Q: I'm prepping a bible study for children and I know they'll ask me why. I have a sample of the bread for them to taste and we'll discuss passover. But why that particular type of bread?
A: Matzos is more like a cracker than bread. It is called the "bread of haste" because the Hebrews did not have time to bake their bread and the flour and water cooked under the hot sun of the desert while on their backs. It is also sometimes referred to as the "bread of affliction" You will find both the command and the meaning of the unleavened bread in the book of Exodus. 12:14 This day must be one that you will remember. You must keep it as a festival to God for all generations. It is a law for all time that you must celebrate it. 12:15 Eat matzahs for seven days. By the first day, you must have your homes cleared of all leaven. Whoever eats leaven from the first day until the seventh day will have his soul cut off from Israel. 12:16 The first day shall be a sacred holiday, and the seventh day shall [also] be a sacred holiday. No work may be done on these [days]. The only [work] that you may do is that which is needed so that everyone will be able to eat. 12:17 Be careful regarding the matzahs, for on this very day I will have brought your masses out of Egypt. You must carefully keep this day for all generations; it is a law for all times. 12:18 From the 14th day of the first month in the evening, until the night of the 21st day of the month, you must eat [only] matzahs. 12:19 During [these] seven days, no leaven may be found in your homes. If someone eats anything leavened his soul shall be cut off from the community of Israel. [This is true] whether he is a proselyte or a person born into the nation. 12:20 You must not eat anything leavened. In all the areas where you live, eat matzahs This year the observance of Passover begins April 19th at sunset. Nissan 15 EDIT: I do not know WHO "M" is or why "M" has on now FOUR occasions seen to try to INSULT and reinterpret my answers but now this one takes the cake for sheer absurdity! She said what I wrote above was "critically wrong" from a Jewish understanding, then tries to IMPOSE ADDITIONAL MEANING that is NOT in my answer. However the most absurd part of her accusation is claiming my answer is not from "Jewish understanding" when it is simply a direct COPYPASTE from a respected Jewish educational web site's line by line translation of Torah that is used world wide by Jews in MANY countries and was given to me originally by an ORTHODOX RABBI! She needs to take it up with World ORT (I will assume that M, being so knowledgeable about Judaism will know of that organization) where she says it is "critically wrong". http://bible.ort.org/books/torahd5.asp I have three times been more polite than I should have been in directly asking you to stop trying to twist my answers. Why I had hope you might honor those previous requests, I don't know. If you have a problem with World Ort's translation of Torah take it up with THEM. I also have the link to Chabad's Tanakh with Rashi. I also OWN a complete Pentateuch with Rashi here. They belonged to my Bubbe and I'm familiar with them. There is nothing in my answer that contradicts Rashi. Here is the EXACT page..line by line Hebrew to English word for word translation..you can even hear it in Hebrew if you click on the little mic image http://bible.ort.org/books/torahd5.asp?action=displaypage&book=2&chapter=12&verse=15&portion=15 < begin here and move forward to read the Torah for what "M" insultingly and INCORRECTLY called an answer that was not from Jewish understanding! http://www.ort.org/asp/default.asp < if you want to contact World ORT to tell them what you have said here about their lack of Jewish understanding. Feel free to do so. Oh, and don't forget to contact the Orthodox Rabbis in Jerusalem at Ohr Somayach International who helped to provide ORT with their educational resources.