Dear Friends;
I hope that you will enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah on Chag HaPesach;
” Parsha in a Nutshell ”
G-d instructs Moshe to command Aaron and his sons regarding their duties and rights as kohanim (“priests”) who offer the korbanot (animal and meal offerings) in the Sanctuary.
The fire on the Altar must be kept burning at all times. In it are burned and consumed all kinds of offerings; peace, sin and guilt, and meal offerings. The kohanim eat the meat of the sin and guilt offerings, and the remainder of the meal offering. The peace offering is eaten by the one who brought it, except for specified portions given to the kohen. The holy meat of the offerings must be eaten by ritually pure persons, in their designated holy place and within their specified time.
Aaron and his sons remain within the Sanctuary compound for seven days, during which Moshe prepares them into the priesthood.
” Dvar Torah on Chag HaPesach ”
Out of all the Jewish Holidays marked on the calendar, preparation for Passover is by far the most difficult and time consuming!. And most of the time spent on the preparation goes to getting rid of the “Chametz”. In the Torah, it is mentioned that during the entire Pesach Holiday you shall not eat Chametz, you shall not see Chametz in your possession, you shall not own Chametz and you shall not benefit from it either. So what is this “Chametz” thing that all the fuss is all about? Well, Chametz is a product that is made from one of five types of grains (wheat, barley, spelt, rye and oats), that has been in contact with water and left to stand raw for longer than eighteen minutes. After the 18 minutes, the water makes the grain to rise which makes it into Chametz. So any product which contains any of these grains which hasn’t been supervised through its entire process by an orthodox authority is considered to be Chametz, since there is no proof if they were in contact with any water or not. A single drop of water or even a moist weather can make a grain Chametz. The punishment mentioned in the Torah for not getting rid of your Chametz is “Karet” (spiritual elimination), one of the highest levels of punishment in Jewish tradition.
So, the women of the household, start the Chametz cleaning process from weeks, even months before Pesach. They clean everywhere. From the Garage all the way to the basement. Shelves, cupboards, closets, inside the couches, under the mattresses and behind the armors are all being cleaned. Refrigerators, freezers, stoves and ovens are thoroughly cleaned and become Chametz free. They clean every hole and crack in the house, making sure that no remnant of chametz is left. And after all of these cleaning, just to be on the safe side, we nullify any remaining Chametz in our possession as ownerless and to be considered as the dust of the earth.
Wow, apparently, we take this “Chametz” thing very seriously! For no other mitzvah do we put in so much time and effort! We really go out of our ways to get rid of “Chametz”!
But, after all these cleaning, the Chachamim say that we are still not completely Chametz free!! There is still one more Chametz left that we need to get rid of?!
With all due respect to our sages, but come on now!! Why don’t you give us a break?! After six months of hard labor, working our butts off, you are telling us that we are not done yet?! What on earth is still left to clean?!
Well the Chachamim say that there is also another Chametz which is inside us. It is called the “spiritual” Chametz. This Chametz which is inside our body and soul is the ego, the pride and the haughtiness in everyone of us, known as “Ga-avah”. You see, Chametz is a grain that when it comes into contact with moist, it rises and puffs up. The same way, when we have pride in ourselves and become haughty, we also “puff up” so to speak. “Chafetz Chaim” says that for Pesach, it’s not enough to just get rid of the physical Chametz; we need to get rid of the spiritual Chametz too. Pesach is the time to remember that Hashem freed every Jew from slavery regardless of their physical, social or financial status. Everyone was treated the same. Accordingly, this is the right time to get ride of all the extra pride and ego that we might have in ourselves thinking that we might be better than others. We should realize that we are all Hashem’s children and we should not feel any superiority over our brothers. Remember that Moshe, the greatest prophet of all times was also the most humble person on the face of the earth. He never took pride in what he did! He considered himself like every other Jew, which was to be a servant of Hashem. So, if we spend so much time to get rid of all the Chametz in our possessions, let us not forget to search inside our souls and get rid of all the Chametz inside there too!
Yes my friends, Pesach is the time to get rid of ALL the Chametz around us, both inside and outside. It’s the time to clean ourselves inside out and start a fresh new life. Chag HaPesach also known as Chag HaAviv is the Festival of spring when the flowers and the trees start a new life, the birds start singing again and the sky becomes more blue. It’s time for love and renewal of friendships. No more having pride, no more hatred, no more jealousy and no more holding a grudge. Pesach is the time to reunite with our families and celebrate this Festival together. Remember that Pesach can not be celebrated individually, but it can only be celebrated in groups. While “Ga-avah” brings separation, Pesach on the other hand, brings friendship and unity. So enjoy this year’s Pesach with your family and friends and make sure you are Chametz free all over. Because only then you’ll find the true love and respect for your fellow human beings!
At this time, I would like to take this opportunity and wish you all, Happy and Kosher Passover. I hope that you’ll enjoy this fabulous Holiday together with your families. Although the message of Chametz is to not take pride in what we’ve done, but there is nothing wrong with praising others for what they’ve done! Accordingly, I would like to give a special thanks to my wife and all the ladies who have worked so hard to make this Holiday so special and Chametz free for us all. We raise our hats to you all!
Shabath Shalom, Chag Sameach, and Regards;
Martin