The Mitzvah of Eating Matzah: Spiritual Meaning, Healing Power, and Faith

The Chatam Sofer writes that the positive Torah commandment to eat matzah on the night of Pesach is unique. It is the only eating mitzvah from the Torah that remains today. We no longer have the Korban Pesach, sacrificial offerings, terumah, or maaser sheni, but this one mitzvah continues each year.

Rabbi Akiva Eiger taught that on the night of Pesach a person should conduct himself with holiness and awe, rejoicing in the mitzvot that God granted us on this special night. These include the mitzvah of Kiddush, eating matzah, eating maror, drinking the four cups, and reciting Hallel.

Loving and Cherishing the Mitzvah

The Shelah HaKadosh writes that righteous individuals had the custom to kiss the matzah when lifting it during the Seder, expressing deep love for the commandment.

In the book Maaseh Rav, the students of the Vilna Gaon recorded that according to their teacher there is a mitzvah to eat matzah throughout all seven days of Pesach, and that he personally cherished this mitzvah greatly during the entire festival.

Intention While Eating

While eating matzah, one should have in mind the verse, “Seven days you shall eat matzot” (Shemot 12:15), remembering that matzah commemorates the Exodus, as it says, “They baked the dough they brought out of Egypt into cakes of matzah, for it had not leavened… for they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay” (Shemot 12:39).

The mitzvah should not be performed merely out of habit or routine. Instead, one should intend to fulfill the will of the Creator and recall the miracles God performed when redeeming Israel from Egypt.

The Rokeach writes in the laws of Pesach that one who eats matzah properly throughout the festival becomes a partner with God in the act of creation. He points to the verse “Matzot shall be eaten the seven days,” emphasizing the phrase “the seven days,” hinting at a connection to the seven days of creation itself.

Matzah Strengthens Faith

The Zohar describes matzah as “the food of healing and the food of faith.” Eating matzah implants faith in a person’s heart and purifies the soul from spiritual blemish, not only repairing the past but also strengthening a person for the future.

It is also taught that matzah awakens love for God. The Yismach Yisrael explains that matzah helps a person desire nothing besides God, His Torah, and His commandments, nurturing a deep and boundless love that surpasses worldly attachments.

In Tiferet Shlomo it is written that the mitzvah of eating matzah has a unique power because it becomes part of a person physically. Therefore it can bring spiritual healing and help uproot negative tendencies, drawing a person closer to the living God.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rimanov added that eating matzah has the spiritual ability to weaken harmful desires within the soul.

A Source of Physical Healing and Protection

The teachings of the Zohar are also understood in a literal sense, suggesting that eating matzah can bring physical healing as well. Some point to a hint in the word matzah itself, seen as an acronym meaning “From every trouble save me.”

The sefer Yafeh LaLev quotes the work Orchot Yosher, encouraging a person to make an effort to drink the four cups properly and to eat the required portions of matzah and the afikoman even when it feels difficult. Doing so, it says, can bring benefit to physical well being and spare a person from needing bitter medicines.