Harav Eliezer Eisikovits
The official food that was eaten in the land of Egypt was bread. All over the world there were makers from wheat. There are various dishes – cakes, wafers, porridge – but in Egypt a special skill was developed in the field of bread baking.
Already in the Pentateuch of Genesis we can see the special place that bread occupies in the eyes of the Egyptians. When Jacob sends his sons to obtain food in Egypt, he tells them; "Behold, I heard that there is plenty in Egypt" [Genesis 42]. On the other hand, when the hungry Egyptians descend on Pharaoh's palace, they say "And all the Egyptians came to Joseph to say, 'Let us have bread.'"
Bread is the reward the Egyptians receive for their enslavement to Pharaoh; "Buy us and our land with bread, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh." A barter deal is described here: the Egyptian people accept slavery to Pharaoh, the master of the land, thus turning the entire land of Egypt into a "house of slaves" and in return they get to taste Pharaoh's bread. Eating bread expresses their agreement to accept the yoke of Pharaoh's kingdom, and it is also the reward for their enslavement – an entry ticket and belonging to Egyptian society with all its comforts, pampering, status and prestige.
The bread was a status symbol that the Egyptians usually kept for themselves. In this way, Ibn Ezra explains the verse mentioned in Potiphar: "He left everything he had in Joseph's hand, and knew nothing with him, but the bread which he ate," for all that he had was in Joseph's hand except the bread which he ate, which he would not even touch for being a Hebrew. For it was the judgment of the Egyptians that the Hebrews should not touch their food, for it is an abomination to the Egyptians."
His giving to strangers was reserved for exceptional cases in which the viceroy takes advantage of his high position to bend the rules of protocol and allow his Hebrew family members to eat from the bread as Joseph does to his father: "Ten donkeys carried from the goodness of Egypt, and ten Athenath (mares) carries wheat and bread and food to his father on the way."
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Ancient sources indicate the expertise of the Egyptians in the preparation of bread. Egyptian bread underwent a special leavening process using sourdough and other ingredients. Made it from special wheat varieties and baked it under special conditions. The importance of bread in the eyes of the Egyptians can also be seen from the fact that they had a special minister in this regard - namely, "Minister of Bakers" Even in later periods, the Egyptians retained their expertise on the subject, as seen in the Mishnah Rabbanan, The House of Garmo was well versed in the act of baking Temple bread, and did not want to pass it on to others. So sages send agents to Egypt and brought experts from Alexandria in Egypt to make this special bread.
The Egyptian workers were paid in loaves of bread, and on the other hand, the slaves were given matzah, which is "poverty bread," not only because of its simple and economical nature, but also because it is the bread of those who are at the bottom of Egypt's social ladder and have not reached the level of bread-eaters.
In light of all this, we can understand that these special breads, after undergoing their long and complex preparation process, were identified with Egyptian culture when they examined their taste and saw that Pharaoh’s bread was good. "To eat bread was to get a ticket to civilized Egyptian society. Eating bread enters Egyptian culture and even brings Egyptian culture into it.
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In my book, “The leaven and the thought of leaven”. Leaven and sourdough are related to vices such as pride, lust, and more. Thus explains the Abarbanel, G-d's commandment will be blessed to forbid the sour, to hint to us that we will distance ourselves from the evil inclination as workers of His work, because the evil inclination is called Shaur. And asour. (forbidden) ; Rav. Alexandri said, "G-d, it is revealed and known before You that I want to do your will. And who is delaying? Sourdough is the culprit."
In light of the clear connection between Egyptian bread and Egyptian culture, we can understand that this eating connected food with all the qualities associated with Egyptian culture: arrogance and pride, lust, jealousy and possessiveness, idol worship and idolatry, enslavement to Pharaoh, and sinking into the gates of impurity. Everything that falls under the general heading of the "evil inclination" in Egyptian bread. Matzah, on the other hand, remains a symbol of simplicity and humility.
Abstinence from eating chametz is therefore a defiance of all these evil qualities, and against all the temptations of Egyptian culture wherever they may be. For the Israelites, who were enslaved to Egypt until the bondage of the body and the soul, this renunciation of chametz required fortitude. It is like the slaughter of the Lamb, the idol of the Egyptians, in which the commentators also explained how every detail of the commandment of the Passover sacrifice was another step in the process of the Israelites' disengagement and weaning from the impurity of Egypt. Only after the separation and mental disengagement from Egyptian culture in all its various aspects, was there room for the "redemption, and takeaway" of the removal of the Israelites from Egypt.
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It is not easy to disconnect from the habits of the surrounding culture, to persist in spiritual ascent even when the environment goes in the opposite direction. But the strength of the Israelites who, after awakening from "impatience and hard work," managed to shake off the temptations of Egyptian culture, expel the Egyptian from among them, and in this way take the first step towards their freedom.
