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April 6, 2001/Nisan 13, 5761, Vol. 53, No.27
Passover's promiseEditorialThe devil may be in the details, but so is the promise of the divine.So the rabbis teach us, as they explicate the niggling requirements that define traditional life. One need look no further than the stringent preparations for the Passover holiday to gain an appreciation of the vast minutiae that govern observance - and their potential for infusing our lives with meaning. Ridding our homes of chametz, discarding all food products which contain the proscribed leaven, and cleaning or replacing kitchen utensils used during the year, begins days or weeks before the holiday arrives. In many homes, Passover preparation includes a thorough scouring of stove, oven and pantry, layering work surfaces with nonporous coverings, cleaning out refrigerators and freezers, and boiling dishes, cutlery, pots and pans to purify them for holiday use. The preparation may even extend from the kitchen to the rest of the house - a Jewish spring cleaning. For some, the elaborate rituals, governed by the laws of chametz, are excessive. For others, they are an essential part of Jewish practice. Most wrestle with tradition and seek to find comfortable, meaningful modes of observance. Yet the potential for holiness lurks, like the elusive crumbs of chametz in our kitchens, in even the most elementary adherence. Substitute matzo for bread; abstain from eating pasta and pizza; clean out a cupboard. We are transforming ourselves as we put aside the routine and take on new ways of doing things. Cleaning out foodstuffs becomes a metaphor for cleaning out our lives, a spiritual inventory that may free us, within the holiday's context, to consider new directions with renewed purpose. So, too, the Passover seder teaches by doing. It engages all our senses to fulfill the mitzvah of reenacting the miraculous story of the Israelites' passage to freedom. Add one new ritual to your family's seder; share one new reflection on the meaning of the story. It will feed your soul. Taste, touch, smell, feel the holiday. And, most importantly, capture the joy of Passover however you choose to observe. Chag Sameach! |
