Matzah and Maror: A Taste of Surrender

The matzah and maror that we eat at the Passover seder, are not simply symbolic foods, but offer a message that is equally relevant today.

Maror (bitter herbs) symbolizes the enslavement that our ancestors experienced under the Egyptian empire, as well as any form of difficulty or suffering, crisis, trauma, or the inability to accept a reality that has been forced upon us.

Maror represents our modern-day enslavement to materialistic idolatry that, without noticing, we've become enslaved to; the ego that claims for itself godlike powers of control, power, and dominance. The ego (maror) sits proudly beside the matzah, which, in contrast, symbolizes humility, surrender, and self-nullification.

The root of our suffering isn’t necessarily the situation itself, but the mistaken assumption that everything is within our control. When something doesn’t go according to plan, we experience emotional collapse and helplessness which reminds us that we are, in fact, not all-powerful superheroes.

The matzah becomes a remedy for that distorted belief- the one that gave rise to the bitterness in the first place. Surrender to a higher power enables us to accept any new reality, even if we don’t understand it.

If I truly understand that I’m not all-powerful, and that all that happens is part of a divine, deliberate, and guided plan, I can then find within myself the strength to absorb and accept realities I may have not expected or desired. In doing so, I am no longer consumed by bitterness born of the illusion that I should be in control.

The matzah reminds me that I am a created being, not the Creator. In doing so, it transforms my pride into humility, allowing me to surrender, to let go, and to heal from the crises passing through my life.

We eat the matzah and maror together, to teach us that humility is the path to avoiding bitterness. When both are at the seder table, this is the deeper wisdom they reveal.

​Inbal Elhayani, M.A., is a certified NLP practitioner and a guided imagery therapist, writer, and lecturer.