The Foundation Stone Haggadah: Mozti Matzah

We make two blessings. The first is “Hamotzi Lechem Min ha’Aretz,” as we are about to eat bread, and we also say, “Motzi Matza,” because we going to eat matza. Since we say two brachot we must eat two olive-sized portions of matza. Therefore, I advise you not to come to my Seder because we’ll be chomping all night. That’s my favorite part of the Seder – everybody’s chomping, leaning, and no one can talk! I love it!

I’d like to read you a Zohar. “When the human being comes into this world, he doesn’t know anything until he eats bread.” This is to say that the child doesn’t know anything of his spiritual existance. Once he eats bread, the child is aroused to know what it is to live on a spiritual level. When the Jews left Egypt, they couldn’t experience anything on a higher spiritual level until God gave them Manna, the food of the spiritual world. Although they had all eaten bread in Egypt, it had come from this world and the highest level they could reach was Malchut. But the spiritual world is higher. They didn’t know yet how to eat food from God. Once they ate Matza, a bread of mitzva, they were prepared for receiving the Manna, an entirely spiritual food. Matza was the first spiritual food they ate. At that point they realized that there was a different plane of existance. And then they were really free.

The Zohar continues, “And God wanted that they know even more, but G-d couldn’t until they learned to live on this new level. And what is that higher level? – The Manna, food from the Heavens.” So the Manna was an even higher level of spiritual existance. What does this remind you of? – Process! This is what Seder means.