Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Matzah Mentality - The "Strife" of Life

BH

There is a parallel between thought processes and the difference between Chametz and Matzah.

Matzah is a simple mixture of flour and water. Chametz has the added dimension of leavening/souring/fermentation which distorts the true and real presentation of flour and water combined.

So too, a pure and holy mind is associated with Matzah as it portrays intellect and knowledge at it's purest - similar to the simple admixture of flour and water.

Chametz on the other hand reflects the distortion of pure intellect, with the faculty of imagination distorting the true and real perspective of things in life.

Matzah-way-of-thinking is associated with the wisdom of Hashem as expressed in the Torah and through the tzaddikim of every generation who, with their Torah insights, bring newer and fresher dimensions in expressing the Will of Hashem. These generate positive thinking which in turn leads to the Fear/Awe of Hashem which then enhances a person's prayer ability and joy in performing mitzvot (MiTZVaH, being etymologically similar to MaTZaH). With this joy, a person is then able to pray at a higher level - to mitigate harsh judgments from himself, his family, his friends, and the world at large.

Chametz-way-of-thinking on the other hand is associated with foreign thoughts generated by philosophical, heretical and lustful ideas which literally sour/ferment the mind from thinking properly and positively, and from being happy. These must be expelled from the mind, for they prevent the ability of praying properly with Fear/Awe of Heaven.

There is however another problem - the Chametz/leavened thoughts already in a person's head due to past foreign thoughts. How to get rid of these?

For this one needs to use the added quality of Matzah - strife. Namely, to "fight" and do battle with these past extraneous thoughts from re-entering the mind.

To explain: Matzah is etymologically similar to the word for strife in Aramaic - Matzuta. The Matzah wisdom of Hashem fills a person with enough sense of purity and truth that they will be able to detect and feel the negative impact of Chametz thinking, and by extension feel the necessity of forcefully kicking it out of their mind. This is a battle - the negative thoughts try to sink in, while the good thoughts try to kick them out by focusing only on good thoughts.

However, there is a tougher situation whereby a person was so involved in heretical, philosophical or lustful thinking that the battle is overwhelming to overcome on his own. For this he needs the help of the tzaddikim. The tzaddikim purposely display a seemingly outward conflict between each other, so that this guilty on-looker should notice it. This is really a test for him. There is really no strife or conflict between these tzaddikim. It is just that this person is so blemished due to his past thoughts, that the only way to help him is through his viewing this "outward" conflict, and his deciding to take it to heart and conclude that there is, God forbid, no truth in the pathways of the Torah since anyways strife also exists among it's followers, or to recognize that what he is seeing is Heaven sent so as to test him if we will judge others as faulty or to recognize his own frailty due to his own shortcomings and distorted view of things in life. This is the only way to help such a person.

(By extension, this could be the explanation of the test people face in coming closer to Torah observant Judaism where they have to make a "political" stand in choosing a specific Torah pathway/leadership which automatically demands their subconsciously putting down the other available pathways. Many people have become "turned off" altogether of coming close to Hashem due to these politics. This is their test.)

With all this said, it goes without saying that the eating of Matzah on Pesach is a holy type of food which is propitious to generating this positive thinking in a person. As the saying goes: "You are what you eat", the Matzah digested on Pesach eventually is converted into "holy and pure brain fuel". Chametz consumption on Pesach is the exact opposite, which is why it is totally forbidden on Pesach.

(Taken from Likutey Moharan lesson #5. For practical developments of this lesson, please listen to: https://soundcloud.com/breslov-therapy/sets/likutey-moharan-5)

May we merit this Pesach to the light, holiness and purity of Matzah in all it's dimensions, and to merit confronting the battle of banishing all foreign thoughts and ideas which only push away a person from Hashem, His Torah and His Tzaddikim. And through this may we truly merit seeing the coming of Mashiach and the building of the Holy Temple speedily in our days, Amen.


Sincerely
Meir Elkabas

* * *

As Pesach speedily approaches with the heavy expenses, to send help to a needy family of 10+ here in Jerusalem, please follow this paypal link: PESACH SUPPORT

Your name will be added to a 40-day davening list at the holy cites of the Holy Land.

All the best and blessings for a Kosher and Happy Pesach festival.





No comments:

Post a Comment