Unleavened Bread

The recipes for "fancying" unleavened bread this year are abounding, so I thought I'd get creative and see what I could do in the area of mazto enhancement.  As it turns out, I have had an epiphany . . . seriously, an epiphany.  An epiphany by definition is:  1. A divine manifestation and; 2.  A moment of sudden understanding or revelation.  I've experienced both definitions.

A recipe crossed my screen a few days before Pesach, that seemed a bit complex, but looked good, so it got my wheels turning regarding this week of matzo.  I hate to admit it, but 8 days of mazto does get a bit mundane without additives and toppings . . .Well, Mazto is the Bread of Affliction!!!  What are we expecting?  Mundane is entirely better than afflicted or painful!  I remember being offended when my "then" husband made the reference to "salad week" because of the various egg, salmon, etc. salads I made to accompany the matzo.  It isn't salad week, it's week of unleavened bread!  So the practice of making salads and spreads was sidelined . . . at that time.  Something that had made the week special for me to revolve around the unleavened bread seemed to be a stumbling block for him.  Since I am now observing the week alone, I don't have to worry about causing another to stumble, but I still found myself in a place I don't want to be again.

I'll give a brief description of what I did, that brought such a wave of guilt over me, so in this description is also a confession, accompanying the epiphany.  The image that caught my eye looked like Tiramisu using matzo in place of lady fingers . . . I saw it before Pesach and determined some sort of facsimile would be formulated in my kitchen the following week.  As I was making matzo on the first day of Unleavened Bread, because that is specified in Scripture to be allowed, I determined that just basic food was to be made, no panache should be added.  In my spirit, I just knew altering the matzo on the Holy day would be wrong.  As I baked the matzo, I was literally reminded by the holes that Messiah was pierced, and the various baking color and discoloration symbolized his body bruised, and of course the matzo is broken when served . . .

The next day, as I reheated some matzo ball soup, I decided to get a bit creative with my faux tiramisu idea.

  The results were terrible!  I'd soaked the matzo in some kosher blackberry wine, then . . . well it doesn't matter!  If I felt something was wrong for a Holy Day, why would it be all right the next day?  The whole mess tasted a lot like a high octane Twix or KitKat bar.  The word I used to describe it to a friend was "decadent!"
 That term is about as far from holy as one can get.  Not only was it not so much like tiramisu, it made me feel terrible that I had for all practical purposes "sugar coated" or "added to" the Bread of Affliction that Messiah said was to be in remembrance of Him.
I looked at what I made and felt like I'd put a chocolate easter bunny, with wine and coffee, between pieces of matzo!  It was then, the revelation occurred to me, having seen so many recipes for dressing up the matzo this year, "this is how any tradition becomes incorporated into the Feasts" and down the road, the real meaning is lost or just a passing comment.

I'm all about making some special treats, it is a Feast, after all; but I won't be sugar coating and chocolate dipping the Bread of Affliction, any more . . .