732. Why is unleavened bread called 'matzah'? It is as we have learned, Shadai, WHICH IS INTERPRETED as MEANING, May He who (Heb. she) said to His world Enough (Heb. dai), say to our troubles Enough, NAMELY, MAY HE CHASE AWAY FROM US JUDGMENTS AND TROUBLES. Matzah is likewise, for it subdues and subjugates; namely, it chases away the evil ones of all sides and makes a quarrel with them, just as the name Shadai of the mezuzah chases away the evil spirits and demons that are at the gate. So, too, MATZAH chases them away from all the dwellings of holiness, and makes a quarrel (Heb. merivah) and a fight with them, as it is written: "Masah and Merivah" (Shemot 17:7), and therefore the name is written as matzah. HE ASKS, but masah is spelled with a Samech, AND NOT WITH A TZADI? HE ANSWERS THAT the Aramaic translation of Masah is matzuta. HENCE MATZAH IS SPELLED WITH TZADI.

737. And after all this, it is written: "no leavened bread (Heb. chametz) shall be eaten" (Shemot 13:3), "seven days you shall you eat unleavened bread (Heb. matzot) with it, the bread of affliction" (Devarim 16:3). And it is written: "You shall eat nothing leavened (Heb. machmetzet)" (Shemot 12:20). The Faithful Shepherd said: Why did He command not to eat leavened bread for seven days, but to eat on them unleavened bread (Heb. matzah)? And why IN ONE CASE is it written: "no...shall be eaten," while in THE OTHER CASE it is written: "You shall eat nothing"? AND HE ANSWERS, there are seven planets, namely Saturn (Heb. Shabtai), Jupiter (Heb. Tzedek), Mars (Heb. Ma'adim), Sun (Heb. Shemesh), Venus (Heb. Nogah), Mercury (Heb. Kochav), and Moon (Heb. Yareach). And they are from the side of good and evil, for the light that is within is matzah, while the Klipah that is on the outside is chametz. And the chametz is masculine, while machmetzet is feminine, AND THEY ARE MALE AND FEMALE OF THAT SAME KLIPAH THAT IS ON THE OUTSIDE. AND ABOUT THE MALE OF THE KLIPAH, WHICH IS NOT THAT GRAVE, IT IS SAID: "NO...SHALL BE EATEN," BUT ABOUT THE FEMALE OF THE KLIPAH, WHICH IS A SERIOUS MATTER, IT IS SAID: "YOU SHALL EAT NOTHING."

738. The matzah that is within THE SEVEN ABOVE-MENTIONED PLANETS is guarded FROM THE KLIPOT, which are "and the seven maidens who were chosen to be given her, out of the king's house" (Ester 2:9). And about them it is said: "And you shall observe (guard) the (commandment of) unleavened bread" (Shemot 12:17). Matzah is guarded FROM THE KLIPOT, for her husband, who is Vav, NAMELY, ZEIR ANPIN, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE VAV OF YUD HEI VAV HEI. And MATZAH (MEM TZADI HEI), with it, THE VAV, becomes mitzvah (Eng. 'a precept' - Mem Tzadi Vav Hei).

