Commento su Esodo 12:39

עגת מצות means a cake of (made of) unleavened dough (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:35); dough which has not become leavened is termed וגם צדה לא עשו להם

AND THEY BAKED UNLEAVENED CAKES OF THE DOUGH. The meaning thereof is that they baked unleavened bread of the dough because of the precept which they were commanded: There shall be no leaven found in your homes, for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel.²⁹⁵Above, Verse 19.

כי לא חמץ, it had not had time to rise and ferment due to the short period of time it took to get from Ramses which was still part of Egypt to Sukkot which was already beyond the boundary of Egypt. Our sages in the Haggadah shel Pessach described the experience in the following words: “the dough of our forefathers did not have time to rise and become leavened during the brief time it took for the Lord our G’d to manifest Himself and to redeem them.” The reference of the author of the Haggadah is to the appearance of the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire as soon as the Israelites had reached Sukkot and left Egyptian soil behind the, This was the manifestation of the Lord G’d of whom he speaks. The Torah there begins to speak of G’d walking in front of the Israelites (Exodus 13,21).

מצות כי לא חמץ, unleavened breads because it was not leavened. The Torah means that the reason they baked Matzot was that they did not have permission to eat leavened bread; as a result they had to hasten in order to bake מצות. These loaves turned out to be matzot even though some time had elapsed between the kneading of the dough and the baking. Possibly, they kept the dough in motion in order to prevent it from becoming leavened. When the Torah bothered to graphically describe that "their kneading bowls were slung as bundles in their dresses over their shoulders" (verse 34), such a description would not be justified unless we were to learn something from it. Surely the Israelites had some other place where they could have carried their dough. The Torah wants to teach us that they deliberately vibrated the dough to keep it from rising. The process was facilitated by the fact that they had not added yeast to the dough in the first place. The Torah describes that the reason the dough did not have a chance to become leavened before the Exodus as being: "for they were being expelled from Egypt."

עוגות, for the term bread applies only to dough which had been baked in an oven. [According to our author on Exodus 29,2 anything baked in an oven is called לחם, bread, even if it contains a fair amount of oil. Ed] Seeing that this “bread” had not been baked in an oven but was baked by the sun, it is not called לחם, but עוגה, “cake.”

ויאפו את הבצק אשר הוציאו ממצרים עגות מצות, “(as a result) they baked the dough they had brought out of Egypt into flat cakes of unleavened bread.” This was done deliberately, in order to fulfill the negative commandment that anyone eating leavened goods on that day will be subject to the karet penalty. If, judging by the words כי גורשו ממצרים, the impression was created that the dough was baked by the heat of the sun on the basis that the Israelites had flung the dough over their shoulders, this is not meant to give the impression that if the Israelites had remained in Egypt any longer that this dough would have risen, become leavened, but it explains why it was baked while they were en route, and not in their homes before their departure. Alternately, the plain meaning may be that the reason why it turned into unleavened cakes was because they did not have time to bake it in the regular way prior to their departure as they were literally being expelled. Had they been allowed sufficient time, these cakes would have been leavened.

This is what is explicitly told in the Prophets. The word קבלה refers to the Prophets.

V. 39. כי לא חמץ, so eilig wurden sie getrieben, so unausgesetzt blieben sie in starker Bewegung, dass selbst auf dem Wege der Teig noch nicht חמץ geworden. — גרשו ממצרים und גם צדה לא עשו להם, dieses Faktum, daß sie aus Mizrajim gejagt wurden, so gejagt, dass sie nicht einmal das nötige Brot sich bereiten konnten, dass somit im Momente ihres Auszuges ihrerseits der Auszug ein unfreiwilliger war, das drückt für ewig diesem Auszug den Stempel reiner Göttlichkeit auf und macht das חמץ-Verbot und die Mazza zu einem Symbol so bedeutsamer Tragweite. Ohne dieses Denkmal hätten Israels Nachkommen in dem Auszuge nur einen Sieg der Erhebung ihrer Väter, nur ein menschliches Ereignis, wie so viele andere in der Weltgeschichte, erblicken können. Wir hören soeben, daß es 600000 rüstige Männer gewesen, da wäre die Befreiung kein Wunder, ein Wunder nur wäre gewesen, dass diese so lange einen so unmenschlichen Druck geduldet. Allein da erzählt uns die Mazza, wie die Väter aus Mizrajim getrieben wurden, gejagt wurden, so gejagt, dass sie nicht einmal Brot sich fertig bereiten konnten, sie hätten sich gerne nur noch so lange als מלוש בצק עד חומצתו, als zum Fertiggären des Teiges gehört, aufgehalten, allein sie konnten es nicht, es stand nicht in ihrer Macht, die Mizrer litten es nicht, sie waren also noch im Momente des Auszuges ganz wie bisher in der Macht ihrer Dränger, und über beide — wie über die Mutter und das Kind im Momente des Kreißens — war allein Gott in seiner Allmacht gebietend!

