Day Four
Affliction and Prayer
Bread of Calling Out
When we eat matzah on day number four of Chag Hamatzos we have to remember that the Torah calls it lechem oni – the bread of affliction (Devarim 16:3). And if the Torah gives matzah that name, that title, we understand that it’s something we should spend time on.
Now, the word oni we translate in English ‘affliction’ or ‘suffering’. And of course it’s connected to the word ani which means a poor man - a man ‘afflicted’ by poverty. If you have no money to buy food or to buy clothes, there’s no question it’s an affliction.
But the word oni, suffering, or ani, a poor person, is not the original word. Actually it comes from the word oneh, to speak up. Like vayan – and he spoke up, or oneh – he answered. Fundamentally the word oni means to speak up, to call out.
And why is the poor man, the sufferer, called an ani? Because he speaks up all the time; he cries out. He’s calling out to Hashem or to the gevir or to the welfare office; whatever it is, he’s oneh, he’s calling out. It’s a borrowed word, a cognate; the ‘poor man’ means ‘the man who is calling out for help.’
A Name That Fits
Now, if it was one of us, we would have thought of a better, more appropriate word for the poor man; a word that describes maybe his suffering or his embarrassment. But “the crier”? What’s that about? Is that the fundamental quality of a poor person?
And the answer is yes! The poor man is called “the crier” because that is what it’s all about! The purpose of affliction is to make you call out to Hashem.
Now, in Mitzrayim the bread they ate was the kind of food that caused the eaters to cry out. It didn't have the taste of real bread because they were too busy working – they didn’t have the chance to let their dough become leavened like ordinary bread. They were in a hurry. They had to work all the time.
And it's possible they weren't given enough bread. Why should they be given bread? The Egyptians were not the most kindhearted people. And even if they were well fed but they were suffering terribly and so whatever they were eating, it was in the midst of suffering. And so the Bnei Yisroel cried out; the bread of affliction became the bread of calling out. They cried many words, many times, because of that matzah.
Crying Out Successfully
Now I have to explain something. When it says they cried out, it doesn't mean only that this one cried out and that one cried out. They did that too but they also came together; they had sessions when they cried together. That was a tradition of theirs, to come together in multitudes whenever they could in order to cry out to Hashem. It was a scene to see – hundreds of people, thousands, getting together and weeping and shouting and crying to Hashem. That's what it meant – I heard the outcries of Bnei Yisroel (Shemos 6:5). Not the davenen, not the prayers; the outcries. And that’s what we have to think about while we’re eating the ‘Bread of Crying Out’.
Why is that so important? Why do we want to remember that suffering and the crying out by eating matzah?
The answer is that crying out was our success. When we cried out to Hashem we gained such an Awareness, such a clarity of perception, that nobody else in the world could rise to this greatness of being close to Him as we were then. We became so clear in our Awareness of Hashem that now we were ready to go out and see Hashem at Har Sinai. Becoming intensely aware of Hashem was the preparation for greatness!
Now you know how our forefathers in Mitzrayim became great; and not only the ones who came out on Pesach. There were very many good ones who suffered in Mitzrayim and died before Pesach happened. They suffered as slaves, eating lechem oni every day, and they never saw the miracles of Yetzias Mitzrayim. But they were successful! They lived successfully because they became great in Awareness of Hashem! And they left this world as successful people and went to Olam Haba.
And therefore the affliction in Mitzrayim was an achievement and a very great benefit to us. Because they cried out and they gained such a greatness that they became the most perfect of any generation in history. How did they gain that perfection? Lechem oni! It was the bread of affliction that they ate in Mitzrayim and the reaction of crying out that made them perfect.
Answering Excellence
And that’s why when we were answered, when we were finally saved it was only because of the excellence we gained by crying out to Him. That’s the fundamental principle of haoneh le’amo b’eis tzarah – He answers His people, not when they need His help, but when they cry out to Him. He doesn't help them because they need help. He helps them because of this excellence that they have now achieved by crying out to Hashem. That’s why Hashem answers them and takes action, to reward the perfection that they achieved by crying out.
