Rabbi's Blog

Living an observant Jewish lifestyle in San Diego comes with its challenges. Don’t get me wrong there are far worse places to live, and we, the Jewish people, have lived under persecution and trying times that make life today complete paradise. Nevertheless, a person grows accustomed to life around them in their generation. If we look at Jewish life today I think we would all agree that life is pretty good;  we are spoiled in comparison to previous generations, even recent generations within the past three decades.

One area of life in particular that dominates our culture and has exploded lately is the abundance of kosher food and the availability and relatively easy access to enjoying fine cuisine of every kind.  Everyone knows you don’t come to San Diego for the food and dining experience, for that one needs to go to larger cities in the U.S., and, of course, to Israel. In San Diego we get kosher food and products, but most of the time we have to buy the raw ingredients and prepare the food ourselves. Once in a while we are treated to a Simcha or a fundraising event, causing us to “go out to eat”. Even though these may be same dishes that we are accustomed to preparing at home, when eaten at an event they are somehow different and tastier.

In this week’s Parsha Bo the Torah states 12:39: “Vayofu Es HaBatzeik Asher Hotziu MiMitzrayim Ugos Matzos Ki Lo Chametz, Ki Garshu MiMitzrayim V’Lo Yachlu L’Hismahmeah V’Gam Tzeida Lo Asu Lahem”. “They baked the dough that they took out of Egypt into cakes of matzos, for they could not be leavened, for they were driven from Egypt for they could not delay, and also they had not made provisions for themselves”. The matzah we eat on Pesach symbolizes both slavery and freedom. During the Pesach seder, matzah is referred to as ‘Lechem Oni’ - poor man’s bread - and yet when we eat it we recline, symbolizing freedom and acting like a free and wealthy man. Some of the matzos are broken, reminding us of slavery, while the whole matzos remind us of our going out into freedom. This is truly reflected in the verse mentioned above as the Jews prepared the same kind of dough they had made for two hundred ten years. Now on this final day, there was no time to allow it to rise and there was no time to bake it. It was baked and eaten it after leaving Egypt. This was the same dough; the same matza which the Jews ate while slaves in Egypt. It never rose because the Egyptians never gave the Jews time to allow the dough to rise. Instead, the Jews had to eat unleavened bread because they were slaves. Now, on the first day of freedom they are also rushing out and can’t let the dough rise, hence they are forced to eat matza yet again, even after being redeemed from slavery.

Some times in life we find ourselves doing the same thing or eating the same thing but under different conditions. True, I wasn’t in Egypt during Yetzias Mitzrayim, the Exodus, but I could  imagine the matza tasting different the day they left Egypt than the way it tasted throughout the years of slavery. Aside from the fact that the taste of food will change under different circumstances, I believe we continue to change, and therefore the taste will change as well. The change in taste could be attributed our getting older or even to alterations of our taste buds. For me, matza tastes different when we we eat it at the seder, and it continues to change in taste right up to the last time we eat it at the Neilas HaChag. Taking this a step further, the taste of matza changes from the last piece we eat on Pesach to the matza we sometimes eat immediately after Pesach is over. The matza has a renewed taste as soon as Pesach is over; it somehow doesn’t seem to taste so bad anymore, even though just a few hours earlier we could barely swallow another bite of the stuff.

Chazal teach us “Im Ein Kemach Ein Torah”: “if there is no flour there is no Torah” and vice versa. Bread is to the sustenance of the physical body just as Torah is the sustenance to the spiritual soul. The same way that the bread/matza will look and taste differently, so too does Torah. When the same identical Torah is presented in a different format or under different conditions, the reactions of the students also changes. It is for this reason that people look to study at a different yeshiva/school or look to learn from a different teacher/Rebbi. One of the primary reasons we invite guest speakers, lecturers, and Scholars in Residence, is to bring a unique and fresh perspective to Torah and Judaism. A conference, convention, guest lecturer, and so forth provide us with a variety of speakers on different topics, formats and styles.  A person who goes out of his way to listen to a guest speaker is experiencing a spiritual growth opportunity. One can almost compare it to eating at a smorgasbord of Torah, it’s the same Torah but with a different presentation, or different spices which may be more appetizing than the similar food which is different than the typical food we eat on a daily basis.

In my humble opinion a person who is truly looking to grow spiritually and emotionally will seek out the opportunity to learn on a regular basis. In addition to the ordinary day-in and day-out learning, an extra type of learning comes around from time to time.  In fact, next Shabbos here at Beth Jacob that extraordinary opportunity will come through our door with another scholar in residence. It’s the unique flavor of the Torah that comes in a different form and presentation. We all know that matza represents purity without sin; it’s perfection. The Torah is also sweet and perfect; learning it in a different situation will provide us all with a different flavor and approach, similar to the same matza which tasted  differently as we emerged from slavery to freedom. 

All of us need both the ordinary and the extraordinary in order to appreciate both realms and to spice up the physical and the spiritual worlds. Whether it comes to food or Torah, hearing, learning and tasting it under different conditions from different perspectives will give all of us more opportunities to grow in our ever-developing relationship to the greatest Chef of the world!

Ah Gut Shabbos,

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky