RABBI'S THOUGHTS: BO

Puffed Wheat

This week’s Parsha speaks about Pesach (Passover) the festival on which we spend about a week eating unleavened, cracker-like matzos commemorating the bread of the Children of Israel before they left Egypt, which did not have time to rise.

What is the difference between Matzo and Chometz (leavened bread)? With Chometz the dough rises, whereas with matzo the dough remains where it is. Chometz occupies a lot of space – puffed wheat aptly demonstrates this. Matzo, on the other hand, is thin and unassuming.

Chometz symbolizes conceit – self-elevation, an over-inflated ego - while matzo signifies bittul – self-nullification, self-effacement and humility.

When a person has bittul, they will not attempt self-justification. Lacking self-importance, they will instead focus on taking stock and making an honest account of their actions and intentions. They will relate sincerely and honestly to others, willingly taking on board their suggestions.

However, with Chometz, with self-importance, come the excuses and attempted justifications for one’s actions. The self-love covers up all shortcomings and we are uninterested in what anyone else has to say – after all ‘Who do they think they are – I’m much better than them…’

A student once complained to his Rabbi that "people step all over me whenever I walk into the room".

The Rabbi replied that "if you didn’t spread yourself out all over the room, it wouldn’t happen."

Due to his egotism, his self-importance, the student was quite happy to take up the whole ‘space’ yet when someone else encroached on his territory, he felt crushed.

G-d tells us in the Torah that when it comes to a conceited individual, "he and I are unable to dwell in the same place". In other words, this town ain’t big enough for the two of us. How can we make space for G-d in our lives? By developing our bittul - humility and sincere modesty, awareness of our smaller part in the larger picture.

Surprisingly, perhaps, this leads to a greater feeling of empowerment. As we mentioned last week, once we realise that on the one hand we are subjugated to a greater power (G-d) but on the other hand, through fulfilling His Will with an appropriate sense of who we are, we are connecting with the Infinite and the accompanying unlimited power, we realise how great our potential is to affect ourselves and those around us.