08 Mar IF IT TAKES YOU MORE THAN A DAY TO CLEAN FOR PESACH, YOU ARE DOING SPRING CLEANING, NOT PESACH PREPARATIONS

Now that Purim is
behind us, the
countdown to Pesach
has official begun
complete with its angst,
anxiety, stress, and
Sadly, many people
associate Pesach with backbreaking work,
exorbitant expenses, endless preparation,
and bread deprivation. It is not unusual to
hear moans, groans, and krechts coming
from both men and women when mentioning
the upcoming holiday. Many describe
themselves as rolling into Pesach ‘like a
shmatta,’ unable to enjoy the festive
atmosphere, meaningful Sedarim, or even
quality time with friends and family. The
consequences of this attitude, don’t just
impact us, they negatively influence our
children and those around us.
The Haggadah quotes the rasha, the wicked
son who challenges – what is all of this work
to you? Why the seder as the time to
question and challenge?
The seder is filled with good wine, good
food and good conversation. Wouldn’t it
make more sense for the rasha to issue his
challenge on Yom Kippur, when we are
fasting and abstaining from pleasure? In his
new Hagaddah, Rav Avraham Elimelech
Biderman answers (thank you R’ Naftali
Lavenda for pointing it out to me) that the
work the turned off child is referring to, is
not the seder, it is all of the preparation and
lead up to Pesach. After hearing his parents
complain about the cleaning and hard work,
after being yelled at neurotically not to bring
chametz anywhere in the house, after
overhearing the moaning about the cost of
making Pesach, he comes to the table and
challenges, why would I want all of this
avodah, this work that YOU do and don’t
stop complaining about?
This is not the way the Torah or our Rabbis
intended it. I believe that the bulk of the
stress, aches, and pains that result from
Pesach preparation is self-induced and
utterly unnecessary. True, there is a high
cost of matzah, wine, and Kosher-for-Pesach

groceries that cannot be avoided and are
challenging particular during these
challenging economic times. However, the
overly labor-intensive house preparations
and extensive,arguably overly complicated
menus and recipes can all be avoided. For
some reason, Pesach has gotten away from
us with the purely voluntary now becoming
mandated standards and what should be the
primary goals becoming almost entirely
neglected and dismissed.
Undoubtedly, halacha demands that we
seek and destroy all chametz in our
possesion. Definitions of “chametz” “seek,”
and “in our possession” are all very clear
and require a preparation of a home that
should take only a few hours total. Areas and
places where chametz is never brought don’t
need to be cleaned or checked (Shulchan
Aruch o.c. 433:3). Appliances that will not
be accessed or used need not be cleaned or
checked; they simply need to be put away
and sealed.
Any food that is not categorized as edible (a
dog would not eat it) is not considered
chametz(Shulchan Aruch 442:2). There is
no need to check for crumbs that are less
than a k’zias if they are dirty or soiled and
wouldn’t be edible by a human (Mishna
Berura 442:33).
Practically speaking, any cabinet, closet or
room that will not be entered on Pesach, can
simply be closed with a piece of tape across
the door and any chametz contents in it sold.
Any kitchen cabinet, drawer, or cupboard
that will not be used on Pesach need not be
cleaned at all; it just needs to be taped shut.
Any appliance, food processor, sandwich
maker, mixer, bread machine, etc. that will
not be used, need not be cleaned whatsoever.
They just need to be put away for Pesach in
a sealed space.
Nevertheless, at some point in recent
Jewish history, Pesach preparation was
substituted with spring-cleaning. If one is
moving a refrigerator, oven, or any other
heavy appliance, he is spring cleaning, not
preparing for Pesach. If one is climbing on a
ladder to clean a ceiling fan, taking a

