Parshat Bo
Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer

The Gemara (Pesachim 96b) states that Pesach Mitzrayim - the Passover in Egypt - only required a one-day abstention from chometz. This being the case, we must ask why - at the time of the Exodus - the Torah notes that the Jews took along their unleavened dough from Mitzrayim and baked it later on. (Sh'mos 12:39) In fact, the dough which the nation brought along for the journey lasted for about a month (see Rashi on 16:1). If there was no need for Bnei Yisroel to keep the laws of chometz and matzah beyond the first day of Pesach, and God would surely provide them with food throughout their travels, why are we specifically told that the Jews took along their unleavened dough when they departed from Egypt?

Rashi - based on the Mechilta - explains the phrase (12:39), "...and they had not made provisions for themselves...", as a display of the Jews' strong belief in God. Rather than worrying about what they would eat upon departing from Mitzrayim at midnight, Bnei Yisroel trusted that Hashem would take care of their needs.

This explanation actually adds to the mystery, for if - according to the Mechilta and Rashi - the Jews demonstrated great faith by not preparing food for the journey, why did they bring out their unleavened dough? Should they not have been wiser to leave it behind, as an even greater display that they trusted in God to provide food, rather than making human effort to supply it themselves?

In truth, there are two distinct types of trust. One is a trust in a business sense, in which one party trusts that the other party will carry through on its side of a deal. For example, a merchant will deliver goods to a purchaser with the assumption that the purchaser will pay for the goods when he is billed at a later date, as the purchaser can be trusted to keep his side of business deals. This type of trust is more of an expectation, in which each party expects that the other will uphold its contractual obligations. A second type of trust is that of faith, in which someone has faith in someone else and relies on that party in light of a personal relationship. When a child goes to pre-school, he trusts that his parents will pick him up at the end of the day, as he has come to rely upon his parents and knows their care for him. This is not a contractual trust; it is a trust predicated on faith in the other party's carrying through due to a personal relationship.

The Torah is telling us that the Jews began their relationship with Hashem in faith of His care, as per the second type of trust noted above. While the Jews were not told to prepare foods for the Exodus, they did not take things for granted either. Rather than expect God to provide, as if to say, "Since He is taking us out, we expect Him to feed us", the Jews humbly and submissively took what they had at hand - unleavened dough - so as to keep them nourished. They did not make demands or harbor expectations of Hashem, feeling entitled to Divine hand-outs; rather, they did what they were told and took along their dough in simple faith, knowing that God would provide whatever else may be necessary (as He did not command them to prepare anything), while not expecting or assuming that God "had to" provide all for the journey. The Torah emphasizes that this is the type of faith which enabled our forefathers to be redeemed and to enter into Hashem's service. This is the true symbolism of matzah - simple faith, not businesslike expectations of entitlement.

This concept may help us answer another vexing question. The Jews were instructed to consume the Pesach offering in Egypt and to eat matzos and marror alongside the Pesach meat, all prior to the departure from Mitzrayim. The Torah states that the Pesach rites serve as a future remembrance of the Exodus. How could it be that the Jews observed the Pesach laws before leaving Egypt, for the function of the Pesach laws is for future commemoration? Was it logical for Pesach to be observed before the Exodus even took place?

The answer is that the entirety of Pesach is a sign of faith and fidelity to Hashem. The Jews had the faith to fulfill the Pesach service before the events it signifies were even fact, for they knew and trusted that God would take them out of Mitzrayim on that very night. The Jews' humble faith was the key to meriting the Exodus, and it is the reason that they brought forth their unleavened dough with a sense of humility rather than one of expectation and assumptiveness.

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