Passover is the story of who we are, where we come from, and what we stand for.

Matza: The symbol of spiritual freedom. It is free from all additives and good looks- just the bare essentials. We rid ourselves of ego and self-importance and focus on who we would like to become.
Maror: bitter herbs(symbol of pain) and matza (symbol of freedom) are linked. Without an appreciation of pain and hardship, you can’t know complete joy and fulfillment.
Each seder ends with le shana haba’a biyerushalayim! Next year in Jerusalem! It is a prayer for the messiah to come.
Chametz: We can’t eat it. We can’t even be around it. It symbolizes arrogance. We must remove it from our lives to give ourselves the opportunity to clean house and start fresh.
We are commanded to do only 2 things at the seder- eating matza is one of them. Why? Any Hebrew school student can tell you the significance of matza. Matza is the bread of freedom. Upon leaving Egypt, the freed slaves made bread and didn’t allow it to rise because it would take too long and the Pharoah might change his mind. That may or may not be true. Matza has a much deeper meaning.
Passover is a holiday celebrating SPIRITUAL freedom. Matza symbolizes that! What has a piece of flat bread got to do with spiritual freedom? Matza is literally free from all additives, external things and superficial good looks. It represents the bare essentials. Everything we pursue in life can divided in necessities and luxuries. To the extent a luxury becomes a necessity, we lose that much freedom. We become a slave to it. Judaism teaches that we should focus on being the best WE can be. Others do not have to lose for us to win. On Passover, matza reminds us we should concentrate on becoming free from our own personal forms of slavery that hold us back from being the best we can be.
This is the 15th of the Hebrew month of Nissan. It is the first month of the Hebrew calendar. We celebrate Passover, not Rosh Hashanah (New Years) because it reminds us that this is the beginning of our tradition and belief system.
The 4 questions set the mood for the seder. I think there should be a fifth: Why does it take so long?
This Passover, give yourself the gift of freedom. Leave Egypt, and enter the promised land.
Question for the Rabbi:
Hello Rabbi,
I hope the holiday finds you well. My daughter hosted a seder in NY. One of the guests was Persian. She brought with her green onions. Are you familiar with this custom? If so, please explain. Even if not, please explain. -Dr. Gary Newman
Yes, we do it in our home thanks to my Persian decent wife. At Dayenu during the song we lightly *(and sometimes not so lightly) hit each other with the scallions (or green onions as we call them in Canada) imitating the whipping the Egyptians did to the Jews in Egypt.
Some sephardim have a similar custom mimicking leaving Egypt by putting the matzah at “ha lachma” in a napkin and over their shoulder like leaving Egypt with their belonging.
Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom. -Rabbi Tzvi Nightingale