The Middle Matzah
Matzah represents two contradictory ideas. At the beginning of the seder, we describe it as "the bread of oppression our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt." Ibn Ezra explains that slaves were given unleavened bread because, being hard, it takes longer to digest. It removes hunger for longer than ordinary bread. Later in the seder, we describe it as the bread the Israelites ate as they were leaving Egypt, in too much of a hurry to allow the dough to rise. We divide the matzah, therefore, to show that it has two symbolisms. Now, at the beginning of the seder, it is the bread of oppression. Later, once we have relived the exodus, it becomes the bread of freedom.
The difference between freedom and slavery lies not in the quality of bread we eat, but in the state of mind in which we eat it.
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