toothpick to a toaster or food processor,
scrubbing grout with a toothbrush,
emptying and wiping all dressers, closets,
linen pantries, crawl spaces, or shaking
out books that haven’t been opened in
years, she is spring cleaning, not preparing
for Pesach.
Halacha demands that we go room to to
room confiming that there is no chametz
that is larger than 30 grams that is larger
than 30 grams and edible. That can
realistically be accomplished in a few
hours at most in almost all of our homes.
If you are spending days, weeks, or over a
month cleaning, if you are worn down,
exhausted and your back aches, blame your
proclivity for spring cleaning, don’t dare
blame God or His wonderful holiday of
Pesach.
Make no mistake, this substitution of
spring-cleaning instead of Pesach
preparation comes at a great cost and it will
likely hurt our community’s attitude towards
Pesach in the future. Rather than enter
Pesach excited, enthusiastic, and energized
to spend time with family and share divrei
Torah at our Sedarim, we are increasingly
becoming resentful and negative about
being observant and burdened by Pesach.
Rather than happy people eating bitter herbs
to celebrate freedom, we are becoming bitter
people exchanging our freedom for
unnecessary burdens in anticipation of
Pesach.
Pesach, more than any other holiday or time
of year, is designed to communicate our
values, priorities and lifestyles to the next
generation. Pesach, and the days leading up
to it, should leave our children with sights,
smells, flavors, traditions and experiences
they will draw from and seek to emulate in
their own homes for the rest of their lives. It
should provide memories and recollections
that will inspire and charge the next
generation in their Judaism and commitment
to the beauty of a Torah lifestyle.

Bedikas chametz, complete with its hide-
and-seek nature, should be fun, exciting, and

adventurous. Instead, for many it has
become a chore that we unburden
ourselves from as quickly as possible.
Burning chametz, rolling matzah balls
by hand, chopping charoses,grinding
marror, setting the regal seder table,
reenacting the Pesach story at our
seders, welcoming visiting family, are
among the activities that can be carried
out with joy, enthusiasm, nostalgia, and
meaning.
Depleting ourselves of energy and joy
by engaging in spring cleaning rather
than Pesach preparation is not only
depriving us of the simcha, joy, we are
capable of feeling, but it is indelibly
impressing on our children negative
memories and associations that will
likely haunt them and shape their own

attitude toward Pesach preparation and
observance.
By exerting all of our energy into that
which is unnecessary, we have little left to
do the things that make Pesach preparation
fun and create the memories that our
children and grandchildren will draw from
throughout their lives. Today, you can buy
bedikas chametzkits complete with
numbered pieces of bread, packaged finely
chopped charoses and even a jar of kosher
for Pesach salt water.
With all respect to the companies that have
commercialized those mitzvos, I implore
you, don’t cave. I vividly remember how we
prepared and hid the bread for bedikas
chametzand that is how I taught my children
to do it. I can easily picture my siblings and
me competing over who got to chop the
charoses and how my mother and
grandmother lovingly added all the
ingredients in their special recipe and it is
that experience we try to create for our
children today. Is adding salt to water so
laborious that we can’t put in even that effort
to prepare for our seder table?
As we enter the final countdown of Pesach
this year, I beg you to ask yourself the
question – which sounds will ring in your
children’s ears in the future when they think
back to Pesach in their home? Will it be
moans, groans, bitterness and complaints or
will they remember the joyous sounds of an
energized family eagerly preparing for a
meaningful Yom Tov?
The Shulchan Aruch (529:2) tells us,
“Chayav adom liheyos sameach v’tov leiv
b’moed. A person is obligated to be joyous
and happy on the holiday.” The Mishna
Berura is quick to add that being happy on
the holiday is a Biblical mandate and applies
equally to men and women.
Let’s not allow spring cleaning or
unnecessary stringencies to get in the way of
fullfilin gour duty to G-d, our children and
ourselves of being happy, joyous, energetic,
and enthusiastic.
Over the next few weeks as we prepare for
Pesach, let’s remember what is essential and
what is unnecessary, what is an obligation
and what isn’t even a mitzvah and most
importantly, what will make our children
love Pesach and what will cause them to
resent it.