Having celebrated Rosh Hodesh Nisan this week – the new month of Nisan, I have naturally turned my attention to the monumental task of cleaning and preparing for Passover. And, no matter how many times I promise myself that this will be the year that I stop myself from becoming too obsessive about the preparation, at some point in the process, I know (because it happens each year) I will stop in the middle of scrubbing the oven or the sink or the counter or the floor or some other part of the house and ask – ‘Did I forget anything?’ And, it is in this moment that I will undoubtedly be so caught up in the physical act of the cleaning itself that I will need my annual reminder of what all the cleaning and checking for hametz is all about.
Jewish law requires that we not only refrain from eating hametz (leavened products) during Passover, but, as the Torah says we cannot see it, find it in our dwelling places, own it or benefit from it in any way. Why? The most basic reason given for avoiding 'hametz' is found in the Torah itself. Our ancestors left Egypt in a hurry and had had no time for their dough to rise. In putting ourselves in their place, we too refrain from hametz.
The great 10th century commentator, Rashi, explains the reason we check for hametz is specifically in order to fulfill the commandment of the Torah that we ‘should not see or find’ hametz in our homes. Furthermore, says Rashi, a uniform standard for checking for the hametz is used because even though we may have rid ourselves of hametz according to a personal estimation, we must still check further so that our hametz is fully destroyed and the Torah commandment is fulfilled. So important is the Torah’s command that we not find or see hametz that we go well beyond ourselves to insure that it is removed. While I might have estimated where and how much hametz is in my home, the extra cleaning and checking for hametz serves as a means for check and balance against my own estimation.
Rabbi Abraham of Bertinoro, the medieval commentator on the Mishnah known as Bertinoro, suggests another reason. Without checking for hametz, one might actually find a crust of bread during Passover and be tempted to it. Any of us who has ever tried to exercise the willpower to keep to a diet knows how true this might become. Trying really hard to avoid a certain food can be hard and giving in to temptation can happen! Could we resist it? Bertinoro is talking about another type of temptation. We could easily come across the hametz and put in our mouth in a natural reaction that would be the same during any other time of the year. You open the drawer, and seeing the gum or candy, you instinctually take a piece in your mouth. So, says Bertinoro, we remove all elements of temptation by making sure that we check our homes and rid ourselves of the hametz that dwells there.
Yet another reason is explained by Rabbi Israel HaMagid of Kotznitz, the 18th century Hasidic commentator Avodat Israel. He says: ‘Checking for hametz reminds us to remove the tendency towards evil that dwells in each and every individual. For it is not the way of men and women to check their own deeds so carefully, but (to) look at the deeds of others and find faults.’
It is indeed way too easy to think about others’ faults and make judgments than it is to examine our own ways. Rather than work on improving ourselves, we often look at others and convince ourselves that others are at fault, others need improving, all the while ignoring the self examination and improvement. It is this hametz that the Avodat Israel suggests we get rid of through the checking for hametz. Ridding ourselves of hametz then is ridding us of that part of ourselves that tends towards evil and judgment of others. The removal of the hametz becomes a removal of our own arrogance. The cleaning and scrubbing of each counter top, each floor, each sink, each oven in our home demands our attention to every part of the cleaning and checking for hametz, inviting us to focus on our space not someone else’s and hopefully, to check our own deeds so that ultimately we can repair them.
This perspective brings together both Rashi and Bertinoro as well. This too helps to reinforce a Torah command and ridding ourselves of the judgment of others and focusing on our own deeds and actions is part of what God demands of us in so many different ways. Likewise, it is easy to see where this helps rid us of the temptation about which Bertinoro spoke. It is way too tempting to ignore our own actions and deeds and focus on others.
May my (and your) cleaning be blessed with the ability to do this work. And, may every scrub and every compulsive act of removal be focused and deliberate! And, may the Torah command to rid ourselves of the hametz inspire us to act and think differently as we enter the Passover holiday!
Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameach!