There is an ancient Egyptian papyrus sitting in the Leiden
Museum of antiquities in the Netherlands.
It is known as the Ipuwer papyrus from the middle Kingdom (circa 1600
BC) and it recounts a mysterious series of calamities that befell Egypt.[1]
Water had turned to blood, plagues descended on the land, and there was a
tremendous darkness. Towards the end, the
papyrus claims that slaves had rebelled against their masters and taken their
riches. One scholar states that this
fact destroys the credibility of the parchment for how could a decimated Egypt
have riches to take? However, that is exactly the claim stated in Exodus 12:
35, ‘The Children of Israel carried out the word of Moses; they requested from the
Egyptians silver vessels, gold vessels, and garments. Hashem gave the people
favor in the eyes of the Egyptians and they granted their request- so they
emptied Egypt’. This fulfilled the promise G-d made to Abraham centuries earlier
that his descendants would leave Egypt with tremendous wealth. [2]
But we
are now faced with a troubling contradiction. On the one hand, on Seder night, we
celebrate Matzah, the bread of poverty which some commentaries say is a reference
to its unencumbered nature.[3]
It is flour and water minus time, oil, and eggs. Pesach is a time to return to simplicity for it
is the secret to freedom. When we overly
indulge in the material we become enslaved by it. When we don’t act with speed
but meander through the river of time, the present inertia maintains the status
quo. On the other hand, in accordance
with the verse above, Jewish law states that a person’s most ornate dishes and
silverware should be saved for the seder night.[4]
It says that part of being free means that one should feel wealthy and display
it. How can these two ideas be reconciled?
To
uproot the contradiction we need to dive into the fragile psyche of a slave,
especially a Hebrew one that was born into a nation enslaved for over 200
years. What can develop is what is called a slave mentality, the feeling that
one is powerless to effect the world. After
all, a slave is a person whose thoughts have no impact and whose actions are
not his own. After the physical slavery
ended, one more thing had to change, the mental slavery. That is what was behind Moses’ command to
grab wealth away from the Egyptians. They
needed to not only leave physically but to leave in a way where they felt they had the
means to then impact the world in a positive fashion- an idea could come to
fruition.
That is
the depth of the seder night. It is about fostering proactivity, not accepting
the status quo. If something doesn’t
make sense, don’t accept it; rather ask a question, try to understand. It is
about the mental switch from living a reactive existence to living a free, proactive
existence. To do that, we first cut off
external influences, matzah. We then
look deep inside to who we really are- part of a nation on a noble
mission. And then we realize that we do
have the means to carry out the mission.
Though only some of us may have material wealth, all of us have spiritual
wealth to share with the world.
[1] It
is for this reason that scholars miss this as clear evidence of the Exodus
story as the middle Kingdom existed in 1600 B.C. and the Exodus was thought to
take place in 1300 BC. However, there is
now a movement to revise the dates of the middle Kingdom. See the documentary ‘Patterns of the Exodus’
for other evidence of the authenticity of the Exodus.
[2] See
Genesis 15:14. It raises the question as well as to why it was so important to
not only be redeemed but to be redeemed with wealth.
[3]
See Maharal in Gevuros Hashem on the hagaddah chapter 51
[4]
Shulchan Aruch תעב"ב.
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