כי לא חמץ, “for it had not become leavened.” According to the view expressed by one sage in the Talmud, tractate Peaachim folio 28, that the Israelites observed Passover in Egypt only for a single day, this makes perfect sense; however, according to the opinion that Israelites had been commanded to eat unleavened bread at that time for seven days, what is the meaning of the words: כי גורשו, “for they had been expelled?” We must explain what is written as follows: when the Torah writes that they baked the dough, that they did so immediately because these loaves were not to be allowed to become leavened. On top of that they had been unable to equip themselves with provisions because they had been expelled, i.e. had been under great pressure and could not tarry any longer. Nonetheless, the word וגם is a little difficult, although we find unnecessary letters וalso in Psalms 76,7, and many other places.

ויאפו את הבצק, “they baked the dough;” they did this at Sukkot, which was their first waystation.

.מצה NEITHER HAD THEY MADE FOR THEMSELVES ANY PROVISION for the journey. This is stated to tell how praiseworthy Israel was: that they did not say, “How can we go forth into the wilderness without provisions?” But they had faith and set forth. This it is that is referred to more explicitly in the prophets: (Jeremiah 2:1) “I remember for thee the affection of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, how thou wentest after me in the wilderness in a land that was not sown”. What reward is afterwards set forth there? “Israel is the Lord’s hallowed portion etc.” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:35).

כי לא חמץ, it had not become fermented. This formulation, i.e. as an adjective, is also found in connection with Pharaoh when the Torah spoke about כבד לב פרעה, usually translated as “Pharaoh’s heart was tough,” when what is meant it that Pharaoh toughened his heart. Similar constructions are found in Genesis 27,14 אהב אביו, “his father had come to like.” The same is true of Kings I 1,1 והמלך דוד זקן, which though we normally translate this as “and King David was old,” really means “King David had allowed himself to age.” These formulations which sound like mere adjectives, are more than that, they describe what led to the present state of something or somebody.

BECAUSE THEY WERE THRUST OUT OF EGYPT. The sense of it is that they baked the dough on the road because they had been driven out of Egypt, and could not wait to bake it in the city and carry the unleavened bread. Therefore they carried the dough, and their kneading-troughs were bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders,²⁹⁶Verse 34. and they hurried and baked it before it was leavened²⁹⁶Verse 34. on the road, or in Succoth,²⁹⁷Verse 37. where they arrived in a short while as our Rabbis have said.²⁹⁸Mechilta here: “In the twinkling of an eye, the children of Israel travelled from Rameses to Succoth.”

כי גורשו מצרים, “for the Egyptians had literally been expelling them; ”עוגות מצות, into matzah cakes. Why did the Torah bother to give us these details? In the future observance of the Passover would become conditional on a number of rituals having been observed before one could participate in that celebration. The Torah explains that on this occasion the only requirement had been that they eat unleavened bread, and the Passover “festival” was a one day affair due to the Egyptians having chased the Israelites out of their homes. We commemorate this during the Seder evening by breaking the middle matzah and reciting “this broken matzah is the symbol of how our forefathers the Israelites observed Passover in Egypt.”

וגם צידה (לדרך) לא עשו להם, this is why in short order they would have to complain of the need for bread and water. [seeing that they had not been given an opportunity to take along provisions. Ed.]