by Rabbi David Katz

In this week’s Torah Portion “Bo,” The Jewish People are on their way to being molded into the Nation that will soon be receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai. With success in their potential upon revelation, Hashem would have led the Israelite People into the Land of Israel, where they would have erected the Final Temple and enjoyed a World-Wide Messianic age, with Moses as the Final Redeemer, and the achievement of the dissemination of the Torah throughout the World.  Upon the exit from Egypt, it is understood from the Torah that the Jewish People left in haste, signaled by their having to eat “Matzah” – unleavened bread -  free of its natural state of rising when baked. In the nature of Torah imagery, we can equate the qualities of matzah and the ensuing holiday of Passover into a relationship with Shem, and his meeting with Abraham in particular where bread and wine accompanied their encounter.

Before we connect the dots and gain perspective directly relating to Shem, first one must understand the intrinsic nature of matzah in concept and in the Hebrew usage of the word.

Matzah, being free of leaven, is considered, “פשוט” / “Stripped” from any attachment to a foreign element; it is not able to be under servitude, making it a “free” depiction in the physical realm expressing spiritual freedom. When the commandment of eating matzah was decreed by the Torah, one  did not need to look far to see the direct rationale behind matzah and going out from tyranny and slavery, such to the magnitude that Egypt represents itself as in the Torah.

Now that that we have the basic guidelines of what matzah is, as “פשוט”, or “Stripped”, we can then find usage of this word in Hebrew, and shed ancient light onto the character of Shem, and his meeting with Abraham in particular.

The two concepts that we can derive from “פשוט”/ “Stripped”, are “פשט” / “Simple Meaning” and “פשוטו” / “Peripheral Meaning”.  Notice the subtle differences in the Hebrew spelling from “פשוט” to “פשט” and “פשוטו” - in Hebrew these subtle differences garner different meanings, and the basis of this learning exercise is from the spiritual elements of “Matzah”, and it’s “Stripped” nature.   In these variations we learn that when we strip the excess information of a concept, we get the simple meaning, and thus that which was stripped, itself has meaning derived from the simple meaning, making the peripheral meaning just as essential to the simple meaning.   Matzah can serve as the spiritual imagery to these concepts. Now Shem can come into light in this fashion, and we can gain perspective into his connection with “Matzah” and Passover.

The Jewish People and The Noahide Nations are a perfect personification of these properties of  “Simple Meaning” and “Peripheral Meaning.” Interestingly enough, this connection itself is an example of the usage of Peripheral Meaning as opposed to the Simple Meaning, yet leads to the avenue of the Simple Meaning of Text; It would seem both Nations have exclusive rights into both concepts relating to Text – all the more so showing with clear vision how both the Noahide and the Israelite have roots in the Written Torah in an intertwined manner.

The Jewish Oral Torah dwells primarily on the Peripheral Meaning of Text. By the given right of there being a Simple Meaning, the Talmud is preoccupied with a wealth of background knowledge composing endless volumes of literature surrounding the Simple Meaning.  Hence the Jewish Tradition has a focus for  the Peripheral - or the leavened aspect of bread - that is inherently left out of matzah.  Such Torah commentaries, such as by Rashi,  assumed the Simple Meaning was in sight, but as the generations went farther away from Sinai, the Peripheral Meaning has become a diet of sorts despite the Simple Meaning. Enter the Noahide: the guardian of Simple Meaning in text, a preservation of the Written Torah. The Noahide by his own heritage of the Written Torah, never lost sight of the original goal: to understand the Torah as it’s written. As the Peripheral Meaning may have its place of importance, to lose the Simple Meaning of text, and the art of textual research, would be the ultimate catastrophe! Thus the two Nations, especially as we inch towards the End of Days, will be pleasantly surprised, to see that both parties hold the keys to the others’ riddles. The Simple Meaning simply must advance with Peripheral knowledge,  and Peripheral without the Simple Meaning, is like pulling a flower out of the ground by the roots, and expecting it to grow from the air.  Fate and destiny will have it that both need each other for the survival of Torah. This is not a mutation or an accident, this is not a figment of imagination of something in the future either: this is the Torah between Shem and Abraham, and their revelation that took place on Passover!  (If we are to learn the Torah “לפי פשוטו” – according to Peripheral Meaning - meaning we may not be able to ascertain that they met on Passover with absolute certainty, yet all arrows point to the Peripheral Facts - that “A Passover Endeavor” definitely took place.  From this Peripheral Revelation, we can learn from there, that these two Men in the Simple Meaning represent Peripheral and Simple in Meaning.)  The most obvious hint to the nature of their exchange was in that Shem brought out Bread and Wine to Abraham.

