There is a large debate regarding the Matza on Pesach. Is it because of the slavery, the poor man’s bread; or is it because of the freedom, that they left before they had time to bake bread properly?
The Sfas Emes explains that we cannot celebrate being freed from Egypt on it’s own; we must praise the fact we were enslaved as well. The reason the slavery must have been a good thing, is that if we were capable of being a nation that could serve Hashem in slavery, we weren’t in need of being saved, and the slavery itself would serve no purpose. So we must say that being enslaved in Egypt was a key part of the process through which we became Hashem’s people.
The simple explanation of this is that by being in crushing and devastating slavery, the people were pushed far beyond their comfort zones, and far beyond the extremes of what they thought they were capable of. This was a demonstration to the people that all the arrogance and haughtiness of man could be removed, and a person could devote his entire being to something. This was a key stage in becoming Hashem’s servants – the people knew that they were capable of giving their all, which they might not have been able to had they not been through the ravages of slavery.
The Sfas Emes explains that this is what all evils and bad things in life are for – they educate us about our limits, and more than that, they show us the opposite extremes to which we can aspire and attain. This is the only purpose they serve, just like Egypt. If they weren’t there to help us become closer to Hashem, they would have no function.
The Sfas Emes explains that this was the only moment in which the Jews could have accepted Hashem as their King properly, that in the same way they had been entirely subjugated to Paroh, they could now subjugate themselves entirely to Hashem. This was the critical moment the Jews were born as a nation. However, the procedure and process started earlier. As we say in Shema every day: אשר הוצאתי אתכם מארץ מצרים להיות לכם לאלוקים – “That I took you out of Egypt to be for you a God” (Bamidbar 15:41). The implication is clear – we had to have been in Egypt before, in order to be taken out to become everything we were meant to be.
The Sfas Emes re-emphasises that being Hashem’s people hinged on the need to have removed the arrogance and haughtiness of man. This is what the pasuk means when it says that טוב אחרית הדבר מראשיתו – “the end is better than the beginning” (Koheles 7:8). It was not pleasant to be in Egypt, but what followed was receiving the Torah.
The Sfas Emes tells us that our celebration of leaving Egypt must hinge around the fact that we became better once we left – we accepted Hashem as our King and our God, and we received the Torah. The first thing we did on being freed was for Hashem – this is why there is a concept of firsts going to Hashem, for example the korban Omer (and Pidyon haBen, bikkurim etc).
This is what is so vital on Seder night, to relive the Exodus from Egypt. It is when we became God’s people.
The Sfas Emes answers that this is why Matza correlates to the slavery and poverty – it is devoid of the arrogance and haughtiness. But it also correlates to the freedom – the process of freedom started when we were slaves. It is how we became truly free to serve Hashem. Our freedom stems from having not been free once.
