Pesach
15-22 Nisan, 5761
April 7-15, ’01

You’re midway through the Passover Seder. The new tablecloth is already stained. Matzah crumbs are piling up like sawdust. For the next eight days, we may eat no Ben and Jerry’s—how about a macaroon instead? We may eat no pretzels—how about some dried fruit? We may eat no rye bread—how about another piece of matzah? Crunch!

Absorbing these observations as midnight approaches, we begin to feel the kick of two glasses of wine on an empty stomach. We suddenly feel a craving for what we could really use now—a good sandwich! Will we have to wait another eight days?

Here we’re in luck. We can have a sandwich on Pesach. It’s even a mitzvah. But the sandwich Jews traditionally consume on Passover is not a regular sandwich. It can’t be found on any fast food menu. It contains no additives or preservatives. It doesn’t even contain bread, yet Jews have been eating it thousands of years longer than bagels and lox. It’s called the Hillel Sandwich. After we eat matzah and marror separately, we sandwich some marror between two pieces of matzah and temper it with a touch of charoses. We eat it leaning on our left sides, reciting before our repast: “This is a reminder of what Hillel used to do in the Temple. When the Temple stood, Hillel used to combine matzah and marror in a sandwich and eat them together, doing as the Torah says: They shall eat the Pesach offering together with matzah and marror.” (Artscroll translation.)

One of the many differences between Israel and the nations of the world is that, whereas, everyone eats, we Jews analyze what we eat. We have reasons for every custom, even for every dish we traditionally consume. There is probably no deeper way to appreciate hotdogs and apple pie than munching and nibbling. The Hillel sandwich, however, is more profound than its simple appearance and taste. What is it about the Hillel sandwich that keeps us coming back every year for more?

Eating the matzah and marror sandwiched together as one, indicates a profound appreciation of G-d’s behind-the-scenes direction of our world. Marror represents the bitterness of our slavery and exile. Matzah denotes dual concepts. It was the unleavened poor man’s bread that we ate as slaves in Egypt. But it was also the bread of our freedom, which we had to finish baking before it had time to rise, because G-d decreed that the time for us to be redeemed was now. Eating marror and matzah together symbolizes our recognition that G-d is always with the Jewish People—in times of exile and in times of salvation.  Bitterness and salvation all arise from One source.

This is what G-d promised our Patriarch, Yaakov, before he descended into Egypt to be reunited with his son, Yosef, and escape the famine in Israel: “I will go down with you and I will surely bring you up” (Genesis 46:4). G-d joins us on our journeys into darkness and it is He who always finally leads us out. G-d’s promise is also recorded in Psalms (91:15): “I am with him in distress”. G-d is with us in our troubles, constantly preparing for our redemption.

As we chew on our Hillel sandwich, we can appreciate that G-d’s diverse range of interaction with us is all part of one plan. Redemption can only come after exile. We can reach our highest potential only after we are challenged. The greater the potential, the greater the challenge required to bring that potential to light. And no nation is as full of potential as the Jewish People.

Now that’s a good sandwich! It gives us something to chew on and a lot to digest. G-d is always with us and every stage of our lives is another part of His plan for us, whether we understand it or not. Life’s difficulties lead us to questioning. Passover is a response to our questions. Distress is a prelude to salvation. That’s what happened to us in Egypt. That’s been the story of our history. That will be the story of our ultimate redemption.

This Passover, may our retelling of the story of our exodus from Egypt weave into witnessing the ultimate redemption, as we eat our sandwich of matzah mixed with marror. May we fulfill all the mitzvahs of the Seder night, appreciating sharing them with family and friends, and may the final prayer we utter from the Haggadah be answered—L’Shana Haba’ah B’Yirushalayim! Next Year in Jerusalem!

Good Shabbos,

Shlomo Shulman

(This special edition of Parsha Views is based on the writings of Rav Yehuda Aryeh Leib m’Gur—the S’fas Emes)

Mazal Tov to Jeffrey and LeeAnn Kole and your entire family on the Bris of your new son, Binyamin Aharon! May you merit raising him and all your children to lives filled with Torah, Mitzvahs and Generous Deeds!

Mazal Tov to Rabbi Yossi and Lisa Samberg on the birth of a bouncing baby boy! Well, perhaps he’s not bouncing just quite yet, but he’ll be bounding after his beaming big brothers in no time (this Mazal Tov is sponsored by the letter “b”).

Savannah is already enriched enormously by the Sambergs.

With the birth of this new baby, we have all become richer.

Insights Into Genesis
Insights Into Exodus
Insights Into Leviticus
Insights into Numbers
Insights Into Deuteronomy

To get in touch with STEP, call Rabbi Shulman at (912) 303-9591 or Rabbi Edelstein at (912) 351-0469. E-mail us at STEPKollel@netzero.net Call us, or we'll call you.

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