Let’s take a quick look at the reverberations of the unique mitzvah to eat matzah at the Seder in the heavenly spheres.
This true story was told by Harav Yitzchok Unger zt”l, an important Rosh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. Two Jews suffered through the Holocaust together. In the horror that was Auschwitz, they schemed to bake matzah. One of them, R’ Shmuel, risked his life to bake two small matzos, each one barely the required size - a kezayis.
He hid the grain, ground it in secret, almost beaten to death by a guard after he was discovered, but he managed to save one of the tiny matzos. The seder night arrived, and there was only enough matzah for one of the two to eat and fulfill the obligation. What should they do? R Shmuel's friend, R’ Zechariah, pleaded, “Let me eat the matzah – in turn, I will say the Haggadah by heart for you, and we will have a Seder tonight.” R Shmuel countered, “I risked my life for this mitzvah. I will not give it up!” In the end, it was agreed – R’ Zechariah would eat the matzah and say the Haggadah, but R’ Shmuel would get the reward for eating the matzah.
Immediately after this seder in Auschwitz, the guards discovered their hiding place, and R’ Zechariah was tragically murdered. Many years later in Bnei Brak, R’ Unger was approached by the surviving friend, R’ Shmuel. “My friend R’ Zechariah has been coming to me every night in a dream. He is relentless, asking me for the reward for this mitzvah, something that I do not wish to relinquish. I risked my life, and we made a deal. He ate the matzah, and I got the reward for doing so.”
Shaken to his core, Rabbi Unger told him it was a question for a rebbe. R’ Shmuel went to a chassidishe rebbe and asked what he should do – still standing firm in his refusal to give the reward back to his friend. The rebbe told him the right thing to do. “Give your friend back the reward. He cannot do any more mitzvos, but you still can.”
After many days, R’ Shmuel made peace with what the rebbe had told him and returned with his decision. The rebbe told him that such a decision must be made with a full heart and handed him the keys to the aron kodesh. “Pour out your heart in front of the open doors of my aron kodesh, and say that you wish to give back the reward for this mitzvah.”
R’ Shmuel did as he was told. As he gazed upon the Torah scrolls, he cried, “I want to give you back the reward, R’ Zechariah.” That night, R’ Zechariah came to him again in a dream – all glowing, thanking him deeply for what he did. R’ Unger felt that this maaseh with R’ Zechariah was speaking to us all! Imagine the reward of a mitzvah being so great that someone would come back from Gan Eden to get the reward for doing it. Look at us; we spend our days with so many opportunities to do so many mitzvos. Let us grab them. For me, a mitzvah will never be the same after hearing this story.
Written by R’ Avrohom Hillel Reich based on a lesson and story by Harav Ben Tziyon Sneh Shlita
