Metzora - Making Matza with Mayim She'lanu

We only make matzot  (unleavened bread) from mayim she'lanu, water which has settled in a cool place overnight (SA OC 455.)  Some people find this a rather puzzling custom.  If we are concerned about the temperature of the water, it would be much simpler to stipulate that lukewarm water is forbidden for kneading matzot.  Actually, this practice illustrates a profound theme of the Pesach season.

THE TOIL OF PESACH AS AN END IN ITSELF

We are accustomed to saying that the exertion and vigilance required to prepare for Pesach are necessary in order to rid our houses properly of chametz (leavened bread).  But the opposite is also true - the prohibition of chametz is a means to stir us to exertion and vigilance.

Exertion: By prohibiting something as ubiquitous as leavened matter, the Torah guarantees that we will be kept busy with God's commandment as Pesach approaches, clearly demonstrating that we are His servants.

Vigilance: Thomas Jefferson has been quoted as saying "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty", and this insight could be described as the unifying theme of the Pesach observances.  Pesach is the holiday of liberty, of our passage from slavery to freedom.  But with freedom comes responsibility, and the scrupulous attention to detail required to rid the house of chametz and to prepare Pesach foods both displays and inculcates vigilance and a sense of responsibility.

HONOR GUARD

One way of showing honor for something is to guard it.   The elaborate spectacle of the palace guard at Buckingham palace is not required because the Queen is in any special danger - on the contrary. Any citizen requires protection when he is in danger, but we demonstrate our esteem of honored places and individuals by providing a special honor guard even when none is needed.  This gives us an important insight into the shemira (guarding/watching) of Pesach.

The idea of watching is a central theme of the Exodus story.  The root "shemira" or watching appears at least eight times in Parashat Bo, the Torah portion describing the mobilization for the exodus from Egypt.  We were bidden to watch the sheep for the Pesach sacrifice several days before the holiday (Shemot 12:6); to watch the matzot (Shemot 12:17); to watch and observe the day itself as a festival forever (Shemot 12:17); to watch and keep the particular observances of the festival (Shemot 12:24); to watch and keep the observance as a whole (Shemot 12:25);  Pesach night is referred to as a "Night of Watching" (Shemot 12:42); and we are bidden to watch and keep the laws of Pesach as a commemoration of the Exodus (Shemot 13:10).

This emphasis suggests that the watching or guarding, like the effort and vigilance of Pesach, is not merely a means to an end but rather an end in itself.  One halakha which illustrates this is the requirement for "matza shemura" (carefully watched matza).  All Pesach foods require diligent shemira to ensure that they are free of chametz, but the obligatory matzot mitzva (the matza used for the specific mitzva of eating matza) require an extra degree of watching - watching which is a mitzva in and of itself (SA OC 453:4, see MB.)

We can discern the same idea in mayim shelanu.  Very warm water encourages rapid fermentation of the dough, and should not be used for baking matzot.  However, we do not settle for measuring the temperature with a thermometer, and we do not use water that just happens to be cool.  Instead, we use mayim shemurim – guarded water - that is not merely cool but which has undergone a special process of diligent protection from warmth.  There is an extra measure of exertion, vigilance, and guarding.

EARNING OUR FREEDOM

The unusual toil required for Pesach preparations is an essential preparation for the holiday of freedom.  The backbreaking labor of cleaning enables us to demonstrate that we are now slaves of God, not slaves of Pharaoh or of worldly responsibilities.  The scrupulous vigilance required to avoid chametz inculcates in us the sense of responsibility which is the hallmark of free people.  And the extra, symbolic shemira of the flour and the water are a way of showing our honor and affection for God's commandments.