah of old was thicker and softer than our present-day matzah. The Sephardi tradition maintains this form of matzah, which is more like a pittah than the matzah most of us are familiar with. It is unleavened - no yeast or sourdough leavening agent is added - but it is soft and pliable within the first few hours of its baking, longer by modern refrigeration]. The other Rabbis understood the word al ('upon") as "along with". Indeed, that usage is common in the Torah. Unlike Hillel, who insisted that the only way to fulfill the mitzvah of eating the korban pesach was in sandwich form, the Rabbis said that as long as matzah and maror were part of the meal, the requirement was fulfilled.

We are taught that matzah symbolizes ge'ulah, redemption, while marror symbolizes galut, exile and enslavement. Hillel insists that they both be consumed simultaneously. He thereby teaches us that exile and redemption are forever entwined in a ceaseless dynamic in which the incremental progress toward perfection is often masked by hopes repeatedly raised and dashed.

It was for this reason that, at the revelation of the Burning Bush, when Hashem revealed His identity to Moshe as "Eh-yeh Ahser Eh-yeh", understood by the Midrash as "I will be with them in this trouble and woe, as I will be with them in future troubles and woe", that Moshe responded to Hashem and said, "One trouble at a time is enough". The ability to see redemption through the veil of exile is reserved only for the likes of Moshe, Hillel, and those who aspire to be inspired by their example and teaching.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Frontlet Lobotomy

The tefillin worn on the head (henceforth, “ shel rosh ”) differ in a number of respects from the tefillin worn on the arm (henceforth, “ shel yad ”). One of the differences is this: Though both must contain the four passages in the Torah which make mention of the mitzvah of tefillin, the shel yad has all four passages written on a single parchment, in the order they appear in the Torah, rolled up and placed in the single compartment of the shel yad . The shel rosh , however, is constructed such that it has four small compartments side by side. Though these compartments appear to be tightly bound to one another, in fact, they are almost actually completely separate from one another. They only join at a common base, like the fingers of one’s hand. Into each compartment is placed one of the four passages, written on four separate parchments. Here is a list of the passages, in the order they appear in the Torah: 1.        Kadesh Li – Shemot 13:1-10 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

You're Shofar Away

For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too wondrous for you, nor too distant. It is not in the heavens, such that you should say, “who will go up to the heavens and take it for us and inform us of it that we may do it; Nor is it over the sea, that you should say, “who will cross for us to the other side of the sea and inform us of it that we may do it. For this thing is so very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart to do it. Devarim 30: 11-14. So, it’s that easy, says Moshe, over three thousand years before Nike: Just do it!! The only problem is: what is “it”? Not such an easy question. Many of us are most likely walking around, carrying out our daily tasks with a mixture of freshness and drudgery, but in background that question keeps asking itself, punctuated a bit differently: what is it? But although Rosh Hashanah is almost upon us, let’s not get too wistfully philosophical – at least not yet. Let’s ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wiping the Disk and Saving the Animal

Why the animals, too? That’s the question I’ve always dreaded from my kids when it comes time for Parashat Noach – meilah , the sinful humans, but why the animals? What did they do? Why did everything need to be obliterated. At the end of Bereshit, Hashem “regrets” he created man, since his urge and thoughts are only evil all day. And therefore – all creation is exterminated?? What’s the connection? It’s true, we’re told that “all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth”, and the Midrash explains that everything had relations with everything else. But if this is true, why is man singled out for special mention? Did we lead the charge, seducing the ant and the elephant alike? And besides, isn’t this approach the complete antithesis of what we read not so long ago in Maftir Yonah, where Hashem has pity on Nineveh, where there are oh so many ignorant people AND EVEN LOTS OF ANIMALS!! So if he didn’t punish there, why does he punish here. And now f...
Post a Comment
Read more