We hope that you all enjoyed Pesach and that the Sedarim were meaningful for you and your families. In connection with the letter Heh and the word Mah (what), we trust that you saw the Heh in the phrase " Heh Lachma'anya"- this is the bread of affliction. The word Heh in this phrase, similar to the meaning of the letter Heh itself, signifies expression and is our declaration of our constant state of being ever more free (this year we are slaves, next year free!).

Freedom to Express "What?

At the close of the Seder meal we partake of the Afikomen, so that the taste of Matzah remains with us through the rest of the Seder. We can ask, in what way (Mah) can we hold onto the taste of the Matzah after Pesach has ended? How seriously do we take the acknowledgment of and gratitude to G-d that we expressed during Pesach? Now that we are free to express ourselves, in what way will we express our freedom? Being able to ask questions in and of itself is a sign of our freedom. The questions we continue to ask in this time period are in the form of Mah questions-in what way.......?

Spiritually, we make ourselves receptive by asking questions. When we have a question in our minds or on our lips we are acknowledging and expressing our desire to know. Merely verbalizing the word Mah, leaves us with our mouths open, symbolizing our receptivity to the wisdom we seek. Perhaps this is why the Haggadah says that for the child who is too young to ask and doesn't have a question, "Petach lo," "Open up the discussion." Notice that each of the other three children mentioned in the Haggadah have questions. Even the "wise" child is not distinguished by having brilliant answers, but rather in posing a question that demonstrates a true desire to know more.

In our last Dvar Torah we highlighted that the three core symbols ofthe Seder: Pesach, Matzah, and Maror are discussed in a question form "al shum Mah?" (for what reason?) These are the three questions we ask at the time of the Seder. Now we can look at the questions that take us from the night of the Seder into the continuing process of our becoming free, by looking at the conspicuous presence of the word Mah in the narrative following the splitting of Yam Suf.

Marah (Mem-Reish-Heh)

Soon after the Jewish people witness the splitting of the Sea and acknowledge their faith and trust in G-d and Moshe, they begin complaining against Moshe because they can't find water. "Mah Nishteh?" (reminiscent of Mah Nishtaneh?) " in what way will we be provided with drink?"( Shemos 15:24) is the first question the people are recorded as asking after their passing through the sea. According to R' Hirsch, the Jewish people had not lost their awareness of G-d as the source of all of the miracles related to the Exodus. Those were grand interventions. What they didn't know yet was that G-d is also involved and concerned with daily, "petty" human needs like the supply of drinking water.

Manna- Mon (Mem-Nun)

The next complaint against Moshe and Aharon was about food. In response to this complaint, G-d tells Moshe that food will rain down from heaven on a daily basis. "Let the people go out and pick each day's portion on its day, so that I can test them, whether they will follow My teaching or not." (Shemot,16:4) The people called the food Mon (manna) because they didn't know what it was, "lo yadu mah hu." (Shemot,16:15). So, while the word Mon is spelled Mem-Nun, its name is derived from having a question about what the food was -- lo yadu mah hu. [note: Moshe's response to the complaint about the provision of food is also framed as a rhetorical question- "V'nachnu mah?" "For what are we?" Moshe asks the complaining people, "Not against us are your complaints, but against Hashem."(Shemot, 16:8)].

The common thread tying these three Mah questions is in acquiring trust in G-d as the Source of all sustenance and recognizing that there is no limit in G-d's ability to provide. A further and more challenging lesson learned specifically from the Mon is that G-d does provide what we need for each day.

Lessons from the Mon

Each person was supposed to gather an Omer of Mon -food only for one day --except on Friday when a double portion, Lechem Mishneh (Mem-Shin-Nun-Heh ... another Mem-Heh word) would be gathered for Shabbat. They could not store the Mon. If they tried to "save" it for the next day it would spoil.

The Mon was given to the Jewish people to teach them to direct themselves toward G-d as the Source of all their needs, to express their acknowledgment, and to build their trust in G-d's on-going Providence. It was also there to teach about focusing on the present moment. Only today's portion is available.

In a way it seems very anti-climactic that after the awesome drama of the exodus, the main focus becomes food and water. Yet, it is precisely the return to the ordinary following an intense spiritual experience that challenges us the most. How do we relate to food as an expression of our relationship with G-d? How do we return to bread after Matzah? By eating Matzah on Pesach we are acknowledging that the entire exodus, from the plagues to the crossing of the sea, was completely in G-d's hands and to recognize fully, Venachnu Mah- what are we? As we leave Pesach and the simplicity of Matzah we re-enter the struggle of finding bread, and the pitfalls inherent in the personal pursuit of livelihood. The word for bread (Lechem) is related to the word Milchamah, (Mem-Lamed-Chet-Mem-Heh....also a Mem-Heh word) meaning struggle or war. While we need to make an effort to earn our livelihood (and acknowledge G-d as the Source of our strenghth for that task) we have to balance those efforts with an awareness that G-d is always providing us with what we need. If we find ourselves hoarding, fearful that we won't have enough for tomorrow, perhaps we have eaten but not fully digested the lesson of Matzah.

Both the quantity of Mon (an Omer) and the timing of its distribution (daily) connect us with the counting of the Omer that we began on the second night of Pesach. Just as the Israelites had to learn what path to follow after they were freed from Mitzrayim, we have the challenge of moving forward after Pesach. The counting of the Omer gives us 49 consecutive days to continue our awareness of the symbolic meaning of Matzah parallel to the Israelites having the Mon to reinforce their awareness of the symbolic meaning of the Matzah. It is a great challenge to live in the present moment when we don't have the direct experience of the Mon falling from the sky. This is why G-d commanded us to place an Omer of the Mon in the Mishkan as an etenal reminder of the level of trust we should have in G-d's Providence. Although the Omer of Mon is hidden (along with the Ark) we have the counting of the Omer to help us stay connected to that level of trust.

We trust that the results of our celebration of Pesach will not be half-baked and that we will be able to move forward day by day out of the confines of Mitzrayim. Hopefully, we will take a Matzah-consciousness (the word Matzah= 135 which equals Mah=45, three times) with us as we return to our "ordinary" lives and live with trust in G-d to provide us with all that we need, as we express in the Birchat Ha'Mazon: "b'chol yom, u'v'chol eit, u'vuchol sha'ah" - "in every day, in every time, at every hour" just as G-d provided our ancestors with Mon in the Midbar for 40 years.