No Time to Think: The Power of Simplicity
The Pesach season seems like a tease. There’s an entire world of information and a sea of depth, but who has time?!
And then it hit me, perhaps that’s exactly the point. We eat matzah to commemorate the rush; there was no time for the dough to rise. And so, we rush around too, lacking the time to think deeply. By some miracle we find ourselves seated at the Seder table, our simple looking matzah staring us in the face.
This uncomplicated matzah –just bread and water, missing even the ingredient of time — gifts us with a depth of faith that is impossible throughout the year. The barriers of complexity fall away, to reveal a pure and simple faith. On this holy night, we revel in the joy of simplicity.
Year round, ego clouds our field of vision. Total and complete faith in the Almighty seems to contradict our independence.
Matzah’s simplicity peels away all the contradictions.
Take the relationship of a toddler and its parents as an example. There’s no philosophizing that precedes the child’s cry for help. It’s a simple relationship, but it’s a simplicity that allows for greater clarity. The parent-child relationship may blossom as the child matures, but it will be built on the rock-solid simplicity of a humble beginning.
In a Purimesque sort of way, Pharoah’s evil plan comes back to haunt him. “Let the Jews work harder and forget about these false dreams (of freedom).” The added difficulty was too much to bear, and the Jews cried out to Hashem for salvation. It was a simple cry of pain — as there was no time or headspace for intricate prayers — but it was the cry that would break the centuries-long Egyptian bondage.
We look back to the day our nation was freed, as a pure and simple beginning. Like a simple toddler, we know that if we will only call, Hashem will respond.
May the matzah inspire within us a simple, joyous, and empowering faith.
