"This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate from in the land of Egypt" (Passover Hagaddah).

The commandment of eating Matzah was given to the Israelites before they left Egypt. It was symbolic of the future redemption which would be quick. The commandment was given when they were still enslaved in anticipation of the coming redemption. This is why when we eat the Matzah now we remember the time we ate it in Egypt. Now, when we are in exile, we are similarly enslaved. We also have in mind that, as a result of this mitzvah, the final redemption will come soon, just as it did for our forefathers. We recite, "This year we are slaves. Next year we will all be free men" (Passover Hagaddah).

This is what we said above. When we eat the matzah, we awaken the promised redemption. (See the introduction to Tikkunei Zohar, pars. 340-343 and in the commentary of Maalot haSulam).

WE WERE SLAVES

We learn in the Talmud (TB Pesachim, 116b) that we begin with disgrace and finish with praise. Two Rabbis, Rab and Shmuel held different opinions on the application of this principle. Rab said that we should begin [reading in the Hagaddah] from "in the beginning our fathers were idol worshippers." Shmuel said to begin from "we were slaves." Shmuel’s opinion is followed.

We must understand how they differ. The reason for beginning with disgrace and finishing with praise is to emphasize the "advantage of light over darkness" (Eccl. 2:13). We mention the disgrace in order that the loving kindness God showed us will be all the more apparent. In this way, we know that our origins were from the period of disgrace when God did not visit us with His love.

The Kabbalah says, that God created the world EX NIHILO (from nothing). Everything was absent before then. But this absence is different from everything that was created.

We divide creation into the four categories inanimate, plant, animal, and man. The inanimate category was created from total absence. Plant life did not originate from total absence, but from partial absence as represented by the inanimate category. This is why planting and decay are necessary factors for every seed. These properties were taken from the inanimate category.

The same is true of the animal and human categories. Plant life is considered an absence compared to animal life, and similarly animal life compared to humans. When the Bible says, "man is born a wild ass cold" (Job, 11:12), it is teaching us that the animal stage is preceded man. Every person must have this stage as an antecedent. Elsewhere the Bible says, "God will save animal and man" (Ps. 36:7). God makes everything that an animal needs to live available to it. Similarly, he brings to man everything that he needs to live and prosper.

What advantage does man have over an animal? The answer lies in t heir needs, for the needs of a man are certainly different from those of an animal. The difference in God’s salvation is dependent on this degree of difference.

After much study and investigation, we find no specific need or desire that a man has which an animal does not also possess. The only exception is the desire to cleave to God. Only man is capable of doing this. The entire essence of man’s creation is the natural attraction he has to serve God. This is the advantage he has over animals. Many have previously spoken about this similarity. They say that many species even display logical behavior and social tendencies.

Now we can understand the absence that existed prior to the creation of man. It represents the absence of a desire to come close to God, as exists at the animal level. When the Mishnah says, "we begin with disgrace and finish with praise," it means that we must remember and contemplate the absence that existed prior to man’s creation. This is the absence that precedes the praise. Through understanding the absence, we have a better understanding of the ultimate praise.

The Israelite nation has been exiled four times, each exile preceding a redemption. The fourth redemption will be total and complete. Exile represents the absence which precedes the redemption. The absence prepares for the events which follow it just as planting a seed prepares for the harvest.

The Hebrew word for exile (golah) contains all the letters in the word redemption (ge’ulah) except for the letter alef. This letter represents the prince (aluf) of the world. The similarity comes to teach us that the form of absence is the negation of existence, the latter representing redemption.

The Bible says, "no longer will man tell his fellow man, for they will all know me from the youngest to the oldest" (Jer. 31:34). The form that the absence preceding the redemption will take is the negation of knowledge of God. There will be a lack of the alef, absent in golah (exile) but present in ge’ulah (redemption). There will be no cleaving to the prince of the world, God. Cleaving is our redeemer, nothing more and nothing less!

In order to understand how the absence itself prepares for the things to follow it, we will take a practical example. We know that freedom is a very high principle. Only a few of the chosen experience it and then only after much preparation. Most of the population are incapable of experiencing it and fully comprehending it. From this aspect, great and little people are equal.

The Polish nation, for example, lost control over their land only because most of them did not properly value their freedom. They therefore fell under the domination of Russia for 100 years. During that time, they all sighed under the weight of the burden. Young and old prayed for freedom. They did this even though they themselves could not imagine what it meant to be free. But in the absence of freedom, each one naturally longed for it.

In spite of this, after they were freed from Russian domination, many of them were astonished and totally unaware of what they had just acquired with their freedom. Some were even sorry and complained that the new government made them pay taxes and serve the country more than previous rulers. They wished that the original government had continued. Apparently, these people did not fully appreciate the absence of freedom.

Now we understand how Rab and Shmuel differed. Rab explained that by beginning at the time of Terach (the father of the patriarch Avraham and an idol worshipper), we have a greater appreciation of the redemption. By the time were were in Egypt (hundreds of years later), some of the people already loved and served God. The added burden of slavery to the Egyptians is not a lack in and of itself. Shmuel disagrees with Rab. He feels that the concept of a nation being free to know God is a very lofty one. Only a chosen few understand it properly, while most of the population do not. The concept of difficult slavery is one that everyone can grasp. The Biblical commentar Ibn Ezra says (beginning of Mishpatim), "nothing is more difficult for a person to endure than to be at the mercy of another."

Shmuel explains the Mishnah that the absence prepares for existence. It is therefore a part of the redemption and we must thank God for it, too. In Shmuel’s opinion, we don’t begin from "our fathers worshipped idols" because that time period is not part of the absence that preceded the Exodus. Our fathers were the total opposite of human form because they were so far from loving God.

We being from the Egyptian slavery because the flames of Godly love were already burning in the hearts. Shortness of breath and hard work had extinguished them. This was the absence which preceded existence and we therefore begin from, "we were slaves." In this way, we know that our origins were from the period of disgrace when God did not visit us with His love.

This article was originally printed in 1930 as a part of the Letters of Rav Ashlag.

Author: Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag

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