To begin with the hints involved - Bread and Wine in this context - it may be a reflection that perhaps this actually took place on Passover!  For the next passage of Torah deals with Abraham’s right to have a child, in which a fulfilled prophecy given to Abraham on Passover was the eventual birth of Isaac on Passover. Was Shem hinting to Abraham that this was not only Passover, but the destination of Passover, i.e. the Temple Mount where the Third Temple would stand one day? The Numerical Value of “Bread – Wine” is 148, the same as that of “Passover” [פסח=148=לחם-יין].  From this Peripheral Meaning, we can then begin to gain a clearer perspective into the Simple Meaning of what literally happened between Abraham and Shem. The Torah is ambiguous here with intention, to force upon us the need to delve into both options of text – thus accentuating not only both Abraham and Shem, but the Noahides  and the Jewish People. If Passover is in the air, what was the nature of the Blessings that took place here, and more importantly, what really happened in real time?!  For to recapture their exchange, is to reveal the true Passover, as the gates of redemption are not in the future, but rather in the past - in the hands of Abraham and Shem! Thus if this is indeed Passover in our Peripheral view, then perhaps the Simple Meaning looks like this: Shem brings out bread and wine, signifying that this is indeed Passover, and the secrets of redemption he is giving over to Abraham – in that the bread is actually matzah and the wine represents the four glasses of wine that are consumed throughout the night. Next, Abraham is asked to Bless God, as a right given to a Priest; Shem is a Priest, but we then learn that Shem taught the Torah and laws of Priesthood THROUGH Abraham, according to principles of Peripheral Meaning, and Abraham was the vessel, while at that time receiving the Simple Meaning to the entire Torah from Shem. Upon conclusion of Abraham’s Blessing over the bread and wine, strangely the Torah says, “and he said Blessed is Abraham…”, but in the Simple Meaning, we can understand this to be, “And it’s said – Blessed is Abraham To-God-Above-Maker-of-Heaven-and-Earth.” Upon which Abraham immediately understood that this conferred Blessing onto him, whereby he took the liberty with the diligence of a Priest, and said, “Blessed is God, [Because only God would be so Good] to deliver one’s enemies into one’s hands!” Thereby the secrets of the future redemption were given to Abraham, along with the entire Torah, laws of Priesthood, and the additional letter to his name, as it says, “He gave him a tenth of everything” – referring to the letter “Heh” added to Abraham. This would be an example of weighing Simple Meaning from Peripheral Meaning.

And ultimately it is from the Peripheral, namely represented by Abraham and his descendents, that the Peripheral Meaning is given over to and learned by since the passage with Shem and Abraham. Who then is the Simple Meaning derived from?   Shem son of Noah.

It is Shem who is like the Matzah of Passover, and in his merit, Passover was explained for eternity as he brought out the bread and wine, to make the Torah understood for eternity. Remember, once we have the Simple Meaning embedded in stone, the Peripheral can come to light, but to lose the Simple Meaning, the Torah is lost. With Shem’s Torah given over to Abraham, he gave not one Torah, but two, as seen from the Bread and Wine – a Heritage of Torah that would last forever. For Shem taught the Peripheral Torah through Abraham, that would be the “Life of Abraham” and to his descendents, and Shem is the father of the Simple Meaning as well,  as this is the great secret of Shem: he is like the proverbial Matzah!

Like Matzah, Shem is not to be subdued and/or oppressed.  From the view point of Shem, and his perspective, the entire Torah can be seen and understood in its true and Simple Meaning – a preservation for all of time, a gift that is inherited by every Noahide that ever was or will be. With the Noahide Nations, the Torah will never be lost or forgotten. True, without the Peripheral Meaning, we may not remember the Simple Meaning, but without the Simple Meaning  [an epidemic of sorts today in Jewish circles] the World would go back to Chaos and Void.

The Simple Meaning is like Matzah, 100% text based, in what is called “Absolute Truth.” The nature of absolute truth is that it cannot be enslaved, oppressed, or distorted. This was the message for the Jewish People upon leaving exile. Just as the past-future dichotomy of redemption existed between Abraham and Shem in terms of redemption, we can focus on Passover in the same way. The keys to receiving Torah never changed: just as the message was loud and clear in the matzah then, to guard the Simple meaning within Torah, in the future complete redemption, as hinted to by Shem, once again you will be expected to know the Torah in its absolute truth, Simple Meaning.

Thus we have Matzah, simple and free, much like the Passover holiday represents. We learn from these two avenues of Torah, “Simple and Peripheral Meanings” to Torah.  It is of great honor, to realize that Matzah is an analogy of Shem. For Shem gave us the Peripheral Meaning through Abraham, and Shem himself represents the absolute truth element to Torah; Shem, like Matzah by nature, has an incorruptible message, one that will preserve and be preserved for eternity.

When Isaac, the symbol of Passover is taught the Peripheral Meaning to Torah, by Abraham his father, he is then sent to learn the Simple Meaning to the Torah, to gain the absolute truth, from Shem, who would be Isaac’s essential Teacher in Torah. For in the End of Days, The World will seek Torah from Abraham, and he will say, as Isaac, for he learned more than me. And indeed this is true, for Isaac, the essence of Passover, ate the proverbial Matzah, from Shem – the Peripheral founder of Passover, and the giver of perspective from absolute and simple truth. Thus when the Jewish People and Noahide Nations will learn together, not only will the Torah come to life much like with Shem and Abraham, but we will further along the deeper message of Passover: Complete and Total Redemption, just as Shem had taught Abraham the way it would be, on that “first Passover with wine and Matzah.”