A Priestly Diet
Now, there's another symbolism of the matzah that's not difficult for us to see. It’s not written openly in the Chumash but for thinkers, for those who want to listen to everything the matzah is testifying about, they’ll see the hint in the Torah and they’ll have another important idea to think about while they’re eating matzah today.
Anybody who reads the Chumash knows that there's a certain korban, the korban minchah, that is eaten by the kohanim in the Beis Hamikdash all year round. It’s a korban made of flour and one of the important dinim of the minchah is ֵ אָפֶה חָמֵ ץ א ת ל; it cannot be leavened. It has to be prepared as matzah, not chometz, and then the kohen takes a kometz, a little handful of the flour offering, and he burns it on the mizbeiach, and after that the kohanim are permitted to eat the rest of the minchah. But even what the kohanim eat, ֵ אָ כֵ ל וֹ ת מַ צ – it has to be matzah (Vayikra 6:9).
There’s a certain reason for that by the way; chometz, we know from the seforim, symbolizes the yetzer hara, outside influences. And a kohen especially has to be reminded always that in order to succeed at his function – in order to be a successful servant of Hashem – it requires that he stifle the yetzer hara; he shouldn’t allow it to bubble up, to rise.
A Nation of Priests
Now, the mincha is a special food for the kohanei Hashem. A non-kohen who would eat from the mincha, it’s considered a cheit, a big sin. And so the question is where do we come in here? All of a sudden, on Pesach, every Jew is commanded to eat the food of kohanim?
And the answer is because the Pesach matzah is reminding us about what Hakadosh Baruch Hu told us when we came out of Mitzrayim: לִי ִהְיו ם ת וְאַת הֲ נִ ים מַ מְ לֶ כֶ ת כ – You will be to Me a Kingdom of Kohanim, וְ גוֹי קָ דוֹשׁ – and a holy nation (Shemos 19:6). That’s what Hakadosh Baruch Hu said at the beginning of our history, that not only are we a nation that has representatives, kohanim, who serve Hashem in the Beis Hamikdash but we are a nation of kohanim, a holy nation.
Later, the Navi Yeshayah came along and reminded us about that: ָרֵ או ִ ק הֲנֵי ה' ת ם כ וְאַת — You will be called the kohanim of Hashem, קֵינו מְשָׁרְתֵי אֱל – servants of our G-d (Yeshaya 61:6). Not le’osid lavo, at some time in the distant future. No! Right away, as soon as we became a nation, every Yisroel was given the status of a kohen. Every Jew, every man and woman, every boy and girl, is a kohen.
Of course, there’s a difference – a kohen of זֶ רַ ע אַ הֲ רֹן has different dinim that he has to keep – but nevertheless, every Yisroel must know that he is a kohen too, that his function in Olam Hazeh is to be a servant of Hashem. That’s what it means Mamleches Kohanim; every Yisroel knows that avodas Hashem is his only function in life and that he must, as much as possible, dedicate his life to the service of Hashem.
Primarily a Priest
Now people will say, “Certainly I’m an oved Hashem. But that’s only part of my life. I have to do other things too. I have a job. I have a family.”
The answer is “No! Whatever you are doing in life, you are still a kohen Hashem.” After all, a kohen can also have a job. He might be a grocery man or a pushcart peddler, whatever he does, but he’s still a kohen. That’s his pride, that’s who he is.
And so whatever you do, that’s a sideshow. Absolutely you’ll have to go to your office, to your store, whatever it is, to make a living. Certainly you have to take care of your children; you must feed them, bathe them. Everything you have to do. But that doesn’t in any way affect your status: ִ הְ יו ם ת וְ אַ ת הֲ נִ ים לִ י מַ מְ לֶ כֶ ת כ – You are an elevated nation, kohanei Hashem. Your parnassa is not your function in life; your purpose is to be a kohen who serves Hashem.
Eat and Elevate
Now, because a person might think that it’s just a mashal, poetic words, therefore as soon as we came out of Mitzrayim, Hashem said that we must eat matzos. “I want you to know,” says Hashem, “that when I declare that you are all kohanim I mean business. And because I want you to mean it too therefore, once a year, on the Chag Hamatzos, I command you to eat matzos to remind you that you are kohanei Hashem.”
And so that too is what the matzos are testifying about. You want to know why you’re eating this food of kohanim for eight days? Because you are a kohen! And we wash down the lesson best with matzah. “I’m chewing and I’m demonstrating, ‘I am מַ מְ לֶ כֶ ת הֲ נִ ים כ. I am a kohen to Hashem.’”
Living Up to the Matzah
Of course, you have to mean it too. Eating matzos is a privilege, a sign of nobility, of being chosen by Hashem but you have to do something about it. Just because you say that you’re a doctor, you’ll be a doctor? Even a barber has to understand what it means to be a barber. Matzah means you must put all your efforts into the career of being a kohen and so while you’re eating you’re thinking, “What does it mean to be a kohen? It means I have to be more devoted to Hashem's service. I have to find ways and means of being entirely devoted to Him. I have to learn His Torah and understand what He wants from me. I have to be an oved Hashem; just like a kohen is an oved Hashem doing the avodah of the korbanos, I am an oved Hashem too.”
And so eating the matzos is a ceremony to demonstrate who we are. The matzah is telling you that you’re important, that you’re from the מַ מְ לֶ כֶ ת הֲנִים וְגוֹי קָ דוֹשׁ כ. You never heard that before? So listen to it now. We, the holy nation, eat the matzos with our holy mouths to demonstrate that we are chosen by Hashem to be His especial servants among all the people in this world. ָל הָעַמִּים מִכָּנוּ ָחַר בָּנוּ אֲשֶׁר ב – He chose us to serve Him, and so whenever you eat the matzah, keep in mind that this unleavened bread is teaching you who you really are. “You have a great function in this world!” the matzah says. “You’re a