739. And he who guards it for Yud-Hei, that are hidden in the Mem Tzadi of matzah, FOR, ACCORDING TO THE ATBASH CIPHER, WHERE THE FINAL LETTER, TAV, IS SUBSTITUTED FOR THE FIRST LETTER, ALEPH, AND THE PENULTIMATE LETTER, SHIN, FOR THE SECOND LETTER, BET, Yud is Mem, Hei is Tzadi, AS THE MEM OF MATZAH IS REPLACED BY YUD, AND THE TZADI OF MATZAH IS REPLACED BY HEI, THIS THEREFORE BEING THE SECRET OF YUD-HEI, HIDDEN IN MEM TZADI OF MATZAH. And the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded that MALCHUT be blessed with seven blessings on the Eve of Pesach, namely, her seven maidens, WHICH ARE CALLED 'Saturn' (Heb. Shabtai), 'Jupiter' (Heb. Tzedek), 'Mars' (Heb. Ma'adim), 'Sun' (Heb. Shemesh), 'Venus' (Heb. Nogah), 'Mercury' (Heb. Kochav), and 'Moon' (Heb. Yareach). And He commanded that THE KLIPOT, WHICH ARE chametz (lit. 'leavened bread') and machmetzet (lit. 'anything leavened') be removed from them, for they are dark clouds that cover the lights of the seven planets, about which it was said: "and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill-favored," namely, darkness, "as at the beginning." (Beresheet 41:21). For the darkness of their clouds is so STRONG that the lights THAT ARE IN THE SEVEN PLANETS are unable to illuminate to them, and for this reason: "it could not be known that they had eaten them." End of Ra'aya Meheimna (the Faithful Shepherd).

741. Come and see: In Egypt THAT "WILD BEAST OF THE REED GRASS" rules, and a number of different types of regime issue from it. And they all are in the secret of chametz. Since the Holy One, blessed be He, broke it, He removed the chametz (lit. 'leavened bread') and introduced matzah (lit. 'unleavened bread'). What did He use TO BREAK IT? With the smallest and thinnest thread, He broke the letter Chet of chametz (Chet Mem Tzadi). Thus it is called "the wild beasts of the reed grass" because it is as easy to break as is reed. With what was it broken? It was with a thread small as a hair that He broke the Chet and removed it from its former state and it became matzah. Therefore it is written: "Rebuke the wild beast of the reed grass," for the Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked it, and the Chet of chametz was broken and became a Hei.

743. Ra'aya Meheimna (the Faithful Shepherd). Rabbi Shimon opened with the verse: "Rebuke the wild beast of the reed grass, the company of the bulls with the calves of the peoples." "Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds" refers to a reed, to which is attached Esau, which is the great city of Rome, that Gabriel stuck as a reed in the great sea - WHICH IS A SECRET OF THE REED ATTACHED TO MALCHUT THAT IS CALLED 'THE GREAT SEA', and on it a large city, Rome was built, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE KINGDOM OF ESAU. And this is a reed that is CALLED 'chametz' (lit. 'leavened bread'). When the Redemption comes to Yisrael, He will break THAT REED, as it is written: "Rebuke the wild beast of the reed grass, the company," and the chametz THAT IS DRAWN DOWN FROM THE REED is immediately removed from the world, WITH its machmetzet, NAMELY, ITS FEMALE, which is THE CITY Rome, and matzah (lit. 'unleavened bread') will be revealed in the world, for this is the Temple, the First Temple and the Second Temple, WHICH ARE BINAH AND MALCHUT.

746. And hence the Chet, which is a thin thread, is broken, and is replaced with a Hei, TURNING THE CHAMETZ (CHET MEM TZADI) INTO MATZAH (MEM TZADI HEI). For initially, "The reeds and rushes (Heb. suf) shall wither." 'Reeds' refers to the rule of Rome, which is an end (Heb. sof) for all the kings, and which in the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will break. "Rebuke the wild beast of the reed grass" means rebuking the wicked beast, which is the Chet of chametz, and the foot of the Chet of machmetzet is broken, of which it is said: "Her feet go down to death" (Mishlei 5:5). Moreover: "Rebuke the wild beast of the reed grass" means that He will break the foot of the Kof of kaneh (Kof Nun Hei), and hineh (Eng. 'behold' - Hei Nun Hei) remains. Immediately: "Behold, Adonai Elohim will come with might..." and: "A harbinger to Zion will I give: Behold, behold them (Heb. hineh hinam); and to Jerusalem a messenger of good tidings." THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF 'hineh' is sixty; NAMELY, SIXTY YEARS after the year 1200, THE VERSES QUOTED ABOVE WILL BE FULFILLED, AS IS CLARIFIED BELOW.