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

The One (People) Who Must Not Be Named

Just as Balak brings Bil’am to consider his enemy from various vantage point, likewise does Parashat Balak allow us to view ourselves from the vantage point of others. The main story in Balak is of a single piece, and Am Yisrael appear only as foils for the central story – the interaction of Bil’am with Hashem. What is curious is that not only does Am Yisrael not appear as a real character in the story, we don’t even get a mention. Every time Balak or Bil’am refer to Am Yisrael in the non-visionary passages, they employ indirection: “this people”, “my enemies”, but never Yisrael. It almost feels that they are avoiding speaking the name, one which Bil’am, at least, employs so beautifully in his prophetic speeches. Now, recalling that this story of the interaction of other nations with Am Yisrael is being told in the Torah, I think the message is this: Yisrael is our name in the context of our covenantal interactions with Hashem, just as Hashem’s real name is used only in the conte...
1 comment
Read more

Uprooting a Pernicious Ayin and Restoring a Precious Honor

During Havdalah each week, we recite a verse taken from the Megillah: “Layhudim hayta orah v’simchah v’sason vicar ”.  ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ויקר   Many, perhaps most, people mispronounce the last word. While it should be “vee-kar”     ויקר -“and honor”, usually people say “v’eekar” ועיקר . It’s a case of substituting a more familiar word for a less familiar one. People know the word עיקר , “root” or “main principle”, and are not familiar with the word יקר , taken here from the Aramaic cognate of the Hebrew כבוד , or “honor”. “Honor” as a meaning of both כבוד  and יקר is derivative of their primary meaning – weight, heaviness, substantiality. Now, in the Megillah, both the word כבוד   and the word יקר are used. But whereas the former is used only in connection with money and material wealth, the latter is reserved for honor emanated upon one by the king. Our honor as Jews is derived from the notion that our very existence points to...
Post a Comment
Read more