Passover - Clean Your Refrigerator

 בס"ד

This coming Sunday is the first of Nissan and the fifteenth is Passover. As such I have started my Pesach or if you wish, spring cleaning. As is well known, the heligah Torah forbids chomaytz (חָמֵץ) on Pesach. It specifically says that it should not be seen (Exodus 13:7) or found (Exodus 12:19). The Talmud and the rabbis devote much material to defining what חָמֵץ is. At the minimum it is bread and cake. The word itself also means “stale”. 

Therefore now is the time to throw out anything that has become rotten or stale. This means that really everybody should clean their refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. Be strong and of good courage and attack that sticky, disgusting, years old spill. For those that are delicate and are fortunate to have money, they can hire a poor yeshiva student who will cheerfully do these dirty jobs. 

For the Jews this is a religious obligation and by fulfilling it along with other mitzvahs, they become a holy people, a kingdom of priests, and G-d’s treasured nation. For all peoples doing this is a merit and a remembrance of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. However it is up to the Jews to be an example and guardians of this sacred tradition.

It’s also a good idea to clean everything that has gathered a year’s dust or more. Now is the time to throw out the garbage including deleting useless items on computer files. If not now when? It has many benefits. The apartment becomes fresh and even organized rather than dirty and cluttered. Plus you refresh your memory about where things are in the apartment. 

Money is saved because you don’t buy the same item more than once, because you now know where to find it. This is like the story in the Talmud: Shmuel said, "In regard to this I am like vinegar, the son of wine, with respect to my father. Father would check his possessions two times a day, but I check everything only once". The Gemara notes that Shmuel is consistent in his line of reasoning; as Shmuel said, "A person who inspects his property every day will find an asteira (dollar)", (Gemara Chullin 105a). 

It is a big job and it helps to do a little every day. I am lightening up on other things and may write the newsletter a little less during this time. I’ve done so far three kitchen cabinets and the fruit and vegetable bins in my refrigerator.

The prayer said after the search for the chomaytz is somewhat philosophical with a few strident words. It says that just like we have eliminated the chomaytz from our homes so too should we eliminate the evil and filth that is within us and in the world at large. Also we pray that the dominion of malice should be uprooted by the spirit of justice as was done to Egypt and their paganism in the days of yore at this time of year.

  

לע"נ  האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח

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