Chametz and Matzah in Pesach Mitzrayim/2

Chametz and Matzah in Pesach Mitzrayim

Exegetical Approaches

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Seven Day Prohibition of Chamtez

The Israelites celebrated a seven day holiday in Egypt, just as they did in future generations.  Chametz was prohibited for the entire week.

Sources:Tanna Kama in Tosefta PesachimPesachim 8:21About the Tosefta, RambanShemot 12:21-51Shemot 13:2Vayikra 23:2Bemidbar 9:1Devarim 16:2Devarim 16:2About R. Moshe b. Nachman, AbarbanelShemot 12:15About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel

No Prohibition of Chametz

In Egypt, the Children of Israel ate the Pesach sacrifice with matzah but were not prohibited from eating chamtez, nor obligated to eat matzah the week afterwards.

Sources:Mishna PesachimPesachim 9:5About the Mishna, Ibn EzraShemot Long Commentary 12:14-51Shemot Long Commentary 13:8Shemot Long Commentary 40:2Shemot Short Commentary 12:14Shemot Short Commentary 13:5About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, R. Yosef ibn KaspiShemot 12:15:21About R. Yosef ibn Kaspi, ShadalShemot 12:14Shemot 12:21Shemot 13:3About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto, Hoil Moshe, R. David Zvi HoffmannShemot 12, IntroductionShemot 12:14-15Shemot 12:39Shemot 12:46, 50About R. David Zvi Hoffmann

Hashem's command to Moshe: one holiday or two? According to these commentators, Hashem commanded Moshe about two distinct celebrations: Chag HaPesach (12:1-13) which refers to the Pesach sacrifice which was to be eaten on the fourteenth of Nissan at twilight, and Chag HaMatzot (12:14-20) which refers to the future seven day holiday in which the nation was supposed to eat matzah and refrain from eating chametz.¹

Which commands were relayed to the nation in Egypt? According to these sources, Moshe relayed only those commands which were immediately relevant to the nation in Egypt, those regarding the Pesach offering (12:21-27).  Since the people were not obligated to celebrate Chag HaMatzot in Egypt,² and the act which it was to commemorate had yet to happen, the people were first told it about it after they left (in 13:3-8).³  This explanation works with a straightforward reading of the verses which do not present Moshe as relaying Hashem's commands of 12:14-20 until chapter 13.

Why was Moshe told about the holiday earlier? These sources might suggest that Hashem commanded Moshe about both the laws for the present and the future together, since they are linked, and unlike the Israelites, Moshe would be able to handle such information.

"וַיֹּאפוּ אֶת הַבָּצֵק... עֻגֹת מַצּוֹת כִּי לֹא חָמֵץ כִּי גֹרְשׁוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם" – These sources point to this verse as proof that the nation was not prohibited from eating chametz, as it suggests that had they not been chased out, the nation was planning on baking leavened bread.⁴ Only because they had no time were they not able to.

Institution of Chag HaMatzot – These sources explain that the seven day holiday was instituted to commemorate the speed in which the redemption occurred, as evidenced by the fact that the nation did not even have time for their bread to rise before being chased out of Egypt, forcing them to eat matzah.

Why seven days specifically?

• Ibn Ezra explains that the people were on the run until Paroh drowned in Yam Suf seven days after the Exodus.⁵  As such, they did not have time to make bread and subsisted on matzot for the entire week.  In commemoration, future generations do the same.
• Ibn Kaspi, in contrast, asserts that the choice of seven days is unrelated to the original act which is being commemorated and it is possible that the people only ate matzot for a day or two. Hashem chose seven days since that is the norm for holiday length in the Torah.⁶ 

Which takes precedence – eating matzah or refraining from Chametz?

• Obligation of Matzah -– Ibn Ezra maintains that according to the simple sense of the verses, it is not just permissible to eat matzot for the seven days of the holiday, but there is an obligation to do so throughout.  This works with his understanding that the point of the holiday is to commemorate the nation's similar eating of matzot.  According to him, it is possible that the prohibition of chamtetz simply comes to highlight the eating of matzah. 
•  Prohibition of Chametz – One might disagree, however, and claim that the point being remembered is the fact that the bread did not have time to rise. Eating matzah was simply the alternative left to the nation, but not important in its own right.  Thus, throughout he holiday one is prohibited from eating chametz, but not obligated to eat matzah.

"שִׁבְעַת יָמִים תֹּאכַל עָלָיו מַצּוֹת לֶחֶם עֹנִי" – These sources might suggest that the phrase "לֶחֶם עֹנִי" is simply a description of the matzah,⁷ not the reason for eating it for seven days. Only the following words "כִּי בְחִפָּזוֹן יָצָאתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם" provide the reason for the holiday.

Chag HaMatzot in the Wilderness – Ibn Ezra learns from 13:5, "כִי יְבִיאֲךָ י"י אֶל אֶרֶץ הַכְּנַעֲנִי" that not only did the nation not keep Chag HaMatzot in Egypt, but that they were not obligated to observe it until entry into the land.⁸  Only the new generation had to set the day as a commemoration ("וְהָיָה הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה לָכֶם לְזִכָּרוֹן"); the earlier one had witnessed it by themselves.

Eating matzah with the Pesach offering – According to this position the reason for eating maztah with the Pesach is unconnected to the eating of matzah throughout the week of Chag HaMatzot. 

One Day Prohibition of Chametz

In Egypt, the nation was only prohibited from eating chametz for one day.

Sources:R. Yose Ha Gelili in Tosefta PesachimPesachim 8:21About the Tosefta, Bavli PesachimPesachim 96a-bAbout the Bavli, Ran

¹ See Pesach and Chag HaMatzot – A Two for One? for a discussion of the distinct nature of the two celebrations and when they appear to have merged into one holiday.

² R. D"Z Hoffmann and the Hoil Moshe point out that it would not make sense that as the nation was about to embark on a journey in the wilderness, that they would be commanded to celebrate a seven day holiday, especially when creative work was prohibited on the very day that they were supposed to leave.

³ In addition, it is possible that the people did not even know that they were supposed to be leaving for good, and believed that they were leaving for just a three day journey, in which case it would make even less sense to already tell them about a holiday for future generations.  See A Three Day Journey? for the opinion that the three day ruse was intended for the nation itself which would have been fearful and reluctant to leave Egypt if they thought that it was for good.

⁴ See both Ibn Ezra and Shadal that the phrase "כִּי לֹא חָמֵץ" is a verbal clause, meaning "because [the dough] did not rise."  The verse is not saying that the nation made matzot because they did not put leavening into their bread, but rather that despite doing so, the bread did not rise.

⁵ See his comments on "ללכת יומם ולילה", that the people had no time to pause and walked both day and night.

⁶ He explains that a commemoration does not have to match the original act in all its details.  As evidence, he points out hat sukkot too is celebrated for seven days even though it is commemorating forty years worth of wandering in the wilderness.

⁷ See the Ritva who asserts that matzah is called poor man's bread because it is flat and simple.

⁸ He points out that in the Wilderness, with only manna to eat , it would have been impossible to find enough matzah for the week.  He claims that in Sinai, even though they were close to settled lands, it was a big deal that they were able to find sufficient matzah to eat for the one night with the Pesach sacrifice. According to Ibn Ezra, this was the only time throughout the forty years that they brought the Pesach itself as well, as the commandment is really contingent on living in the land ("וְהָיָה כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל הָאָרֶץ").