How to Prepare for Passover
Of the many festivals and joyous dates on the Jewish calendar, Passover certainly requires the most effort. From the cleaning and cooking to the limited food diet, Passover certainly gives us a run for our money. And yet, those who have experienced a genuine and pure Passover know that when we sit down to a seder knowing that our home and life is cleaned for Passover - all the work is well worth it.
Passover is the celebration of the birth of Jewish People. And just as a birth needs to take place in a sterile and clean environment, so does our Passover celebration need to be held in an atmosphere that is clean of chametz.
So as we stand less than two weeks away from the big day, I’d like to give a short synopsis of the various steps we need to take to ensure our homes are ready for us to celebrate a ‘kosher’ and true Passover. If you should have any questions or require further clarification please don’t hesitate to contact me.
STEP #1 - Cleaning: The torah teaches us that Passover is a time when we separate ourselves from chametz. Not only do we abstain from eating chametz, we don’t derive any benefit from chametz and cannot even own chametz. Thus in the days and weeks before Pesach we clean our homes and dispose of any chametz in our home.
But what do we do if we have a pantry full of crackers, pastas, cereals, and beer? Are we supposed to throw it all out?
STEP #2 – Selling: If there are large amount of chametz that we do not want to throw away, we may keep them in our homes in designated areas providing we don’t own them during Passover. How is that possible? We sell all our chametz in our homes to a gentile for the eight days of Passover.
Because the intricacies of this sale are numerous and complex, Jewish people generally authorize a Rabbi to sell their chametz on their behalf. This is a very important part of the Passover observance and it only takes a few moments. CLICK HERE to fill out the sale-of-chametz form online or feel free to stop by the Chabad House where I have chametz-sale forms available to sign.
STEP #3 – Searching: On Tuesday, April 7 at nightfall - after we’ve cleaned our homes and ensured that designated chametz will be sold – we search our homes by the light of a candle and look for any chametz that we might have missed in our cleaning. Customarily, a family member (usually the children) hides 10 pieces of bread wrapped in paper and during the course of the search all 10 are to be found.
STEP #4 – Burning: Finally, on Wednesday morning, April 8, we take whatever chametz we found during the search, including the 10 pieces of bread, and burn them. Thus fully ridding our lives of any chametz. We will be having a mini bon fire at Chabad that morning and you are welcome to come by and burn it together with us. (Stay tuned for details)
Our sages have taught us that the reward we receive for a mitzvah is commensurate with the sweat we put into the mitzvah. It follows then, that the physical and spiritual blessings we reap on Passover stand on a pedestal of their own and far surpass all the rest.
May we merit to see these rewards and blessings materialize in our personal lives immediately!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Raleigh Resnick