And so, we eat the matzah today to remind ourselves of what the lechem oni is saying: About the lives of our forefathers in Mitzrayim, the suffering they lived with, and how because of the oni, the suffering, they were oneh, they spoke up, and how they achieved greatness just because of that.
Forget Me Not
Now, once you understand this peirush of what lechem oni is – it means you spent time thinking about what the matzah is testifying to – so you’ll understand already a lot about the purpose of tzaros in general. Matzah, ‘The Bread of Affliction and of Crying Out’, means that the primary purpose of trouble is so that people should cry out to help and achieve more yiras Hashem, more Awareness of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
You know when it comes to awareness of Hashem the world is fast asleep; even good people, frum people, are sleepwalking through life – they forget about Hashem.
Oh yes, He’s in the siddur. And when they come to the synagogue, they mention Him. But outside, after Shachris, nothing. We put Him back in the siddur until Mincha.
Shul Reminders
Sometimes even during davening we’re not thinking about Hashem. The words, the peirush hamilim, yes. But Hashem? Not so much. Like I told you this story many times. In the shtiebel of Rav Levi Yitzchok M’Berditchev, the Rebbe once sent his gabbai up to the bimah during davening to make an announcement. Everybody is shaking and davening – it’s in the middle of davening after all – and the gabbai gives a klop on the bimah: “The Rebbe wants everyone to know that there is a Ribono Shel Olam!” So you see that even in the shul we need reminders. Out of shul, surely we forget about Him.
But the Torah says, “Beware lest you forget Hashem” (Devarim 8:11). Don’t forget Me! If there’s one thing in the world you have to remember, this is the subject. Don’t forget Me! That’s a person’s success! Nothing else! And therefore, when troubles come and the person utilizes them and he cries out to Hashem, then the trouble is fully justified.
That’s the reason why Hashem loves the poor. It’s a statement in the Gemara. “Hashem loves the poor.” Why does He love the poor? What’s so good about the poor? You know, if you don’t have money you can’t give a lot of tzedakah. You can’t buy the most mehudar tefillin. A lot of mitzvos you can’t do. So what’s so special about poverty?
Pray, Don’t Grouch
The answer is that a poor man is always being pressed to cry out to Hashem. Of course, you have to cry out to the right Address. Just to bellyache and grouch to his wife, then he’s addressing his petition to the wrong address. It's like taking an envelope with a letter inside and you put the wrong address on it and you throw it into the mailbox. But if you talk to Hakadosh Baruch Hu – you daven and cry and importune – that’s the right Address. And when you cry out, something is accomplished. You’re changed now! You gained an Awareness of Hashem.
And therefore when a person chalilah in life has troubles – many people suffer a good deal in life – he should know Hakadosh Baruch Hu is bestowing on him a very great opportunity to rise to the occasion of the oni, the suffering, and use it to be an oneh, a ‘caller out’ to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. If a person responds to the squeezes and pinches by calling out to Hashem, he's walking in the footsteps of our forefathers in Mitzrayim and he becomes especially great just because of that. And when the time will come, when he finishes his time in this world – whether he was saved or not – this man is going to be proud of how he responded to the troubles; how he cried out to Hashem and gained perfection by transforming his ‘Bread of Affliction’ into his ‘Bread of Crying Out’.
The Matzah Testifies:
The matzah was a bread of affliction, but also a bread of ‘crying out’. One of the purposes of the affliction in Mitzrayim was to cause us to cry out to Hashem and become greater thereby; we were forged into a great nation because of constant crying out and the increased and more intense Awareness of Hashem we achieved thereby. And that stands as a model to us forever; we appreciate the purpose of our troubles and use them to grow in Awareness of Hashem.
