Matzoh is one of the most symbolic things in the history of Judaism. Of course there are other things but Matzoh or unrisen bread reminds us of one of the most important stories in Judaism. The background on this food is that the jews were originally slaves to the egyptians. Moses, who could speak to God, went and asked for the freedom of the jews. Pharoah said no 10 times and each time a new plague terrorized Egypt without harming the jews. After the death of the first born pharaoh had enough and released the jews. However, he barely gave them time. The jews packed as fast as they could but they didn’t have enough time for their bread to rise. Thus, matzoh was created. The jews eventually escaped Egypt and went on to Israel with a little help from God but not without remembering the hardships they faced in egypt. We jews celebrate Passover to be thankful for our freedom and to remember the hardships our ancestors faced. To do that we have to go 7 (or 8 depending on what you observe) days without any “chametz”. This means no bread, no cookies, no cereal, not pretzels, no popcorn etc. anything with wheat, spelt, barley, oats and rye is forbidden. Instead of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich we have those things but on matzoh (which I honestly find to taste better). There are many other unique things that symbolize passover, like gefilte fish, charoset, maroar, but matzoh makes me feel the most spiritually connected with the jews of the past.  

– Meir Arbisser

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