Said on Shabbat during Passover, Tav-Shin-Tet-Zayin, Fairholt, London, March 31, 1956
To explain the meaning of Hametz [leaven] and Matza [unleavened bread], and why Matza is called “bread of poverty.”
Also, to understand the Mishna, “On Passover, he is judged on the crops of the grain, and on Atzeret [eighth day of Sukkot] on the fruits of the tree. Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rabbi Akiva, ‘Why did the Torah say, ‘Bring before me harvest on Passover, so that your crops in the fields will be blessed?’’ Also, why did the Torah say, ‘Bring two loaves of bread on the Atzeret, since the Atzeret is the time of the fruits of the tree’? The Creator said, ‘Bring two loaves of bread before Me on the Atzeret so that your fruits of the tree will be blessed’” (Rosh Hashanah 16). We should understand the connection between the two loaves of bread, which is wheat, from the grains of the earth, to the fruits of the tree.
RASHI brings two interpretations: “The two loaves of bread are wanted for the fruits of the tree because they permit the bringing of the first fruit, for it is forbidden to bring the first fruit prior to the Atzeret. I heard that Rabbi Yehuda thinks that this was the rule, as was said (Sanhedrin 70), ‘The tree that Adam HaRishon ate was wheat [spelt here like “sin”].’ There, in the Sanhedrin, Rabbi Yehuda said, ‘The tree that Adam HaRishon ate was wheat, for an infant does not say ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mommy’ until he tastes the taste of grain.’”
We could ask, since there are five kinds of grain, what is the proof that it was specifically wheat? Also, why is the crop in the fields blessed by the sheaf, which is animal food? And also, why specifically with two loaves of bread, which is human food, and what is the connection between the wheat and the fruits of the tree?
First we need to explain who is man, that he is the will to receive, and the necessity of Dvekut [adhesion].
It is explained in The Zohar (Bo, Item 166) that sourdough and leaven are one degree and are all one. Another authority are the ministers appointed over the rest of the nations. We call it the “evil inclination.” The Creator said, “All those years you stood in another authority and served a different people. From here on, you are free, ‘But on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses.’”
We should interpret… the will to receive is the minister of Egypt. On Passover, you were saved and emerged from that authority and came into the authority of the desire to bestow. This is regarded as being in the authority of the Creator, that the Creator is the Giver and you are liberated from the governance of the will to receive.
A Matza is called “bread of poverty,” as The Zohar says, since then the moon is in diminution. What is the reason that the moon is in diminution? It is because they were not uncovered and the holy sign was not evident. This is because at that time, there was only the circumcision, and circumcision pertains to “And you will circumcise your foreskin,” meaning cut, which is the removal of the will to receive when they became freed from the will to receive and were in the domain of the desire to bestow.
The Torah is called “receiving in order to bestow.” This is called “removing,” which is Parah-Yod-Hey [The Creator uncovered]. This is the Mochin, the light of Torah. This is the meaning of what our sages said, “There is none who is poor except in Daat [reason/knowledge], for only when the Daat [knowledge/reason] of Torah is revealed, it is called “rich bread,” meaning the food of the wealthy.
At that time, he is considered “content with his lot,” as is explained (Mishnah Avot 6:1), “He who learns Torah Lishma [for Her sake] is rewarded with many things, and the whole world becomes worthwhile for him.”
Before one is rewarded with the Torah, although he has taken upon himself the quality of the kingdom of heaven, which is the governance of the Creator, meaning to bestow, while he still does not have the view of Torah, at that time he is called a “holy beast,” which is regarded as Malchut, which is Eretz [land/earth], as it is written in The Zohar, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Earth is called “Torah” and Eretz is called “faith.”
Hence, on Passover, when there was only cutting, and they were rewarded with emerging from the authority of Egypt, they entered the degree of “holy beast.” Hence, they bring the harvest of barley, which is animal food. By this, the crops in the fields are blessed, for a field is Malchut, as in “A field that the Lord has blessed.”
Through the fruits of the harvest during the seven weeks, we are rewarded with receiving the Torah, which is reception in order to bestow. At that time, he is called “man” because he already has the Daat [knowledge/reason] of the Torah, called “heaven,” and the Torah is regarded as “the tree of life,” and man is called “a tree of the field.” Hence, two loaves of bread are offered from the wheat, which is “human food.” By this, the fruits of the tree are blessed, implied by the fact that they are blessed with the Torah.